As I mentioned in my post last week, ideally I would’ve liked to get this post up first in 2020 but, alas, that’s not how it worked out. Better late than never!
If 2019 was only 356 days long it would have been, by far, the best year of my life. Truth be told, even counting the last 9 days of the year where I broke my leg and spent just short of a week in the hospital, it still makes a strong case for the best year yet. I often wonder when this trend is going to start moving in the opposite direction. It seems like each year outperforms the one before for one reason or another. Is it sustainable? In theory, probably not. But I’m happy riding it out for as long as I can.
For my ‘Year In Review’ post I’m going to go through 2019 month by month and highlight either my biggest achievement, happiest moment, or most challenging obstacle. I’ll keep each month as brief as I can because there are so many to get through and some of them will be about places or things I’ve already written about.
So let’s get to it!
JANUARY
The year couldn’t have started out any better than it did. I’ve wanted to learn how to skydive my whole life. In fact, I have a distinct memory from 5th grade where I was sitting in the cafeteria thinking about how awesome it would be to get to do one day. As I got older, and moved into the real world, things never aligned properly for me to be able to pursue that dream. It is an expensive hobby and I just never seemed to have the means (or the time) to introduce myself to the sport.
On January 11th, 2019 I had my first ever solo skydive and it blew my expectations out of the water. I was lucky enough to get to learn at one of the best drop zones in the world, Skydive Perris. It’s a sport I’m looking forward to doing a whole lot more of in the coming years. The hardest thing up to this point has just been finding enough time to live on the DZ and get more jumps in. 63 jumps in 12 months just won’t cut it for 2020. I can’t say enough about how skydiving has instilled new life and confidence in me on a daily basis.
I do plan on writing a whole dedicated post to my skydiving experience so I’ll keep this short. It’s an expensive hobby and the licensing process can be a bit confusing so I’m excited to share how that all works and my experience in greater detail at some point.
FEBRUARY
Growing up in the mountains in Colorado we had to find ways to entertain ourselves once the sun went down. Something I learned at a very young age was that the Denver Broncos are the best football team in sports history and it’s not even close. Because of that allegiance to my beloved donkeys, I grew up obsessing about the sport whenever it was in season. The Broncos won a pair of Super Bowls in the late 90’s and then another in 2016, which was more fun for me because I was old enough to understand what was going on and relish in the victory. Like any fan of the sport, I had always dreamt of actually going to a Super Bowl, regardless of who was playing in it.
In early February I got to do just that. I partnered with Expensify and flew out to Atlanta to watch the Los Angeles Rams play the New England Patriots. An interesting mix of teams because I had lived in LA for 4 years at this point so I was coming around on them and, like everyone who isn’t a fan of them, I absolutely despise the Patriots (though I do recognize them as an unbelievably successful sports franchise. That’s probably why they’re so universally hated). Going to the game was awesome and the whole Super Bowl experience is one of a kind. It was something I never thought I’d get the chance to do and am grateful for every second I had out there.
MARCH
Growing up in the mountains also taught me that not all ski slopes are created equally. We were spoiled in Aspen with the snow and access to ski it almost whenever we wanted. Up until a couple years ago, I had actually never skied in another state outside of Colorado. At the end of February I partnered with All Nippon Airways and flew out to Niseko, Japan to ski with some of my buddies for a week.
Japan is heralded as having some of the best skiing in the world. The snow is light and the mountains are awesome. The irony in this trip is that during the week we were in Japan, there was 0” of new snowfall and in places like Colorado and Northern California, there was about 12” of new snow accumulating every single night. All in all, I was still more than stoked to be out there skiing on mountains in a whole other country with some of my great friends. My plan was to return in January 2020 but, of course, shit happens.
APRIL
April is always the best month of the year, and not just because it’s my birthday month. Spring is my absolute favorite season. The warm weather, birds start chirping again, the plants start coming back to life and it all makes for some of the most peaceful moments. This April in particular was one of the biggest yet. As many of you know, I decided to move my life into a van full time in 2019 so I could travel more freely and more often. I made this decision in January but, after months of searching, I finally purchased my new home-to-be on April 27, 2019 in my hometown of Basalt, Colorado.
