There was a moment I was ready for a change. A moment of enough is enough, I have to go. It was going on a family trip to the beach, meeting a love interest in DC, and later visiting my friend Rachel in Colorado. When I came back to my parents from Colorado they were surprised that they never received a call from me saying that I was staying.

At this time, I realized that I had out grown the south. It was an excited feeling, thinking back to that time wondering what is about to happen? & what did happen, happened quick. Just the way that I like it to be,Spontaneous.

After a zoom interview asking when I could move to start the job, I responded “immediately!” I took a COVID test, bought a plane ticket, and moved out of my parents house two days later. Remembering that feeling of buying a one way ticket, leaving my hometown. It all happened so fast. A one way ticket, a taxi , and a ferry trip later, I arrived to Block Island.

Meeting a backpacker on the ferry where we shared a beer, as I waited for the son of the owners family to pick me up. Driving in the red jeep with the windows down. Approaching an old white New England beach house. It had a porch with hardwood floors, an entrance filled with sand, and a dirty shared bathroom. The previous version of me might have cringed until I tapped back into my true adventurous spirit. But I fell in love with the charm, and I was standing there with a nervous smile taking it all in. With my large duffle bag and backpack, waiting for the confirmation on my room, a guy from across the street ran over to give me flowers he picked. Telling me welcome and good luck on my journey.

Once I took some time to take a breath, I decided to go to the restaurant that I was going to be working at to introduce myself. I met one of the managers Kendra who gave me a free meal of her recommended sushi roll. As well as inviting me to the bar that everyone from the restaurant went out to every night. I was thrown right into the scene. The scene included: super drunk old men with boats, salty fisher men, island workers tripping on Acid, attractive volleyball players, and a majority of my new coworkers. Kendra gave me a background on everyone. The guys that she had crushes on and the ones to stay away from.

The next day I worked my first shift which I described as easy, and the sunset was incredible.

As I only wrote in my journal about when I arrived to Block and when I left. Later returning for a month before Spain, A lot of the things that happened on this Island were almost unspeakable. As I will leave some brief stories and descriptions. But leaving the rest up for imagination. `

Most of my pictures disappeared as I dropped my phone into the water. As well as being so busy working and chasing the sunset to sunrise there was not much to write down. The memories are something not on a piece of paper or a picture on my phone. Instead they are something I hope to always come back to in my mind later. Ending this here with the journal entry of when I was leaving the island for the first time before the sirens called me back once more.

——

I do not even know where to begin. This experience has been unimaginable. I decided to runaway from my home town, to go discover who I am, and go up North to work on an island. I was tired of applying to countless jobs all day on LinkedIn. So I decided to close the laptop and stuff a suitcase. Go after my main purpose in life. & that seems to be to travel and seek out the wonders of the world. I became in love with island life almost immediately. There is no way to describe Block Island really, I always go back to crazy.

To sunset pictures, backing cars into restaurant signs, meeting a girl from my college town realizing that a higher power always provides, hanging out at the host stand at work and listening to loud music for hours while wiping menus for centuries, EDM music all night long, going to the beach at any spare moment, drinking mudslides until I realized I did not like them, expensive dinners that gave me anxiety until I started making money , volleyball on Tuesday, high on the beach, skateboarding to the beach, trying to buy a bike but they were sold out, the next time buying a bike to later be stopped, yelled at, because they thought I stole it (i paid), seeing my virtual college graduation at work- staring out at the yachts, thinking how did I get here? Lemur cages, camels, snapchat stories with speculations later, skinny dipping in the ocean, mistake, then showing up to late to work , realizing not everyone has your back, becoming the talk of the town, sitting alone at the beach collecting my thoughts- listening to Odesza, realizing I am strong and I can do this- and standing on the rock realizing the ocean really is my home., lost wallets, phones and juuls, lifeguard fanny pack, becoming the Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie of Block Island, eventually texting back and deciding to say yes to sunset fishing, Casa Amigos, daily snapchatting to another lover, buying a ticket to officially leave the island-giving me hope, Christmas in September, staring at the endless stars thinking we are in a simulation, parties in the van, surf talk-surf spots & married surfers, fighting like a married couple, makeouts, apology breakfast, crawling through the cottage window, having the sweetest roommate that put up with this, clean apartment, girls night in clean apartment, windy days, hurricane days, finishing a book, making raps, many cute dogs, autumn iced coffee, getting scammed, Shai Labeouf, yelling “Fuck Men”, looking myself deeply in the mirror saying “I got this,” countdowns, lost sense of time, walking around saying “I made it,”TRANSFORMATIONS, I did it , I did it, I did it. I am not the same person that came to this island. The next adventures are coming and I can not wait.

1,2,3 -confidence, I got this, I said to myself every time I was about to skate down the too steep of a hill on a penny board. As long as I made myself belive that I could, I knew it would all end up okay. The next thing I knew was another one way ticket about to head to Denver for my next adventure on Copper Mountain.

I found life here and what it means to truly live on Block Island

a place I think it would be very challenging for me to ever forget for as long as I live.