I’m happiest when I’m traveling. I’m happiest when I’m staring out the window of a car, watching the trees blur by in broad strokes of green. I’m happiest following a new trail, exploring a new place for the first time. I have come to crave the unexpected, the feeling of never knowing exactly what’s ahead.

It’s funny because my life doesn’t exactly leave room for all this exploration. With a set school schedule, it’s easy to fall into a routine, to spend my days going to class, grabbing lunch, and studying; every day the same until the weekend comes to shake things up. I do the same things each week, day in and day out. I see the same people and walk the same paths each day and become complacent with doing so. It’s so easy to tell myself that routine is just the human experience, just what you do when you grow up. It’s easy to say this because that’s just what everyone else does, too.

But the more I fall into a routine, the more I realize I need variety in my life. I need to wake up and do something different. If I don’t, life begins to be painted in blues, blacks, and greys, instead of the vibrant colors that I’m meant to see. After all, it’s hard to find joy in a grey world. And so that’s why I decided to do something I never thought I’d ever do. I decided to spend my summer living at a National Park.

In three short months, Gardiner, Wyoming will be my home. I’ll spend the summer living on the periphery of a place that most only stay for a few days. I’ll spend my mornings watching the sunrise, sipping my coffee from a trailhead deep in the forest. I’ll work a few shifts and spend a few days with my eno and some great friends exploring places that I’ve never been and probably will never be again. I’ll get to experience the park in a way that not many people have, or ever will.

I might be crazy, wanting to spend my summer 2000 miles away from anyone I know in an un-airconditioned dorm. But the truth is, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to start a new part of my life, to have a thousand crazy adventures, and meet a bunch of people I’ll never forget. I can’t wait to write some new stories, do new things, and figure out who I am.