Outdoor adventures in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with some occasional reflective storytelling.
At 13 weeks pregnant, I was told I would be laid off in 4 weeks. That was a day before this picture was taken. I had just arrived in the Bay Area, coincidentally, for an in-person work retreat. I’d decided to come a few days early so I could spend the weekend with my best…
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In another version of my life, I am the host of a podcast, seeking out and sharing important, human stories with the world and interviewing change makers and intellectuals. I am an investigative journalist, uncovering corruption and exposing injustices. In another version of my life, I am in the foreign service, speak 5 languages, and…
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Driving up the road, I knew I’d made a miscalculation. On the last 2-mile stretch of National Forest Road 25, I saw snow. In my mid-sized vehicle with no snow chains or cables, I cautiously eked my way forward. There was a car immediately behind me, and nowhere easy to turn around, and a track…
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I’m not sure when fear became the determining factor for the decisions I make, but it came to a head this past week. It started off simply enough: signing up for a text service called Nudge. Nudge is a company that sends you biweekly text messages with ideas of excursions to take in your area–Seattle…
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We were supposed to enjoy our last month on the east coast, to take advantage of the one month of spring weather we would get during our six months in Boston. We were going to go to Cape Cod, maybe head to Maine for a weekend. We were going to have an awesome visit with…
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I thought this would be easier. I was ready to leave Ecuador. Two years in, I felt like Quito was truly my second home. Four years in, I was seriously ready to leave. My job was feeling stagnant–there was no room for growth or development. I hadn’t seen the entire country, but I’d visited enough…
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Our first international vacation as a married couple, and the challenges and joys of our trip!
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My time in Ecuador is slowly but surely approaching its end. Never did I imagine when I set foot in Quito on September 18th, 2015 that I would still be here almost four years later. But here I am. We have completed what we set out to do. Gonza graduated last month from university after…
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On January 3, 2018, Gonza and I got married in a civil ceremony at the Civil Registry in Quito. Since then, it’s been happily ever after. Right? Not quite. While we are absolutely enjoying married life, marriage to a foreigner is a serious undertaking. It is not for the faint of heart. While all newlywed…
Read MoreHaving co-facilitated an orientation for a group of volunteers arriving in country exactly two years after I arrived as a volunteer was a surreal experience. At this point, I like to think of myself as a Veteran Expat. Not much surprises me anymore about living in Quito after having spent almost two entire years of…
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Elizabeth Seeks 