Thinking of chasing the neverending winter? I did the same, but here’s one thing I recommend: Build a homebase.
My life is pretty awesome. The last 5 years has been an almost never-ending snowboard season and I’ve seen and experienced more in those years than many people get to in 50 years.
However, mixed into all that travel and snowboarding is a lot of living out of a suitcase and constantly moving and packing my things. The one thing that’s really helped with keeping me going from winter to winter and back again was always having a ‘homebase’.
For the first few winter seasons in a row it was kind of chaotic for me. Each year I returned to Whistler from NZ and I had to find new accommodation and basically make a whole new set of close friends in a new home every year.
After a few seasons of that, I learnt to have a homebase. That feeling of living out of a suitcase is fun for awhile, but after a few years you kind of want a place you can put as your homebase. Something that doesn’t change.
Another season and another batch of friends in Whistler!
What’s a homebase?
It’s the place you spend the most time each year, where you’ve made close friends that won’t be leaving and someplace you can call your home. It’s that familiar place where you’ve build up routines and habits. It’s important because otherwise you’ll feel like you’re just constantly travelling and you’ll miss having friends that don’t disappear after 6 months.
That’s a big downside of snow seasons and meeting people. Many friends you make will be gone by the end of the season and you may never see them again. That’s why it’s important to have a homebase when following the neverending winter.
Make friends with people who live at your homebase. You need to have a place to come home to where you’ve got close friends you know and you can just relax and have fun in old, familiar routines and shenanigans.
Humans are creatures of habit. We like our habits and we like things we’re familiar with. It’s good to mix it up and go on fun adventures, but you also want a place to come home to that’s familiar to you.
Airports, constant packing and constant headaches sorting out travel arrangements can be put aside for awhile when you arrive home. That’s what a homebase is for and that’s why I recommend having one if you’re going to chase winter.