Work less play more, Jobs that give you more freedom for adventures.

in our day-to-day routine, we constantly struggle with the work-life-balance and longing for more adventure. We are constantly having to give up our time for money, working 9-5, stuck indoors on sunny days, and longing to quit our jobs But Sadly rock climbing doesn't pay the bills so we are forced to suffer on. What if  I told you that there was another way? Would you be interested? Then Keep reading, Here is a list of a few jobs that can help solve the work-play balance:

Firefighter/ EMT/Paramedic
working in emergency services has a lot of bennifits, including a great schedule. A part-time firefighter EMT can choose what ever day/night they want to work, usally being able to stack 12 hour shifts up to 48 hours. Paramedics usually work 48 hours shifts and then have the rest of the week off!


CNA/LPN/RN nursing
Nurse are well known as being one of the best jobs in america, due to it's high pay, job security, and work schedule. A nurse typically works 12 hours shifts, 3 times a week.  leaving you with a more than enough time off. there is also the potential for perdiem jobs and paid traveling with nursing. 

Perdiem shifts
One of the best things I have ever done has been working perdiem shift. Perdium is by definition 'picking up shifts that are available due to random openings'. With perdiem, you decide when you want to work and when you are unavailable. This gives you the freedom to travel to your heart's desire and work whenever and where ever you want. You do however need to watch out for times where there isn't any work for you.   


No night shift!
One of the biggest traps that that you can fall into is working night shift. At first it seems like a dream come true, playing by day, working by night but sadly that isn't how it works. You usually give up 2 days for one night. DO NOT DO THIS!

mt baker hot springs

Emergency medical care for the outdoors

When planning a outdoor adventure, no one wants to talk or think about the chances of being injured in the wilderness or what to do when it happens but if your like me, you want to be prepared for anything. With that being said, let's talk about how to gain some skills to be better prepared encase of  the unfortunate medical disaster.

Take and EMT-B course
One of the best decisions I ever made was to follow the advice of some of my friend from church who encouraged me to take a 3 month Emergency medical Technician class at my local college. I learned all of the emergency, life saving skills of that we necessary for working on a ambulance as an EMT at my local fire department (another story for a later time). My EMT-B skills came in handy for for all of my adventures and opened up a lot of opportunities in both my career as well as my recreational life. There have been many that I have requested to join a trip, solely because of my usefulness as a "medical person". 

many colleges and local fire departments offer EMT-B course for  reasonable prices .Yes, there is a financial investment but the skills you will learn will be with you for life!
If you are willing to volunteer at your fire department, most chiefs will actually pay for your class.

Buy the text book
sadly enough, just like college you are going to need to buy a text book, and not all emt text book are the same. I'll link my favorite text book down below

Prehospital Emergency care

Ride along or volunteer as with EMS agencies.

One thing medical professionals love is, teaching others the things they have learned in the field. most fire departments, private ambulances, and ER's will let you ride along and learn stuff. You could volunteer at a fire department and learn some stuff that you will find useful on your adventures. 

Get a Wildness specialty added to your certification 

Wilderness medical associates international teaches a 5 day Wilderness EMT upgrade course. 

How to make money as a pokemon trainer

I don't know about you but ever since I was a little kid, I loved pokemon and wanted nothing more than to spend my afternoon's catching, training, and battling with them. Now as an adult there is an opportunity for any pokemon trainer to do it full time! 

How
by leveraging the power of the internet. billions of people are using the internet daily and for some weird reason, they are spending all their hard earned money on it, few have mastered the art of using this to their advantage. You can too but first, you have some work to do.

Let's start from the beginning: 
download the app, make an account, and get ready for some awesomeness! 

Choose a side
one of the most important decisions you will make in your pokemon trainer career is which team you will fight for, very much like the avatar, you must choose which nation to champion for (I've personally have chosen the fire nation, team valor is just my speed).

Start hunting! 
The wonderful creatures that you must tame and befriend are going to be your fighting force for your mission and it is imperative that collect a great and powerful roster for gym battles as well as for keeping your followers engaged. Your supports love to read about your pokemon's development as well as your passion for these magical beasts. 

Fight, a lot!
From this moment on you are their captain America, their champion, and if you want their support, then you are going to have to demonstrate your ability to clean the floor with the competition. 


Get the gear!