I plan on writing in greater depth about this too so I’ll spare most of the finer details but this decision wound up being one of the most influential on the rest of my year, and one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
MAY
May yielded one of my favorite trips of all time. It was actually my birthday present to myself. I was sitting in a parking lot, about to go into my climbing gym, and I came across a post on Instagram of an unbelievable landscape and I knew I had to see it firsthand so I booked a ticket right then and there to fly me to China in a couple weeks.
China was one hell of an experience. Never in my life have I traveled solo to a place where communicating with the locals proved to be so challenging but so much fun. Every single day was a new adventure and didn’t disappoint. Nine days in China by myself was an experience I’ll never forget and one that I hope to get to do again sometime very soon.
If you’re thinking about traveling to China, be sure to check out my blog post on it, where I outline all my costs and the planning process, including how and where to acquire a Visa.
JUNE
June was a big month for so many reasons. First, it was the month I officially moved out of my house and into my van full time. The renovation process took a little over a week once I got it to Los Angeles and then I had to coordinate the rest of the move. It’s challenging to minimize all your worldly possessions from what we’re used to having and fitting it all into 62 square feet.
For those that follow me from the Bachelor franchise, June was also a big month for me because that is when we filmed Bachelor in Paradise down in Mexico. After a lot of back and forth on whether or not I wanted to actually go, I decided to take the chance and see what happens. It was smooth sailing at first, then got a little rocky in the middle, but it all worked out for the best because I left the show with an awesome girlfriend who loves to travel as much as I do and even doesn’t mind spending time in the van. Eventually I’ll write a dedicated post to my time on the show and I’ll detail this whole experience a lot more but, for now, I’ll leave it at this. June was a good month.
JULY
Almost immediately after returning to LA from filming I left for Europe for about three weeks. I met up with some friends in Greece to sail around the Greek islands for a week, visited Spain to run with the bulls (an experience I don’t regret but, for many reasons, would never do again. As I’ve mentioned above, I plan on writing more about this), and then jetted off to Italy to spend some time with my girlfriend.
But my best memory from this month came once I got back to the U.S. and took my van on its inaugural road trip. I drove it from LA -> Tahoe -> Boise -> Jackson Hole -> Moab and back to LA. The van did great, I got to bring my beautiful little puppy with me, hang out with my brothers, and just all around have an amazing, care-free time traveling around the country. I need more of this in 2020.
AUGUST
That road trip in July bled into the first week or so of August when me and both my brothers met up in Jackson Hole for some much needed bro time. I spent about a week in Jackson just hanging out and spending time with my one brother who lives there. We hiked a bunch, explored the town, and I got to visit Yellowstone for the first time. But after a week my other brother showed up and was determined to climb to the top of the Grand Teton via the Upper Exum route. I don’t know if they would ever admit to this but I think the original plan was for just them two to climb it together until I invited myself and told them they couldn’t do it without me.
We spent two days in the Tetons together hiking and climbing until we eventually reached the summit of the Grand. This was hands down one of the most fulfilling moments of my whole 2019. To be able to stand on top of this massive peak with two of my favorite people in the whole world was exactly what I needed and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
SEPTEMBER
September was yet another glorious month in 2019 for me! I had a couple missteps in September that limited me a little more than I would have liked but that’s just life, sometimes you get slowed down just a bit. Climbing in the Tetons I slipped and slid down a glacier high in the mountains and wound up in a pile of rocks with a (self diagnosed) fractured ulna. A few weeks later I was in Denver for Broncos opening day and fell hard and awkwardly on my shoulder which led to a (also self diagnosed) torn rotator cuff. Despite the limitations that came from these injuries I still did as much as I possibly could.
