Where the hell am I? A discussion about first jobs in far places.

Here's a weird thought (to me at any rate): at my home in Austin, I'm four hours from the border with Mexico. At my home for the summer, I'm 2 hours from the border... with Canada.

 

Re: Jamaica.

My time with the Bennington Banner ended and I wanted some kind of adventure, so a buddy planted a seed and said, 'What about Jamaica?' One thing led to another, thank you very much, The Fixx, and I was on the island to be a photographer/copy editor at a large news organization. This was within weeks of Princess Di dying.

I worked ungodly hours shooting everything under the sun and moon, got higher than the highest star in the deepest stratosphere (one night I think I bumped into Kang and Kodos, but that's a different story) and had the time of my life. Covered every major musician, the "Reggae Boyz" during their qualification for the World Cup, elections (interviewing Jimmy Carter and Evander Holyfield at 7:30 a.m.), and one grisly homicide scene after another. Great 6 months. Wonderful people. Time of my life, kid.

 

Ditto. Chicago to Kalispell, Mont. Fuck Montana. I lasted six months and moved on to a much bigger, better paper. Missoula was OK, though.

 

Big metro area, where I'd grown up, to a small paper in Alaska when I was 21. I moved just a few days before Thanksgiving. It's the time of year you want to be with friends and family, and I was all alone and a long way from home. The loneliness was crushing at first, but I adjusted and made some terrific friends who remain so to this day, though I'm long gone from Alaska. One couple, in particular, was very kind to me and has become like family.

 

It's called growing up, making new friends, learning to be self-reliant far, far from home, spreading your wings in a new culture. My first job was 1500 miles from family and friends in a place as remote as Cheyenne/Sheridan/Casper. Your job is far more important than hanging out with old friends, and it's great to hear you love it.

Wyoming is beautiful. The Snowies, trout fishing by Saratoga/Encampment, the Wind River range, Sheridan, Devils Tower, the Ten Sleep area, a September football game at the War ... check out DuBois, Cody and Lander, nice, scenic small towns, the Star Valley up near Afton, the Cavalryman restaurant in Laramie, the Wolfe Hotel in Saratoga, climb Mount Jackson, get a cheap ice cream cone at Little America (either location), head north to Little Big Horn or east to the Black Hills or south to ski in Steamboat, Fort Laramaie near Guernsey or even the Boner Ranch near Lusk ... You can go to Teton/Yellowstone after Labor Day after the touristas have split, and the Flaming Gorge is not to be believed.

Of course if you're in Rawlins, Rock Springs, Green River, Gillette or Greybull/Worland. all bets are off.

Plus you'll get to meet Bob Hammond someday. The last of the old-school journalists in that state.

 

First job was close to home.
Second job was on Guam. I was 27 and unattached, so I figured 'Why not?' I went through some homesick blues. The job wasn't what I'd hoped. I had the homesick blues, and I was drinking way too much. I finally picked myself up and figured out that I was wasting a great experience. I switched from sports to news, which made the job more interesting, which in turn caused to quit moping and drinking all the time.
Overall, it was a great experience.