Pokedex case 

One of the Main struggles Pokemon Go users struggle with is battery life. It's a known fact that the app will drain your Iphone's battery faster than a hole in your gas tank This case is the legendary 'Chargemander' case that boasts a 33-hour life, 15 minute charge time, and the protection against droppings. I know $50 is a lot of cheeseburgers but trust me when I say, you'll make the money back! :)


Ok, time to make the money!
The sad reality of adult hood is that you need to make money to live. As a professional Pokemon trainer that will come from leveraging the power of the internet.

The way that you do this is through affiliate marketing, selling merchandise, Starting a Patreon account, making youtube videos, posting on instagram, and fund raising for support. If you know anything about the modern internet world, you know that these are vastly different topics that I will be going over in my blog and I will add links to this article; so, keep tuned!

It's possible
in summery, making money as a professional pokemon is entirely possible with enough work ethic and skills in the online marketing world. You may need to do some research in the subject but her's a start. :)  

Disclaimer

It should be know that I use affiliate links in this article for the sake monetizing my work and that allows me to continue to provide ongoing content to my followers.

Canon EOS Rebel SL2 DSLR review

I found this review for an amazing camera! This the perfect backpacking camera! Watch and enjoy

If you like this Video give him a Like and subscribe, I know I did!



Check out this link to a youtube review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ERQ92k3mk

Find it on amazon:
http://amzn.to/2FGjzIf

Technology in the back country

While some purest would say that one of the most important and attractive allures of the great out doors is the fact that you can disconnect from the ever enslavement of the digital age. From my experience, I have seen that there is a great advantage to being a tech savvy outdoorsman.

there are however some rule to live by when carrying tech into the wilderness, you must never bring anything you cannot live without, always waterproof your gear, and pad pad pad. I would recommend that before taking any tech out that you back up data to a stationary device at your home base.
now that we have gotten past the nitty, gritty, rules and such lets move on to the fun stuff.

Ipads!!

yes your loving enduring tablet of awesomeness that makes all things fun and large screened. the Ipad a has some useful features.
One of the best features of the Ipad is the fact that the touch screen is so large that it can be utilized with mapping programs like the Green trails maps app, which is the best app i have ever used for topographic maps, with highlighted trails. You can purchase digital copies for a fraction of the hard copies. Also, I am personally in love with road mapping functions of the Ipad.

I would highly recommend that that you get yourself a LifeProof case, without one your pretty much sacrificing your precious Apple tablet; I for one love my Ipad and I want to keep it around for as long as possible!


Solar charger 

Solar chargers are an essential for longer trecks in the backcountry. this is really self explanatory process, sun plus charger equals happiness.


















DSLR cameras

In my Previous post I pretty much raved about my Nikon D90. I you are going into the backcountry you might consider bring in your DSLR with you to make a take some killer shots.you could even make some extra money, take a moment to read my How to make money with photography article. 

One problem with taking you DSLR is that they're a little bit heavy for back packing but I find it absolutely worth it.  

Heated jackets 

Heated jackets have become recently become a reality. I have yet to test this product but once I have raised enough funds for the next product testing adventure, I will eagerly be trying out this product line! My hope is that this will solve the problem that our cold feet partners struggling with for quite some time :) 

I will keep expanding this blog post as long I am a exploring and adventuring. Hopefully my testing will be of some use to you. :)

Cameras!

Hey, friends What is your favorite camera? what do you like about it? and while you're at it post a link for me! :)

Mine is currently the Nikon D90, it's cheap, batteries last a long time, and it's got some cool features.
You can find it on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2CBQla4

Using Airbnb for the adventuring

For adventures on of the biggest expenses for travel is hotel prices, I recently discovered a solution! the story goes like this. with Valentine's day around the corner, I wanted to do something special for that wonderful woman in my life, I was struggling with the planning part when by chance my friends at work who were traveling nurses had told me about Airbnb.

Airbnb is a form of online booking for people homes and properties that act like hotels, sorta how Uber replaced taxi driving.  I was skeptical at first. Staying in another person's home seemed sketchy to me but with Valentine's Day coming up, I took a chance and decided to give it a try. 

For Valentine's Day I surprised my gal with a trip to Bellingham, for years she has been talking about moving to Bellingham and going to school up there. 

