About

UPDATE: 09/15/24

The roots of this website and my blogging journey started from rock bottom optimism.

11 years later and I am still scraping bottoms but the views have certainly improved.

I didn’t end up becoming a scientist and The Head and The Heart are no longer my favorite band. I live in sunny San Diego now, I work on bikes and skis, and I am blessed by the warm sun and cool breeze.

Here you can find my continued work. Words and photographs from me as I try to piece together my experiences and their meanings.

Thanks for caring!

A hui hou,

Chris

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In 2013 I started a tumblr called chrissotravels.

It’s first post was the song, “Down in the Valley”, by The Head and the Heart and it’s purpose was a promise to myself that things were going to get better. I graduated college with a B.S. in biology (pre-pharmacy), a minor in photography and a desperate dream of working in the outdoors. I didn’t know what that meant exactly or how I was going to get there but I knew it was what I wanted to do. It was my purpose. 6 months of volunteering, googleing things like how to use a compass and countless job rejections later I started up chrissotravels. Things had hit an all-time low but I knew that I was committed and I knew that I was going to make something out of myself. In that sense, the blog became a way to track my progress – I was an optimist.

Fast-forward to now and I have 4 field seasons, 8 jobs and 5 volunteer positions under my belt. I’ve worked in wet forests, dry forests, burned forests, mountains, wetlands, high deserts, 100+ degree weather and in a blizzard. I’ve been as close to home as the Shenandoah and as far as the middle of the Pacific. Through it all I have travelled and learned more than I could have imagined. I have met people and have seen places I never thought I would experience. Above all, I have learned more about who I am, what I am capable of and what I want to achieve in my lifetime.

It has been a privilege to spend the last 4 years this way and I owe it all to my family and my friends. This website is a collection of my writing and my photography and attempts to share with those interested a glimpse into the experiences I have had, and with some hard work and some kick-ass cover letters, the experiences to come.

Trek on,

- Chris, 02/25/17