Author Bio – Gig Schlich

Gig Schlich
Author Bio

It all started back in 1986…

I had been in the Navy (it’s not just a job, it’s a nightmare) for just over a year, without a break, when my roommate and I went on a road trip up the West Coast, hoping to shake some of the indoctrination from our buzz-cut skulls. The trip included stops at the summits of Mt. Shasta and the South Sister in Oregon, as well as a week on San Juan Island trying to get enough caloric sustenance out of our only free source of food – Dungeness crab. I firmly believe to this day that one actually expends more energy in getting to the good stuff than our metabolic systems can extract from it.

Gig, dreaming of being a monarch butterfly

Anyway, during this trip, I came to my senses. I had one of those brief moments that normally require extended periods of fasting, prayer, meditation, flogging, etc. to achieve. I suppose the Navy had, in an unconventional sort of way, provided all of these ingredients for my moment (new slogan? Join the Navy – achieve enlightenment!). After years of indecision about what I was going to do with my life after high school, I finally had a direction – any job I was going to be serious about had to be involved with traveling and the outdoors.

So, yeah, that was back in 1986. I got sidetracked a few times along the way. School got in the way. Actually, it still is, since this spring is my final quarter before I get my rather expensive piece of paper designating me as a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Journalism, courtesy of Western Washington University. Relationships got in the way. Checking out other paths definitely got in the way. I’m a firm believer in learning by screwing up, but I also have a fondness for exploring all the side trails, just to see if they might go somewhere more interesting than the one I’m on.

But even during these quagmired Middle Ages of my life, I had some great adventures. Bike touring from California to Montana. Solo hiking through the North Cascades and Banff National Park. Sailing the Florida Keys and Bahamas for four months. Tramping the South Island of New Zealand. A six-month work stint at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Diving in the Tongan Islands. Rock climbing in the Sierras. To date, they were the best times. But I plan to outdo them in the future.

Believe it or not, this is a deep tan for Washington

Even though I’ve joined the ranks of “responsible” citizens by acquiring much debt in pursuit of my degree and just generally trying to survive in this ridiculously expensive country, my goal is to be rich in experience rather than in material things. When time allows, my wife and I head out on kayak excursions and backpacking trips here in the Pacific Northwest, and try to make at least one trip abroad annually. That Unknown Power that runs the universe has blessed me with a kindred soul, and I am more ready than ever to explore the world, inner as well as outer, with her.

So now I’m back on my original path and looking forward to being over the school obstacle. At 39, I can’t afford to take as many tangential excursions as I used to. But after trying several items on life’s menu, I think I’ve found one that suits me well.

I hope that on these pages I can transmit some of the joy and fulfillment that my traveling experiences have given me. I also hope I might be able to convince those hesitant souls to get out there and see the world.

It’s not the scary place that the Department of Homeland Security would have you believe.