Yeeha!

The rodeo was a grand success. We started out a little sad because the poor little calves were getting chased down and roped up. Soon we warmed up to it and enjoyed the show. We ended up meeting some of the bullrider and hearing stories from real life cowboys. Classic.

The when they tried to camp

So we begin our day bright and early and head towards Yellowstone. We arrive in Jackson Hole, after a large detour, around 8pm. We know we only have an hour or so before the sun goes down, so we rush to find a campsite to pitch our tent. We get advice from our trusty Ranger and head to Shadow Mt. where we can find free camping. We drive down a little path and were even able to drive right through a herd of Bison (this was before we got the pamphlet stating that Bison “gore” humans). We get to the campsites which were in the middle of a beautiful valley, with mountains surrounding us and it begins to rain. The rain doesn’t bother us at first and we figure that is will fade soon. With no one around and such a beautiful view we decide to bust out the bottle of wine and wait out the rain. We wait and wait until we realize it’s a lost cause. So instead we pull our car around to face the starts and with an empty bottle of wine next to us we recline our seats and pull the sleeping bag over us. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

The next morning we wake up around 8 and start our drive through Yellowstone. We have now encountered Moose and Elk along with some of the more beautiful sites that I have ever seen.

Up Next: The Rodeo!

ready, set, go

On the road again. I’m with my girl Em and we are off on a trip across the country, well to Indiana anyways. Our mixed tapes are ready and the journey has began. We have a tent, a sleeping bag and 20 maps. Let’s see where the wind takes me.

First stop is Sun Valley, ID. There is a beautiful cliff that we climbed last night, and at the top you could see the whole town. Beautiful. We are about to go on a hike and hopefully find some sweet swimming holes.

WWMWD?

Good question. And here is the answer.

This past conference was definitely far superior to other conferences, on many different levels. In addition to the constant laughing and quotes (or else.), a revolution was born. A revolution that continued to evolve over a few Razzdangos and towel trip to Wall-mart. A revolution that left us all “pregnant with emotion”.

And this is how the story goes…

Walking into the session “Going Abroad with AIESEC”, a few of us had a tear in our eye knowing that this was once something more. That this was once the Traineeship PowerHour. Now as we looked around there was no Adam Liechtenheld and there was no Mike Williams. All that stood in front of us was Andrew in front of the projector asking us reflection questions. Suddenly the screen goes blank and a familiar voice comes on. It is an audio of Williams reading a Robert Frost poem. I think all of our hearts sank. The poem continues to the end… “Two roads diverged in the wood and I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference… difference… difference.”

A video then pops up on the screen and shows the camera entering the famous Echo Tap. There sit Adam and Mike talking about “babies” and eventually going abroad. With a little helpful advice from sketchy older gentleman next to them and friendly bartender across from them, they are ready to venture out to Northbrook, Il to go to an AIESEC conference. Before leaving the bar, the bartender hands them the classic galabayas and they head out the door. The next shot was probably the happiest I’ve felt in a long time. In slow motion they exit the Tap, music playing while they finish up their wardrobe with bandanas and sunglasses. After taping their journey of a lifetime they finally arrive at the Radisson hotel in which music starts blasting and they run through the doors. They continue to do the performance of a life time and most definitely will go down in history.

You guys inspire so many of us and I just want to say, whole heartedly, thank you for all the work you put into motivating others to have those same experiences.

Sometimes I ask myself....

Will I ever grow up?



I love you D.