I think it was the night we got back, and I was jet-lagged and couldn't sleep and was sitting up. I remember all of sudden feeling emotional about the privilege that we had, and started to think about what that meant for my life here now that I was back. I think when we were in the village it was just very positive, the people that we were there with were very positive to let us be part of their community. Once returning home reflection on that we had a really extreme privilege in the world and how I related to the rest of the world. That night was a big turning point in what I wanted to do with the next few years that were coming up for college. I decideded that I didn't want my family to take out extreme debt for me to go to a very expensive college on the east coast. I think the trip made me realize that there were so many beautiful things in the world and there was so much to living and to not being excessive with wealth and privilege.
I've also thought a lot since Expedition Club that I've never truly found community again since then. I lived in Port Townsend for a couple of years after that and I kept taking Peninsula classes and I worked and I lived on my own and I had a great time being an adult and I traveled internationally and applied to new schools and felt really positive about it. But never really had a structured place to connect with people. I feel like I've spent the 6 years since then searching for that. That's probably another reason why I so fondly remember Expedition Club was because it was the last time I really truly felt connected to my peers in a community. And I don't think that's because I haven't been in great communities and done great things, I think it's because it was a structured time to consciously give your attention to other people and in another place. There are so few experiences in our lives where we have structured places. It's why kids love their sports teams.
I got really heavily involved in international fair trade and I'm sure I was drawn to that because of having traveled internationally to poor farming communities. That's what many of my years after high school were about: how am I gonna make the biggest difference possible?
I was riding on a bus through El Salvador discouraged about fair trade. And I had this idea that the one thing that we can do that's gonna make the biggest difference is to get a new generation that can think critically-that's all is it. It's not thinking right, it's not learning about the issues in a way that I think is right. But just thinking critically. And since that moment in 2006 I've been trying to find this path. We've got to get young people to think—just think! Asking how is this connected to something in the world, and how is that connected to something else. If we started to have an education system or education opportunities that had young kids who are trying to figure the world out and having experiences, and not just classroom experiences. I'm very passionate that experiences that take you even slightly outside of your comfort zone make you grow so much more. That kind of shock to their reality lets them grow as humans, just seeing more. Expedition Club has definitely taken me on that path: that young people need to see more and feel more and think more . And not be forced to do it but be inspired to do it. And Robbie is very good at that, and the Expedition Club is very good at that.
I think that one of the things it led me to is deciding to live my life by doing rather than by saying. It made me rethink my values. It has the potential to push people in whatever direction they're needing to be pushed in.
This is one of the gems of our community. And one of the greatest parts of it was that it was birthed here. It was created by the youth of this community.