chloanr.blog

I’ve finally taken the leap and started a long anticipated, official documentation of the events in my life. Thank you, WordPress! I must say, blogging does feel a bit out of style, but I almost think it’s perfect for me. The last year and a half have been nothing short of insane, and I want a way to write about my stories so that I don’t forget everything that’s happened. First off, if somehow, we’ve never met let me give you a bit of my backstory.

My name is Chloe and I’m originally from Bellingham, WA. I love to take film photos, and any photography you see on this page will be my own. I graduated high school in 2023, and despite not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, committed to school in Montana with a plan to major in Business Administration. I got to school, hated my life, struggled with finding my people, quickly realized I hated studying business as well, and eventually transferred home after one semester to finish the year off at my local community college. I worked full time the rest of the year, saved up, and eventually went off on my grand gap year, that I had been dreaming of for years.

I started my journey with a road trip down the west coast with my best friend. We drove from Bellingham to Los Angeles, sleeping only in the car in sometimes very suspicious locations. Once we reached LA, we flew to Cancun, Mexico for a few days and then drove back up the coast all the way home. A couple weeks after we arrived home, I packed a way to large suitcase and flew to Ireland to work as a WWOOFer for two months. Afterwards, I settled back at home, moved out of my mom’s house and into an apartment with my best friend, and started working full-time as a Lifty at my local ski hill, Mt. Baker. I spent the winter skiing/working 6 or 7 days every week, always tired, damp, and cold, but full of life from getting to spend so much time doing what I loved. I skied 113 days the winter of 2024-2025, and I have no regrets from it. After the ski season ended in late April, I was left jobless and struggled to find a “normal” job in Bellingham. On a whim, I applied to work in Glacier National Park, heard back a day later, had my interview, accepted the job, and then prepared to move out to Montana for the summer.

I packed up all my things, donated lots of my clothes, fixed overdue issues with my car, and drove 10 hours out to Columbia Falls, Montana on May 31st, 2025. I had the most incredible summer of my life and planned on returning to school in my hometown in the fall. I was then presented with the opportunity to go out to Minnesota with a friend I had met in Glacier and thru-hike a portion of the Superior Hiking Trail. I obviously could not resist the offer and decided to push my return to school back another quarter, making my gap year officially end this coming January.

This blog will be used as an outlet for my immense nostalgia for what I’ve experienced this year, and a way to tell my many strange travel stories in depth in a way that I haven’t yet been able to. I hope you enjoy reading!