I went to the website, typed in the location I wanted and started to play around with the filters. I discovered that it was very similar to a hotel, I could choose how may guest I brought and my price range. I also discovered that you could rent a room or the "entire place". 

The "entire place" option seemed like the safest choice, given my gals anxiety and my lack of confidence in the use of this new resource. 

I was presented with a decently large selection of Airbnb's in the area for under $50. I was able to book one walking distance to town. 

On the day of the trip, I received directions to the cozy apartment near town and instructions for gaining access to the building. We packed our bags and set off. After 2 hours of driving, we arrived at the apartment. We followed the directions given to us and found the keys right where to message said that they were hidden. 

Once we gained access to the apartment we were pleasantly greater by a mini reception guest with a picture frame with instructions, house rules, wifi password, and lender phone chargers! These people even left us a guest book to sign in too! 

Next, we ventured inside, we were pleasantly surprised with comfy couches and a tv with chrome cast (perfect for us Netflix people), blankets, and space heaters. 

The kitchen was super nice. It had a cozy tea timetable that was perfect for her and I. I was so appreciative of the simplicity and elegance of that kitchen. They even left some snacks for us! 

The bedroom was large enough for a queen size bed and plenty of walking space, there was his and hers closets and a storage space for luggage. 

They gave us access to their laundry room and provided detergent! 

What really impressed me was the bathroom, so often when you look at houses and hotel room they don't show the bathroom, this one was stellar!

For 2 nights in Bellingham on Valentine's Day, I paid $100. Needless to say, I will be using this service again! 

The home we stayed at:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21009335


My use my affiliate link and get $40 credit for your next trip!

https://abnb.me/e/L0fDQmj5EK

Written from my iPhone.

How to Make Money with Photography

There hasn't been a single college student who wasn't tempted by the allure of a career in photography. Sadly the educational endeavor has been hailed as a foolish quest of flowery hippies that will lead to poverty by parents, counselors, and teachers alike.

Despite the cultural stigma, the profession has been rated to make 20-60K yearly or an average of  $17 an hour. truth be told, this is just scratching the surface of what a skilled photographer can make with just a little effort and creativity. Here are are some of the methods that a photographer utilize to make a decent living.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has always been shrouded in mystery. It's actually quite a simple concept, you sign up for an affiliate program like Amazon, find a product, buy the product, photograph it, and promote it on social media or something like that. For a photographer, this can be an extremely lucrative way to establish an income that may become passive if given enough following and proper marketing. The pay is commission based and requires a few computer skills.

Weddings
First of all, everyone loves weddings and they are an honor to be a part of. For a photographer, wedding are our cash cow. With the uncountable amount of weddings in the summer, a photographer can make a year's wage. The difficult part of is that weddings are an acute event that usually does not reoccur in a person's lifetime, hopefully. With weddings, your primary method of marketing yourself is word of mouth.

Crime scene Investigation

Poshmark Pictures
www.poshmark.com is a used clothes resale website. The method of poshmark is simple, you gather old clothes, model them, resale them for a good sum of money. Poshmark even allows you to start your own boutique to sell wholesale items for a profit. With the best method of selling something on poshmark a good photographer can benefit greatly. You can either get into reselling or offer your services to others who are in need of high-quality photos for their closet.   
If you end up setting up a poshmark account please do me a favor and use my code NOAHHETZ to give me a boost.

Private photoshoots 
I don't know why but for some reason there has been a rise of personal photoshoot and instagram models who would love nothing more than to get together with anyone with a camera and are willing to pay top dollar for it. 

Patreon

Eureka solitaire

Once upon a time, I had found a magical tent within the depts of my favorite thrift store, some unfortunate soul had foolishly relinquished a glorious Eureka Solitaire to the hands of the good people at Island Thrift. I was fortunate enough to score this beauty and put her to work. This tent was awesome, It endured heavy rains, harsh winds, and the stumbling of children! This $17 was more then I could ever dream of and I would highly recommend it to any adventure. Sadly mine retired after I broke a pole during a Youth Adventures trip.
The going price is $80 and I have posted a nice affiliate link below for you.

Weight:
The average tent weighs about 6.3 pounds whereas the Solitaire weighs  2.9 LBS, Making it the lightest tent that you can fit in your pack.

