I started working out when I was 14 years old. I had a pair of my dad’s old dumbbells and a jump rope. I’d workout in my bedroom, most likely listening to Minor Threat or Bad Religion. I’d always been active — playing soccer, skateboarding, running around the neighborhood, swimming in friend’s pools. Similar to these activities, working out wasn’t anything serious, but was something I enjoyed. Don’t ask me why. I mean, why do I like cardamom buns and punchy coffee? I don’t know, I just do. It’s something that was never hard for me to keep up with. 28 years later, I still love it. I’ve gone through periods of taking it more and less seriously, but it’s always been a part of my life and something I enjoyed doing.

I’d say the same about travel. It’s something I’ve loved and prioritized since my first experience leaving familiar surroundings and venturing somewhere new. Whether a road trip across the US or a flight across the ocean — being out of my normal environment and mode of being was not only exciting, but therapeutic. It not only made me feel a sense of freedom and adventure, like anything could happen, but it also made me reflect on my everyday life and see it from a different perspective. It made me want to make my life better and to focus on the important things, the things that really mattered. Health, relationships, contentedness — those things that were truly valuable. It gave me a feeling of hope for the possibilities the future might hold. It was priceless.

It wasn’t perfect though. I noticed when I traveled or was outside my normal environment, my fitness fell off, my healthy habits deteriorated, and my meals were often left to chance and hardly as healthy as they were back home. It took me a long time to figure out how to keep up with my fitness and health when I was living in a new place or traveling from place to place regularly. Although I loved the freedom I felt, I had to figure out how to take care of myself and after years of only knowing how to workout in gyms and eat healthy at home, I figured it out. This was after getting my CSCS certification from the NSCA and getting a Master’s in Nutrition, but I was finally able to travel and live abroad and keep my fitness up, keep my food healthy, and keep up with other healthy habits. I could leave my normal mode of being, reap the therapeutic benefits, and feel healthy while doing so.

After years of training clients in gyms and teaching about nutrition, I’ve taken all my personal and professional experience and put it into practice helping people who work remotely, are location independent, or just like to travel, create their own healthy and sustainable habits around exercise and nutrition. I love sharing my knowledge and experiences and look at myself more as a teacher than a trainer. My mission in creating Mazama Wellness is to teach people how to live a healthy life and inspire them to take control of their health and wellbeing from wherever they are in the world — as well as to provide a community for individuals across the world to share in.

@mazamawellness