The Origin of the "Journeyman": Life at a Crossroads

5 years ago today was one of the most momentous days in my life... I had never ventured off alone, and yet here I was 6 days into my first solo #journeyman👣 trip.

I sat at an intersection in Utah with 2 options, turn left and head home to LA, still only a relatively short drive away. OR turn right and venture on to Yellowstone, 12 hours further from everything I knew.

Turn left to safety, my bed, shower, pooch, and man... to comfort.
Turn right to be... truly alone.

It was a physical and emotional crossroads. Indecisive 2015 me had to pull the car over to think/cry it out more.

I’m still a big ole mess of course, but 2020 me wouldn’t have wavered. 2020 me would have been confident in my ability to be by myself. 2020 me knows that I continued on that trip and saw/did some of the most awe-inspiring things of my life--things have carried me to who I am today. 2020 me would not have blinked at that intersection.

But the only reason 2020 me knows what he knows is because of crossroads like this. Without the struggle and ultimate decision to turn away from my comfort zone, I would never truly know what comfort is. Without letting go of my dependency, I never would have known how to take the reigns of my own destiny.

I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life, but I do love looking back at moments like this. Times when I could have caved, layed down, given up. But instead, I turned right, tearfully coasting off into my future, looking back now only to marvel.