Uses:
It's perfect for the solo adventurer or ultralight Backpacker. If you a member of search and rescue (SAR), You are required to carry some form of shelter with you in your pack; this is a great addition to your Ready to GO Bag (RGB).

Season:3

Size
The solitaire is marketed as a 2 person tent, with it being 8ft in length 2.8 in width, It's not well suited for 2 people unless you like to cuddle.

Price:
$75-80  


Buy here!

(By using this link, you help support this blog. Help me, help you)!

Buying you own jump bag.

The jump bag of firefighters 
I recommend that you keep a fully stocked "jump bag" in your personal vehicle if you your groups "back country medic". your group will depend, no expect to have all of the proper materials to treat your crew in advent of an incident. this particular "Jump bag" Comers from amazon and cost's 349.99 and is the exact same one that I use when I work at the fire department, wither I am riding an ambulance  or fire engines. Here is the sad truth, majority of the time we rarely use anything in the ambulance, most of what we need to keep a person alive is already in this bag, the ambulance is usually just a high paid taxi. Everything you need to treat a patient is already in this bag, with the exception of a oxygen container, you need to see a doctor to get a prescription for that.

Become a Backcountry Medic

How to become a back country medic

The Need:

Just like in D&D every group of Adventures needs it medic. Someone who has some medical experience to handle situations. If you are reading this, that means it’s you.

The truth of the matter is most of the time as the group "medic" you will be stuck mending to blisters, scrapes, and the occasional dehydration but every once in a while, you get something serious. I am writing this so when everyone and their mother is freaking out, you will know what to do and lead your team to victory. 

The problem with outdoor recreation is that when something bad happens, more times then not, you are in a rural environment, Far from any help and on top of that, your environment it self will contribute to the escalation of a situation. 

  If you have spent any amount of time in the back country, you know that injuries are bound to happen, it’s just a matter of time. The big question is, “when it happens will you know what to do”? that is why I am writing this.

Read some books:

The thing about wilderness medicine is this... out there when lives are on the line, it doesn't what certification someone does or doesn't hold, what really matters is who has the skills and knowlege to get someone out alive. That being said, the best thing you can for yourself and your friends is to read some good books and practice some of the tecniques that might save your lives one day.

Here is my recommend reading list and links where you can buy them:

(my personal reading list) 

The field guide of wilderness & Rescue Medicine:

A carry-on to bring with you on backpacking, for reference

       Nols wilderness first aid:

       an inexpensive basic first aid book

      Outward bound wilderness first-aid handbook:

      Wilderness medical associates texboot for their WFA course 

     Prehospital Emergency care (10^th):
     The best EMT-B text book out there! :)

Take a class:

I would highly recommend taking a class or to gain some medical skills. Wilderness medical associates international hold a number of courses as well as you local collages:

WFA - Wilderness first aid:

-Everything you need for blister care and simple bandaging

WAFA - WIlderness Advance first Aid

-blood control and minor medications

EMT - Emergency medical tecnition (you can find anywhere)

-What ambulance worker have

WEMT- wilderness EMT

-EMTwith a wilderness specialty

ALS - Paramedic

-The highest level of pre-hospital care

WALS - Wilderness Paramedic

-Paramedic with wilderness skills

Buy your own jump bag:

 I highly recommend that you keep a fully stocked "jump bag" in your personal vehicle if you your groups "back country medic". your group will depend, no expect to have all of the proper materials to treat your crew in advent of an incident. this partuclare "Jump bag" cost's 349.99 and is the exact same one that I use when I work at the fire department, wither I am riding an ambulance  or fire engines. Here is the sad truth, majority of the time we rarely use anything in the ambulance, most of what we need to keep a person alive is already in this bag, the ambulance is usually just a high paid taxi. Everything you need to treat a patient is already in this bag, with the exception of a oxygen container, you need to see a doctor to get a prescription for that. 

Turn you primary care doctor into you Medical director:

Next time that you go see you doctor, share with him about your outdoor recreation and your role as the group medic. If the conversation goes well, see if he will authorize you to use medications that you are trained to use, like oxygen and epinephran. He might be willing to even write you a prescription for all the drugs, vaccinations, and supplies you need.  

Disclaimer

I do not own any right to materials, brands, or content other that that in which I have created. All borrowed knowledge and resources belong to their prospective owners and will be treated with respect and given proper credit .  

