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Car Living and Dogs

• April 2015
• Hi Steph Simple Living Dogs

Hi Steph,
My names Shannon, and right now I’m a senior at CU Boulder studying evolutionary biology and ecology. I just read your book high infatuation, and i guess you could say it was kinda life changing and spoke to me. I just started rock climbing about three months ago, and I love it. When i visited moab, I fell in love with indian creek and that type of climbing. I would really love to move out there and dedicate myself to that type of climbing. However, I am still a beginner and do not even know how to trad climb yet. How do i find like minded people to climb with and teach me because i am willing to learn. Also I have a dog as well, and i was thinking about just car camping while living in moab, but what did you do with your dog when it got so hot during the days. I mean i guess you worked nights at the restaurant? but did you ever have a time where you could not take her with you and what did you do with her during the hot days? I guess i just need some advice on how to go about all this. Also finding a job in moab, I still would like to keep environmental aspect of my life, encouraging people to be sustainable and renewable and make this a better place! Im just worried i won’t find a job out there like this that also give me enough time to dedicate myself to climbing.
Thanks
Shannon

Hi Shannon,
One reason I live in Moab is that sometimes it takes a village to raise a dog. My first dog, Fletch, met me when I was living in Moab in my truck. So when her original human said I could have her, that was a pretty major concern for me. Also, knowing I’d be leaving the country a lot on expeditions was a big issue. Before I made the decision to have Fletch, I made sure that a couple of trusted friends (who loved Fletch) would be okay with having her stay with them for months at a time. Of course when Fletch got old and had problems with arthritis, my whole life revolved around doing things that were good for Fletch. But for many years, we spent almost all our time together, and when I was away, she stayed with other friends who loved her.

Right now in Moab, my two favorite dog friends have humans who are working (waiting tables and guiding) and don’t have permanent homes at the moment. This is great news for Cajun and me, because Frankie and Slack are over here, and sometimes spending the night, a lot right now! Frankie and Slack can stay here as much as they want, so it’s definitely a win-win for all.

So my key beta for having a dog when you are living a somewhat itinerant lifestyle is to make sure there are some people who love your dog and have a good dog situation at the moment, and are psyched to have him/her stay with them on occasion. In Moab, all of us climber/dog parents often arrange to send our dogs off with someone else even for day outings if we know someone else has better dog plans going on.

Moab is growing, and the majority of work is associated with tourism, but there is a college coming which will change a lot. There are also a lot of jobs associated with biology and environmental work, especially with the growth of the oil and gas industry all around the Utah/Colorado border. So you may be surprised at the possibility of finding work that is associated with your study, where you want to be 🙂
🙂 Steph