Outdoor adventures in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with some occasional reflective storytelling.
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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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…
Read MoreOne of the hardest lessons I’ve learned since living in Ecuador is that friendships, even ones you think are forever, sometimes fall apart. Sometimes one person is more to blame, and sometimes it’s just a natural effect of being far away from each other. Maybe those relationships can be revived in the future, or maybe…
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Home. What is home? Living in Quito has made me question the definition of home, reworking it to encompass my experiences abroad. I have often wondered how long it must one be in a place to be able to say one lived there. For it to feel like home. Is three months enough? Is 10.5?…
Read MoreAs a child, I grew up in a farming town of about 15-20,000 people. For years, I dreamt of leaving my small town and exploring the world. Living in a big city, learning more about new people and places, and having greater opportunities available seemed like the ultimate lifestyle. This isn’t to say I didn’t…
Read MoreThe countdown is on! In 36 days, I will be boarding a plane to Los Angeles, then Panama City, then finally to Quito. In three days, I move out of Berkeley back to my parent’s house for a brief interlude and a whirlwind of family time, shopping, observing ESL classes, and catching up with as…
Read MoreAs the month of June gains speed and the days slip away I am reminded of the fact that I will be leaving everything I’ve known very soon. Summer, it seems, is going by faster each day, and as I continue making preparations for my departure reality is setting in. Today, I found out my…
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Elizabeth Seeks 