Almost all of my content contain affiliate links which serve to help both you and I. The affiliation links allow me to fund my writing and quickly link you to products and services that you might need or find useful in your adventures.

If there is any offensive content, know that is not my intent; for that I anthologize before hand. That being said, I don’t really care. PS: I am having fun. :)  

Uber Eats a job that let's you choose your schedule so that you can adventure more!

I discovered Uber on accident while I was working for fedex and looking for a way out!
Uber eats was especially up my alley! Uber eats in Bellingham washington gave me the best of both worlds; I can pick my own schedule, do easy work by delivering food to people and not having to get drunks vomit in my car. I was my own boss and I could make up to $150 a day! that's right my uber eats earnings were as much as $150 a day!

My favorite Part was that you can work on your own time and that you don't have to be on the clock all the time, plus you choose what trips you except!  Perfect for anyone seeking more freedom and adventure! Which is what we are all about in this blog


How much does can I make with uber?
the math:
How much do you make per trip?
that depends on where you deliver. that being said $5-8 is about the average plus tips!
the math is this:
 AST (average trip time) = 6 mins
APPS (average pay per stop) = $7
ASPH (adverage stop per hour) = 5
formula:
 APPS* ASPH = PPH(Pay per hour)
 $7*5= $35 an hour

As you can see, you can easily make 35 dollars and hour!

All you need is a thermal bag or cooler!
Download the app from the play store and all will be good!

Sign up

How to works:

Here is my link and promo code:
https://partners.uber.com/i/noahhetzhue

 

Freedom of the hills

Freedom of this hills has been a long time & well kept secret among Adventure Guide community. I am a all time willing to invest my time in sharing any knowledge I have to assist new adventures in their pursuit of said adventure. Freedom of the hills contains a vast amount of information pertaining to backpacking, rock, climbing, mountaineering, orienteering, camping, and so much more! For Adventures, this is our bible! I love this book much that I have given away copies to friends and my students!  From now on I will be promoting this book on my blog and I am working on setting up a add for anyone who wants a copy.

If you want to purchase a copy, here is a link:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594851387/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=noahhetz-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1594851387&linkId=e548c98c4a833cc8b69b0ed75229c4bd

Going furthering with groupon

Ok, this is not a shameless plug, no one paid me to post this, and I genually mean everything I am about to say!

everyone has that one friend who is always quoting and promoting Groupon. I Remember thinking that "oh, here we go again.", thinking that Groupon was a some lame hipster flee market.

One day I was low on money and going through Pinterest, looking for a way to save on my adventures.    

Through endless searching, I kept come back groupon. 

There is trips and cruising.

There's sporting like paintball

You can save on gear

(A thing from my gal)

Memberships to gyms and porting clubs

And classes

So I admit it, I was wrong. Groupon is is pretty cool. 

Freedom job #2 The teacher

I know what you are probably thinking, "Don't teachers work 9-5 with kids and have to spend a lot of nights grading papers? how is that freedom"?

And I would tell you of all the times of when I was working as a missionary/volunteer adventure guide that a teacher would come out and help out with our trips.

Teachers do not only have a rewarding career, helping mend out children's minds and future, they also have a 3 month vacation every summer! not only that but some teachers get to go on trips and conference trips to some amazing places, all on the districts dime!

Now if you want to go up to the college level of teaching, there are a lot more options.
You could work one quarter and then take one off, teach 6 classes on quarter and not work for the rest of the year, you could teach online courses (from a coffee shop anywhere), or a mixture of all!

Needless to say, there are options!

Freedom job #1 Fireman!

we are are all in love with adventure and are constantly looking for a way to set ourselves free so that we may be able to have the time to pursue our passions and adventures. How do I know that about you? You are reading this post!

I would say that the best way and my favorite way to achieve this is to find work as a fireman!
Imagine working 2 days a week doing something honorable and exiting!

Time
As a fireman you have the unique ability have an extremely flexible schedule. a lot of fire service jobs will allow to pick and choose your own schedule, wither it be 12 hour shifts, 24's, or 48's, you could do a full weeks work within 2 days!

Money 
volunteer you make pennies, say 7.50 per call
part- timer, 9.80-11.20 per hour and you work as much as you like
full-time 21.72-36.84 per hour at 48 hours weekly!

