Hi my Name is Scott Kosasih. I am graduating from Mechanical Engineering in April of 2015 and I am longing for an adventure. One of my favourite ways to go on adventure is vehicle based travel. My first trip was back in May of 2013 where I bought a SUV just to go on a climbing road trip, You can read about it here: tricyclespace.blogspot.com. Since then I've done numerous small trips skiing and snowboarding, climbing and mountaineering trips. I even a road-trip last year in Europe. You can read about that trip at roadeu.blogspot.com. Perhaps I could start earlier but instead I'm going to this story at the beginning of 2014.
In 2014 I had a tough year, a very good and enjoyable year but tough. January 23rd I was in a car accident which injured my back and left me unable to do any physical activities. I am very passionate about climbing and snowboarding. I had a surprisingly quick recovery and towards the end of my recovery I embarked on a road trip around Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. I journeyed with my a few of my closest friends eating fancy food and drinking nice beer. We stayed at nice hotels and ate at nice restaurants. We did touristy things like visit car museums, breweries and beer festivals. I was thankful that my friends aren't normally active so I did not feel pressure to push myself physically. Travelling comfortably was strange to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the friends I went with.
From Left: Josh W, Ian, Me, and Phil and our rental Volkswagen Golf
From Left: Josh D, Phil, Daniel, Ian, Josh W, Marielle D, Me
After the trip I felt that I had recovered enough to embark on a road trip closer to my own preference. I plan to hit up climbing hotspots in Western Canada, Revelstoke, Skaha, and Squamish. I excitedly made preparations, but on June 6th, the day before I was to leave for my trip I broke my knee cap falling off my bike.
A few couple weeks after surgery: muscle atrophy sets in pretty fast.
2014 was still a good year. I spent time with friends, volunteered at Gull Lake summer camp, and just used my time to the fullest. I would not say it was a bad year, but a difficult one. The adventure I had was not crazy travels but the unexpected experience of finding myself without my passion for physical activities. It has given me a new perspective on where my identity comes from. While road trips and sports are a big part of what I enjoy it is not what makes me who I am. I have to face the reality that my body is only decaying, and another injury like this can easily take the things I love to do away from me.
Currently I have made a decent recovery. It is nowhere near 100% but it has healed enough for me to climb, bike and snowboard. I have given up on trail and cross country running, or at least until I make more recovery. I must be much more careful when taking lead falls on climbs. Longer hikes can be problematic for me, but mostly because I am a bit out of shape from the lack of movement. My gets very sore at times and I still walk with a bit of a limp. I avoid pain killers as I feel it is important for me to know when my body is hurting itself, which does mean I sometimes have to end activities early.
On February 7-8th I nervously ran in Race to 2025.
Our team, TBA, setting off on day 2 of Race to 2025
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