True story. Two summers ago I was sailing on a ship out of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and there was this girl there who used to work on the ship, talking with her former co-workers. She was speaking of all the adventures she was having, and how she always tried to find an interesting and different job every year. At that point in time, she was working on a ranch in Colorado, and she was on her way to Mexico where her friend had a job waiting for her. She was dressed in a brown leather cowboy hat, and brown corduroy pants, and a light brown top. Her long blonde hair hung straight behind her ears. This girl, to my sixteen year old eyes, was the epitome of cool. I wanted to be her. I wanted to step inside her life for a minute and just have a taste of all the adventure she actually encountered.

She spoke of how she spent the past six months in Colorado, and the six months before that in Alaska. She worked in California for awhile before Alaska. She lived off of the charity of others, never knowing where her next job would be, or where she would lay her head down for the night. As she spoke, I realized that she was my hero. At liberty and free to do what she wanted and go where she wanted.

Last night, I thought about her for the first time since that summer. I wondered where she was at this very moment, and if I would ever join her in her quest for adventure.