Check out my blog on firefighting:
http://youfriendlyneighborhoodfireman.blogspot.com/

Freedom!

As you already know being that you are already an adventurer, you have in do doubt have experienced the struggle of trying to find the time out of your busy schedule to pursue your dreams and meaningful experiences. 

So, the question remains how does one find his/her freedom

here is my answer:

1. Blogging

Yes, I know what you are most likely thinking... "isn't that hipster crap that never works out for anyone"? or "that's not a real job.  If that is what you are you are thinking, then you are both right and wrong. Yes, it is extremely trendy and everyone and there mother has a blog! But here is the deal, rarely does someone actually put in the work and dedication to make a living off blogging. Most people start a blog and then loose interest in less then a year, if you want to be a blogger you need to put in the effort. 

Once you have put in the time and done the required work blogging can be extremely beneficial. It can give you a form of semi-passive income and you are your own boss! You can travel and write about it! but it's not for the weak at heart, it takes guts and dedication to get through the hours of work and marketing to get going!  

Another thing to thing to consider is, are you skilled enough as writer to do this full time? I ask myself this question every day. Here is what I recommend, go to the thrift store, buy some cheap used college level English books and practice your trade! You can do it, you can be a Blogger! 

enough babbling, onto the next option

2. Real estate

yes, real estate. Not the 'Timmy Turner's mom's selling houses' real estate but rather the rent out of real estate. Yes, becoming a glorified land lord, haha "Big tracks land"! 

I'm not going to lie to you... this method is a little expensive to start off with. If you are really desiring freedom and have some carpentry skills this could be your method of choice.   

One of the best ways to get into renting real estate is to buy a for closure home for say $90K, fix it up, and then rent it out for $500 more then the mortgage. 

If you can get 4 properties under you control, that is:

(4 X 5)100 = 2,000 monthly!

or

24K annually

That is more then most young people make!

you  can see the earning potential of real estate, the best part is that you don't have to do much of anything other then fix a leaky faucet every once in a while! 

3. writing 

You my friend could be the next J.K Rowling. But seriously you could spend the next year writing a hit seller or selling crappy off shoot E-books on Amazon but hey I'm not judging, those people are Awesome! 

You always see people at Starbucks typing on their laptops, surely you have seen them, these are the writers! Could you imagine this for your life? writing the next hit wonder, best selling, top of the charts book that put hairy potter to shame! 

You could write in the back country, pool side, in some cafe' in Paris, or where ever your heart takes you. ultimately the world becomes your office! 

And all it take is one hit to make your life wonderful for the rest of your days! the bet part is once it's published, you don't have do touch it again, it's pretty much automatic income at that point! 

4.Buy a franchise

Ok, admit it, We have all worked at McDonalds or some other fast food vender before but have you ever asked yourself; "Who actually owns these businesses"? well.... could be anyone, really. Anyone can buy a franchise and after a bit of hard work, set the store up the to automatic. 

If you manage become profitable and are able to hire staffing, you could set up managers to handle your business for you, while you go adventure!

Here is a start, I will continue writing on this topic another day. 

Vital climbing gym review (Bellingham)

Last month I was invited by my fellow adventurer Channing Waage to vital climbing gym in Bellingham, Washington. After going a few time I can say, that I have thoroughly enjoyed the expercience. For only 12$ for An all day pass that allows you to come & go as much as you like, & rock shoes rental for 2$ it is worth every penny. The staff there are extremely friendly & are usually rock climbers themselves. The best part is that they change their routs often, so if you like me & only like to climb a route once; your in  luck. The only complaint I can even think of is, people. On Fridays & Saturdays it tends to fill up, though most everyone there is friendly; it still get's hard to find room. Go on a week day or Sunday for the best time on the rock. 

I give it an A+

A new year & a new fight.

As we ring in the new year many of us make new revolutions that undoubtably will fail in the end. For us adventurers this is an opportunity to restart our momentum. The reason peoples goal fail is that they want to do great things but lack the dedication to peruse the passion. With the new year here, we gave the opertunity to reknew the drive that once was that has since gone.  Start this mew year off with some adventures & plan ahead for adventures this year & get out there! Don't stop! Keep going! That's the key. Because once you stop, you will begin the process of slowing down. It's ineffable. That being said, it's time to get started. Make 2014 your year.