Au revoir L'été
I really don’t know why I decided to start off in French but now you know how to say summer en francais.
As I get older it feels like time goes by faster and faster. Do you remember when you were a kid and put on time-out for 10 minutes? Those 10 minutes seemed like an eternity while now as an adult 10 minutes are gone in a blink of an eye.
That is what happened this summer-it was gone in a blink of an eye.
“This year was the first year in the long time where the Kenai Backcountry Lodge shined.” This was something my manager said the last week of summer. It was also eluded to during our end of season discussions with our Operations Managers. As a first year employee this was very encouraging to hear. We have two other lodges that we work with at Alaska Wildland Adventures. Even though we work for the same company there is of course a bit of a competition between the lodges but I am not competitive at all 😉.
The success of our summer is due to many factors. We had the hardest working managers, exceptional staff and an idyllic setting. The weather even cooperated most days. We had a staff of 13 people who catered to a max of 19 guest. Have a small staff to guest ratio always helps with delivering good service. Surprisingly, after 4 months of being stuck in the back woods with the same 13 people all the staff were still enjoying each other's company till the day they left.
Highlights…highlights….highlights…
- Getting to drive boats-when I left Maui in the fall of 2020 I was very close to burn out but taking a break and doing some different boat work has helped rekindle my love for being on the water.
- Living in the Backcountry-yes, the bugs suck. There is no internet. You are over an hour drive from anything but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else this summer. Having the option to explore the lake or the mountains at any moment was liberating.
- Exploring other parts of Alaska = Marvelous. I am fortunate to have friends who were willing to lead me around or at least point me in the right direction when I had time off to go explore other parts of the State. Alaska is enticing.
- Doing a job that “hit” me in all the right spots- It was wonderful to being doing a job where skills from the various jobs I have done in the past were being used even ones from high school.
- Having friend visit-I was able to reconnect and adventure with many friend this summer. It was lovely being able to “show” people around my new digs.
- Camping-I didn’t get to camp much growing up due to other commitments with soccer so it was fun to go camping almost every weekend this summer.
- Working in a team environment-I love working as a team for a common goal. On the field, on a boat or at the lodge. It was so rewarding to hear how the team effort of all our staff paid off at the end of summer.
I think everyone can agree that this summer was unique. After a year and a half of weird our guests were ecstatic to be on vacation. Gratitude was the overwhelming theme exuding from our guests. They were grateful to be there, they were grateful they could travel, they were grateful to being doing something different after months and months of the same. I was often humbled by their appreciation and reminded to be grateful for the stunning place I got to spend my summer. It is easy to get burnt out when working in the tourism industry but I am glad when I am working I can take a moment to look around and see beauty. It always fills me up with joy, awe and peace.
Lord willing, I hope to be back in Alaska next summer. Hopefully still driving boats!
Lots of joy, Gillian
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