Moving to Santa Cruz — The Greenest Blue

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How’s summer 2021 going for you? How are you handling the news, the chaos, the uncertainty? I’m constantly on the world’s rockiest rollercoaster of emotions, especially lately - I’ve just moved to Santa Cruz, where I’ll be starting grad school in the next couple of weeks. I’m taking classes for my first year before transitioning into research/TA mode.

To say I’m excited would be an understatement.

To say I’m ready for a change, and have been ready for a while…also an understatement.

Six months ago, I didn’t know what form this change would take, or where, or how, or when, but I’ve been open to it, and here I am. I’m supremely excited to make friends knowing I’ll be in this one spot for a long time (multiple years, what??!!??), find a favorite yoga studio, find my coffee shop (both of which I think I found today).

Santa Cruz has given me nothing but good vibes so far. There’s some traffic on highway 1 that I’m not stoked about, but of course, I expected that. The town is laid back and friendly like Maui. I’m so lucky to have a handful of good friends that live here that have hooked me up with epic (temporary) housing, are going to take me camping, show me around town, and hit up the local surf spots with me!

I’m sure I’ve written about this in the past, but I’ve been looking for a meaningful reason to settle down in one area. For the longest time, I couldn’t wrap my brain around giving up my lifestyle of following the tourism seasons. It was, in my view, the most brilliant way to travel and see the world. There was a purpose and a theme to the work, it fueled me (mentally, emotionally, and financially), and I was out exploring and kicking my own personal comfort zone to the curb. I am so proud of my younger self for making the decision to try something that at the time I considered “random” and “weird” (moving to Maui to work in marine tourism in 2015). It turned out to be my exact brand of weird.

But I’ve also spoken of the difficulties of this lifestyle before. Maintaining a romantic relationship was next to impossible. Friendships were strained with frequent goodbyes and terribly long bouts of no communication. I missed countless big events for family and friends back home, being halfway around the world. Without being able to nest, I often felt rootless, transient, temporary. This was both freeing and uncomfortably isolating.

I recognized that I might never be 100% ready for this shift, but as I reminded myself the other day, if we’re always waiting to do things until we feel ready, we’re going to be waiting for a long ass time. A jump is often necessary.

So I jumped. And that somehow led me to Santa Cruz. And DANG it feels good.

I also spent the last week or two in the San Juan Islands, guest guiding as a naturalist for my old whale watch company. It was one of the most fun whale watch sessions I’ve had, just being able to hop in to help out for a week like that. I worked on one of my favorite boats, Sea Lion, caught up with old coworkers, made friends with new ones, hung out with whales I hadn’t seen before and whales I had, and spent time with my brother and sister-in-law (freshly moved to the island!).

As I tell all the guests that come hang out on the boat, the Salish Sea is one of my favorite ecosystems to explore on a marine wildlife tour. Not only is the scenery incredible with the surrounding islands, but these inland waters are incredibly calm thanks to the shelter from Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula (no pukey pukey). The variety of marine and bird life you can see is incredible (killer whales, humpbacks, grays, Dall’s porpoise, harbor porpoise, harbor seals, Steller’s sea lions, California sea lions, bald eagles, ETC ETC ETC). The simultaneously charming and frustrating ferry system, the friendly people, the rich geological history, the cultural history that deserves so much more attention than it is getting…it all adds up to one of the most unique places in the world.

I can still smell that salty briney air and am picking up very similar ocean vibes down here in California. That is enough to make this transition easier. WHAT IF I GET TO SEE SOME OF THE SAME BIGG’S KILLER WHALES down in Monterey?? I also feel like I’ve been here before…that moving here was like moving home. I don’t really know how to explain that, but it feels right.

I know my last few posts have been a little more journal entry-esque, so thanks for reading along with the workings of my mind and life. I’m hoping to transition into more discussions about mindset shifts, cultural change, and community-based action in the near future. I’ll also be sharing my experiences of what it’s like to go back to grad school after 7 years out of the system…all the ups and the downs.

Cheers to accepting where you’re at in life. Cheers to embracing the feeling to stay right where you are if that’s what feels good, or embracing the urge to do something new if that feels better. Whatever you need, I hope that you are able to tune in and listen to you.

X,

Loz