It started with a climbing trip in early September to Zion National Park. Unfortunately, since I wasn’t able to lift my left arm above my head, I was relegated to photographer and spectator. But c’mon, it was in Zion NP, one of the most beautiful places in the world. On this same trip we hiked Angels Landing, a bucket list item for me, and through the Narrows of Zion. I was here with my brother and two of our friends who were perpetually stoked to be doing the things we were doing. Can’t ask for more than that.
Later in the month I made my first steps ever on the continent of Africa. To me, Africa seems like the great white buffalo, somehow almost unattainable. It’s so large and imposing with so much to explore. It’s far enough away from the USA, and culturally so different, I think it deters a lot of people from wanting to make the extended journey out there. I know one day I will be able to pay a visit to Africa proper and hopefully spend an extended period of time exploring the country and meeting new people. Egypt was just the tip of the iceberg. I have wanted to see the pyramids in person for as long as I can remember so I booked a flight and spent just over a week exploring the culturally rich country. There’s more to write about in regard to Egypt and I will do so eventually. Be on the lookout for that post coming in 2020!
OCTOBER
The first trip of October sent Caelynn and me to Hawaii to celebrate my best friends sisters wedding. We visited the island of Maui and got to kick back and relax on the western side of the island in the resort, but also venture out and explore a little more of what the island has to offer. Hawaii is world renowned for its tropical landscape, waterfalls, and unbelievable landscape. A few waterfall hikes, good friends, and riding a motorcycle to and from the Road to Hana made for an epic trip. Yet another trip I’m excited to write more about. Turns out Hawaii is expensive. Who woulda thought?
I don’t talk much about my rock climbing endeavors and there’s a reason for it. Simply put, I’m not that good and it’s something that still terrifies me but I love doing it anyway. My friends are usually the ones putting up routes and I’ll follow up behind them cleaning their gear. The more I do it, the more fun it becomes and, in 2019, I made some fulfilling strides in the sport. I started leading bolted 5.10’s and getting more adventurous with the trips and routes I was willing to try. In mid October my buddy and I took a trip to Red Rocks National Park to climb for a week. The highlight of my month was climbing Epinephrine, a 1,600 foot tall, 13 pitch mega classic with ~500 feet of chimney climbing that was soul crushing. We started before sunrise and didn’t get back to my van until about midnight. A few scares along the way and questioning whether we were going to have to sleep on the peak or not all made for one of my favorite experiences of the whole year.
NOVEMBER
As I write this I keep reminding myself of all the fun things I got to experience last year. I thought it’d be a lot easier to pick one thing from each month that was the clear cut favorite but it’s turned out to be a little more challenging than that. November was no different because there were two trips that completely blew my mind.
I already wrote about this here but Havasu Falls was the trip of a lifetime in one of the most scenic locations in North America. Better yet, it was all put together by my lovely girlfriend! How did I get so lucky? We spent 4 days and 4 nights on the reservation, camping and hiking through the area, gawking over the waterfalls and swimming around in the pools. The time of year left us with shorter days which was kind of a bummer but, at the end of the day, it just gives us a reason to visit again during summer.
Not long after Havasu, we took a trip to Guatemala to climb some volcanoes. I wrote about it here if you’re interested in seeing how much it cost and how we went about planning it. Earlier in 2019 my plan was to visit Guatemala alone and experience this trip by myself but I’m glad I got to take it all in with Caelynn by my side. Not only were the views impressive, the erupting volcano mind-blowing, but she continued to surprise me with her persistence and determination to climb things with me.
DECEMBER
And here we are, at the final month of the year. After all those overwhelmingly positive and awesome months, it only makes sense that we finally have one that isn’t all smiles and rainbows. The month started out as great as ever, with trips to Ireland and Saint Lucia, but things were destined to come crashing down later in the month.
