The month of June, though slow to start, finally brought me into my jobs! Meaning paychecks! Meaning I can see a light at the end of this tunnel of financial turmoil! I don’t have the perfect career plan right now, but I was able to work both a full week of teaching Zoo Camp and a weeklong cruise contract to Alaska! This is the fourth summer in a row that I’ve spent time in Alaska, and I gotta say it never gets old. June also brought a cool new opportunity and a couple of neat friendships!
Destinations Visited
Sacramento, CA — 22 nights
Seattle, WA — 1 night
Juneau, AK — 1 day
Skagway, AK — 1 day
Glacier Bay National Park — 1 day
Ketchikan, AK — 1 day, but stuck onboard
Victoria, British Columbia — 1 day
The Highs
I finally started my summer jobs! Though they’re happening during sporadic weeks throughout the summer, and not all of my summer has been filled in with work, I at least have something to earn money again.
I BECAME A LYFT AMBASSADOR! I use Lyft all. the. time. and I highly recommend it as a cheap alternative to taxi’s. Wondering if it’s safe to ride around with strangers? Locals hired on as Lyft drivers go through background checks including driving history. You can also read reviews about them before they pick you up. Download the free Lyft app using the code AJAUNTWITHJOY and get $50 in ride credit! That’s $10 off each of your first FIVE rides!
Working seasonally on cruise ships, I constantly come across people I’ve worked with before. This contract I got to meet up with a friend and coworker who I’ve worked with in the past! As far as my roommate, there’s always that fear before I get there that I’ll be paired with someone who’s my total opposite in personality or schedule. Sometimes it feels like going back to college dorm room days. So glad to have gotten a kickass roomie this time!
Speaking of friends made on this contract, the first person I met (actually in the shuttle van on the way to the hotel before even getting on the ship) was a guest entertainer, Tyler Bryce. My coworkers and I spent a few nights in the crew bar with him, saw one of his shows, and gallivanted around Victoria with him. Turns out America’s Got Talent scouted him from his YouTube acts. He’ll be doing his singing voice impressions this season!
The Lows
My roomies and I were visiting a nature center to practice filming with my GoPro. We were on the riverbank when we saw teens on inflatable rafts floating by. They were paddling to a flock of geese and shooting them with high speed super soakers from about 2 feet away and completely stressing the poor things out! Just when I was about to yell at them to quit being dicks knock it off, I was super soaked by them myself! So instead I wound up yelling “Dude! Ya wanna pay for the GoPro I’m holding?! It’s not in it’s case!” — it was. I just wanted to make them feel bad. It worked and I got an apology before they floated too far to hear my goose tirade.
I had an interview this month with an awesome woman who runs a petsitting and dog walking service. She really wanted to hire me, and I really wanted the job. It’s a job that’s the closest I’ve found in this area to my interests, and one that I would’ve really loved. But due to my already too-complicated schedule I couldn’t take the job. There were too many other logistics to work out, so I sadly had to walk away from it.
Best Wildlife Shot
You’d think a cruise through Alaska’s Inside Passage would mean a boat load (Haa. See what I did there?) of wildlife. And it usually does! Maybe it was the fact that the youth center windows on this ship were crap for viewing, but I only saw ONE whale — and from a pretty far distance. I did get to hike a bit around Skagway, where I found this little Dark-eyed Junco. He was hopping around the ground pretty close to my feet, so I nabbed a photo of him before he took off. It wasn’t until I had uploaded my photos that day for editing that I noticed the grub in his beak!
Most Popular Instagram Shot
Funny that this photo of a grizzly I saw off the side of the road in Denali National Park is June’s most popular Instagram shot. Because it actually brings up memories of a very stressful and nerve-wracking situation. This was taken less than an hour before realizing I had missed the last bus back to my campsite for the evening. My tent was about a 5 hour ride away, it had started to rain, and I had nothing but a daypack filled with useless gear. See the caption of this photo on my Instagram to find out how it ended!
Featured Travel & Outdoor Product
Last month I became an ambassador for a small hammock company in Michigan called Rapid Hammock. They make and sell super strong lightweight travel and outdoor adventure hammocks that are fast to set up. They come inside of a compact stuff sack, so putting it away and fitting it into your daypack is easy! I was sent a free original hammock to test out and review.
Rapid Hammock also gave me a discount code to give to YOU, my readers! If you’re interested in hammock-camping or taking a durable hammock with you on your summer adventures, this is the perfect product for you!
Go here and use the code AJAUNTWITHJOY to get 20% off a Rapid Hammock original hammock! Disclaimer : To my knowledge, I don’t receive any form of payment from being an ambassador or promoting this product. I simply received a free hammock to test and my own percentage off of their hammock accessories. I’ve since fallen in love with my hammock and choose to promote the discount to benefit my forest-loving followers!
Goals Accomplished This Month
I was able to achieve a lot of little things on my goals list for this month. These included paying off certain bills, filming and video editing with the GoPro, reaching over 500 followers on Instagram, hiking, and lugging around my hammock to test out. I also rigorously searched for extra gigs and side jobs and found very few options. It seems there’s only a need for topless housemaids and birthday party princesses. Both of which scare me.
Goals For Next Month
I would like to bring back the Memorable Food and Memorable Lodging portions of these posts, and that means getting out more — and spending some money.
I need to practice filming with my Nikon D7100 instead of solely relying on the GoPro. Creating video’s with the two combined should increase the quality and allow me to get different kinds of shots. I also hope to learn more technical photography skills and put them into practice too. Know of any good articles or tips about this? Send them my way in the comments!
Posting more often has always been at the top of my list, but next month I’m hoping to start writing more on outdoor topics such as recreation, tips, gear, and sustainability.
Coming Up…
The month of July will bring me first to Olympic National Park in Washington State to visit my boyfriend who will be working there as a seasonal park ranger. I’ll be visiting over our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! *picks jaw off the floor* I don’t know where the time went, but I’m blessed to have spent it with someone so supportive of my dreams and travels, no matter how crazy or outlandish they are.
During the third week of July I’ll be teaching a Zoo Camp class again at the Sacramento Zoo. This one is all about turtles and tortoises (YAAS) and the campers get to learn about husbandry! I have another weeklong Alaskan cruise contract at the end of the month, as well. Getting excited for all the hiking I have in store! It looks like it’ll be a fun — albeit busy — July!
Download Lyft here using my code AJAUNTWITHJOY and get $50 in free ride credit! By you doing this, I receive a small payment from Lyft at no extra cost to you! This helps to run this site and I couldn’t be more appreciative! Thank you all! If you have any questions about Lyft, visit the site or contact me here!
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