January 10-12, 2018 -  Took a few days lol

One thing I've learned from other successfully individuals and/or companies, is being transparent! So many have hidden agendas, shady deals, two-faced, scams, and all that other bullshit. I'm going to eliminate all of that from the start. I would much rather be straight up with everything I am doing. So this journal entry is going to be a longer one. It's going to layout how I am positioning myself as a business, my business mission, my personal focuses for 2018 (and beyond), and upcoming adventures.

Let's start off with Rozyboom Adventures LLC. I started a business with my eyes on selling prints. I wanted a place to showcase the photos I love while on my adventures around the world. Photography is a huge passion of mine. I can take pictures and never share with anyone. But I fell in love with sharing them on my adventure logs and Instagram. I enjoy seeing peoples reactions viewing my art. My mission is to influence people to fuel their passions in life, spread the love, and showcase our beautiful planet.

I thought selling my art is a great way to achieve my mission. Said that, I believe if you truly want something you will make it happen. I fail to see any reason to push anything on anyone. Yes, selling print is my intensions to ideally make a living, travel the world, and fuel my passions. But I don't want to constantly advertise BUY this BUY that. That is a quick way to lose the spark doing something you love. I will post here and there to promote my art for purchase, which will help me continue my adventures. Keep in mind I'm constantly adding to my galleries as the adventures unfold too. Even if you don't purchase anything, you can always donate. But again, don't feel obligated. I am not going to call you out if/when I see you in person. This is my passion. I am going to be doing it regardless, but a little help is always appreciated. Plus, if I can have the quality of life I am striving towards by selling my art, even better!

Let's dive into my focuses for 2018 and beyond. Past few years, I have been focusing on a few aspect in my life. The biggest one is improving my physical and mental health. Injuries, depression, and illnesses have kept me down over the years. It comes in waves, but I've never lost focus on what I want to achieve in life. I'm determined to keep progressing myself across all the activities I love. This has been and will always be a major part of my life. Said that, I do need to step it up and make some changes to the way I train. Each time I get injured, it takes that much more energy and focus to get back into the game. I've had a horrible track record for getting injured almost every ski season, which cascades into my other activities like mountain biking. I hardly did any biking last year, was mostly all on paved trails. That is a huge passion of mine and I miss it. But I was always focusing on pushing weight over mobility, recovery, and yoga. I thought being super strong was needed to do all the big jumps and tricks, which is not really the case. Well I am not one for tricks anymore. I like the flow and beauty of just ripping it up and being out there. Yeah still have some style but not getting sucked into having to land a big trick. I can enjoy watching the young rippers progress the activities instead. I would rather keep my body in tack so I can enjoy all of my passions throughout the year and into my old fart years. Plus in the years to come, I am going to transition towards bigger mountain, deeper backcountry, and longer adventures. Upping the challenge overall, but I need to further develop some technical skills first. 

So this year I am changing my focus, adjusting my plan, and really diving deeper into areas I know need improvement. Wrists, neck, and back are the major areas I have broken and/or jacked stuff up. I want to finally be able to do handstands, ski/bike without a sore neck, and strengthen my back/core all while keeping mobility, flexibility, and stabilization as my priority. Endurance is another area I want to improve, which I will be biking, running (yes you read that right), hiking, and training more cardio focused over heavy ass weight. Yes, still lift heavy here and there because there are still huge benefits from it, but focus more on the other areas. Figuring out a better way to keep my frostbiten toes warm too! Been an issue skiing, but so far I have made it work. At the same time, making sure I am putting the proper intake into my body to get the results I need. Staying away from the shit that makes me sick, rundown, and tired. I have this pretty dialed in but one can always make improvements. Really need to cut out the sugar, which is not a ton. But my body does works better on fats!

Another major focus is on needs over wants. I have been in debt for years because I just spent money without really thinking about it. I tend to spend it faster than I received it. Towards the end of 2017, I decided enough is enough and I needed to make some adjustment. This year, I am going to attack my debt head on! I want to get to the point I don't own anyone a cent, which is totally obtainable. I am however, still going to go on adventures and looking to get a 250cc motorcycle. It will become my daily driver to save a ton on gas going to and from work, use for some adventures, and so much more. Big plans for it! Everything outside of that will need to be evaluated. Yes, replace worn out or broken gear, but see if I can fix it myself first. Take care of what I currently have to make it last. Sell the things I don't need/use too. Plus, get a part-time gig, which I have a catering job I can capitalize more in the spring/summer/fall and probably see if I can work REI seasonal again. We will see.

What adventures are coming in 2018?! Let me tell ya!

January: Already went on the first ski trip of the year. Was a spur of the moment trip up to Mount Bohemia, MI for two days of skiing, see mini adventures. Great turn and burn trip, super low cost, and amazing skiing. Later in January, a group of us are going up to Mount Bohemia for a couple of days. It's an annual trip we all like to take and look forward to.

February: Norway for 10 days. Traveling around northern Norway with one of my adventure partners, Nick. We did 90 day backpacking Outdoor Educator (2014) and 14 day Alaska Mountaineering (2016) courses together, with NOLS. During Alaska, we missed seeing the stars due to being 23 hours of daylight. Towards the end of the trip we decided we needed to chase the Aurora someplace in the world. Year passed and we decided to pull the trigger on a trip. We landed with Norway. Booked flights, rented a 4x4 van, and now are just waiting to fly over. Before Norway, I might see sneak another spur of the moment Bohemia trip.

March: Massive 2.5 week road trip out west. Skiing is the main focus. Sleeping/living out of my Jeep most of the time. There is a solid chunk some of my buddies are going to meet up with me. Few days into the trip, they are meeting me in Salt Lake for some skiing, if they get snow. They will continue with me down to Havasu Falls, still waiting to obtain out permit, fingers crossed. We will then continue onward to Las Vegas for a few nights. Seeing the Wild play Las Vegas (hockey), St. Patricks day, and March Madness all going on. The guys are jacked and so am I. After that, I will part ways with them and head towards California. Trying to see some friends out there, skiing, national parks, and whatever else I get myself into. After that, start heading back home, crossing through Colorado. Ideally, seeing some friends there too, skiing Vail (for the first time) got a pass and want to use it. Not planning on getting one again, but I got to see what the hype is all about. Pretty much last time I will have a Local Epic Season Pass, so I will be hitting all the resorts tied to it. I will of course be making stops along the way to capture some awesome photos. I am also going to test out working remote (well hoping to boss has not said yes or no yet), which would be awesome. It would allow me to test it out and not burn to much PTO, I'm looking at my long travel days to be remote days. Days I am skiing or hiking to be on PTO. Not 100% sure yet. If he does not allow me to, I am going to take PTO for the whole trip. My push is for remote, which will help setup me up for success later in the year. I have been striving towards working fully remote, which I currently get 1 day a week right now, but would like to up that. That way I am not burning PTO days just get someplace.

Rest of the year: Memorial and Labor Day weekends will be paddle trips for sure. Boundary Waters, Apostle Islands, get some Jeeping in, and other weekend trips too.  Like always, almost every weekend I am going to be going someplace to paddle, mountain bike, camp, hike, and capture some awesome landscapes. Trying to keep my overall cost down for the rest of the year (heavy/spendy winter) but there is still plenty of awesome adventures I can go on. I have some rivers I know I want to paddle.