Making the best decision of my life

I was deep into finals season and my drive for school was at an all time low. The overflowing bin of empty red bull cans beside my desk was proof of the past two weeks of sleep deprived nights and long painful days, I had never been more ready for a break in my life. 

Hi Steemit, my name is Basky and this is my story of how I dropped everything after my second year of university to go on the adventure I had been dreaming of since my first family trip to the Canadian Rockies. 

Bit of background:

Ever since I was a kid I have loved the outdoors, from a young age my parents encouraged me to spend as much time exploring and finding my love of nature. Camping trips were very common during summer and being centrally located in Canada(Saskatchewan) we took full advantage of the relative proximity to Northern lakes the Rockies to our West. I was 6 years old the first time we visited the mountains for a family reunion in Kananaskis Country(Alberta) and from the moment I saw the mountains growing larger and larger on the horizon I knew this was the place I would call home.

Going straight into my secondary education was not a the best move for me, after some serious pressure from my parents and extended relatives I had reluctantly agreed to go to school at the University of Saskatchewan to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. My first year wasn't horrible, but going into my second year, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle the entire way.

 

Now back to the story:

It was 8 am the morning of my final test, I had one hour before I had to be at school to write my math 224 (F***ing vector calculus in three dimension bullshit) and I was absolutely miserable. My three closest buddies had finished their finals and were leaving for a week long hiking trip to Yoho National Park(British Columbia) while I was stuck  writing a test I was nowhere near prepared for before starting a 9 to 5 job for my entire summer. 

Walking into that exam I knew I was screwed, the look of fear on my classmates faces solidified my feeling of unease. I sat down and flipped over my test I distinctly remember a certain clarity coming over me, a feeling of being totally and complete f**ked. I put my head down and battled through, skipping over questions I was unsure of until I reached the final page and looked up. I had spent about an hour writing and I'm going to be honest with you all, over half was left blank. I don't know exactly what pushed me over the edge, but seeing my test half filled knowing I was going to fail, realizing I had two hours of this hell left, and a feeling of complete unhappiness led me into the biggest decision of my life.

Without a second thought I stood up, walked to the front, handed in my test half blank and left. The only thing in my mind was the mountains and I'd be damned if I wasn't going camping and within the hour I bought my groceries, packed my 60 L backpack, packed up the necessities and called my parents telling them I was moving to Nelson(British Columbia). 

A few short hours of driving later, after spending the entire trip convincing my friends I was not in fact crazy we pulled into the parking lot at the start of the hike. I'm not going to lie to you, there were times where I questioned my decision. There were hard times where I missed my cushy job and steady routine of life at home, missed my friends and even school, but stepping out of the truck and getting that first breath of mountain air, looking around and seeing nothing but the peaks I had been dreaming of. That my friend is the moment I knew I had made the best decision of my life.

Photos of my adventures

Followup:

I hope you all enjoyed reading my story, it feels great telling so many in hopes that I might possibly help someone else stuck in the same position. If there is interest I would love to make in introductory post and share more pictures and stories of my camping trip and the adventures I had in in my year off.

Thanks for reading!