As I wrote about here, I had a ski accident on December 23rd while in the Swiss Alps. Resulting in a fractured femur and dislocated hip that required surgery and 5 screws + a plate to be put in my right hip. A tragic ending to a year that was entirely waaaay too good to me. The more I dwell on my injury the more accepting of it and, weirdly enough, excited about it I become. I didn’t go to therapy in 2019 but in 2018 I had quite a few sessions. My therapist once told me that I have a habit of digging myself into a hole just to see if I can get myself out of it. Whether that be financially, romantically, or (now) physically. That’s exactly what happened to me here. Things were going far too well so I had to find a way to put myself back in the hole just to see how I can come out the other side stronger. I’m not mad about it. In fact, I’m excited about the recovery process. Life was too easy for too long in 2019. It’s frustrating that I’ll have to work hard just to get back to where I was but that process of achieving milestones week in and week out will provide more value in the little things. I’m looking forward to it!
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are a few things I’m really proud of that don’t have one specific moment I was able to share above. For one, I’ve been really happy and having a lot of fun with learning more about photography. I made it more of a priority in 2019 and I feel like I really started to see a difference in my ability and am proud of the progress I made. In 2020 I plan on focusing on it even more and hopefully continue to make strides with it. I’m really glad I took the chance to focus more on it, it’s been one of my favorite new hobbies that I picked up!
Launching this blog in 2019 was a big step for me too. It might not seem like much but I’ve had this idea for over a year and to finally put the wheels in motion and get it posted took a lot more than I originally thought it would. So far I’ve been really happy with how it’s going but I know there are things I can be doing better and I will continue to refine and work on the finished product. I still have plenty of old trips to write about but I’m interested to see where this whole thing ends up. I appreciate all of the support I’ve gotten here too, it wouldn’t be possible without all of you! When I receive a message about helpful a post was or how it inspired someone to mirror a trip of mine it fills my heart with joy.
I receive a little bit of flack online for not sharing more about my relationship either here on deaniebabies.com or on Instagram, but that is intentional. in 2020 I plan on continuing on the same way. What we have been doing has been working and our relationship only grows stronger every single day. I think by keeping it more private, it allows us to cherish and hold it more dearly to ourselves. That said, if you’re interested in hearing more about my relationship, you can always tune into my podcast; Help! I Suck at Dating. I can’t believe we’ve been around for four calendar years now! We started it in September 2017 so, yes, I’m cheating the system by saying four calendar years but c’mon, that’s pretty cool! 2020 will hold more of that and hopefully me, Jared, and the #suckarmy only continue to get better on our quest to suck a little bit less.
RESOLUTIONS
Normally I’m not a fan of resolutions but for the sake of this post I’ll quickly mention what I plan on accomplishing in 2020. First things first, I am going to focus heavily on my recovery. I hope to walk out of the doctors office, without crutches, on February 3rd (exactly 6 weeks after my surgery). From there, physical therapy and rebuilding muscle will be incredibly important. I’m beyond optimistic I’ll have a full recovery and get back to doing all the things I love in no time.
I’ll continue to focus on my photography and hope to see more improvements as the year goes on. In fact, I have a brand new mirrorless Nikon Z 7 that I finally get to get my hands on. I’m looking forward to learning the ins and outs and seeing what it’s capable of.
I’d really like to transition to a completely plant based diet in 2020. I haven’t talked to my ortho yet about how it’ll affect my recovery but I think it’s a good goal to set. Even if all that comes from it is eating less meat. I think this will be the most challenging thing of all in 2020.
I also want to get back in shape. In 2019 I got a lot stronger in my legs and my conditioning improved but I also gained a little bit of weight because I stopped working out. My core and arms took the biggest hit from my lack of exercise so I hope to get back to a place where I’m happy with how I look with my shirt off. If not for me, at least for Caelynn.
I’m always interested in hearing about other peoples resolutions. What are some of yours? Do you think there’s anything I need to add to mine? Also, I’d love to hear about your 2019! Is there one specific moment that really stood out to you?
The comments on my Switzerland post were beautiful and I read every single one of them. In 2020 I’ll do a better job of responding to comments but I do appreciate all the comments and feedback I get!