A Full Life

Happy Wednesday! One thing you should know about me is I love, love, love the cold weather. Call me crazy, but something about bundling up to go outside, making your home cozy for the winter months, and of course, the weather being the perfect backdrop for the moodiest music ever is my personal chicken soup for the soul.

As we ease into the colder months, I feel like I’m reminded why I love living in Colorado — and living in Denver — every single day. One of my favorite writers penned an open love letter to New York City a few weeks ago, so I thought I’d tap into the gratitude reserves and do my own version about Denver.

Backcountry Chronicles

I’ll be forthright: I’m probably Denver’s biggest apologist. I could write 200 newsletters about how much this city challenged me, pushed me, and changed me, but I think these things are always handled best when they tell a story. So, the beginning: I moved here almost three years ago to the date (almost a toddler!) at the ripe age of 26.

After almost four years in New York City, I was in one of those uncomfortable cycles where I didn’t know where I wanted to be and yet I knew New York wasn’t my place anymore. I’ve always felt like in periods of growth, you get pushed from before you get pulled to (I think the more eloquent way to say this is before expansion, there must first be contraction) so I told myself to lean into the push and trust wherever it throws me.

I came to Denver in June of 2021 for a 2.5 week long AirBnb stay to get a more long-term idea of Denver and suss out if I could envision myself here. If you’re scoffing at the thought of 2.5 weeks being coined as ‘long-term’, please allow me to call the prices of AirBnb’s in the Highlands to the stand. No further questions, your honor.

I’ll spare you the details (mostly because the details are excruciatingly long and even more personal), but after that 2.5 weeks I knew this place was my next home. Three years later, I still have the same amount of pinch-me moments looking at the mountains or walking to a coffee shop to meet friends, who feel like lifelong friends, that I didn’t even know a couple years ago (crazy how that works, huh?)

On top of that, my reasons for this love letter to Denver are 80% altruistic and 20% spiteful. I’m 29, which means I’m in that phase of life where friends settle into long-term relationships and sometimes drop off the face of the earth. Friday nights spent socializing feel like they’re more often spent with a significant other watching movies and cooking dinner — which is beautiful! And romantic! And special! I do it too! — but my frustration kicks in when those same people start talking about how they’re ‘over’ where they live; about how Denver is lame, or boring, or there’s not anything going on.

Of course, to each their own, but in my experience, input equals output when it comes to community. There seems to be a crisis amongst our generation, and more notably Gen-Z, with this. There’s an entire subculture of memes about how great it feels to not leave the house, there’s legitimate evidence that no one ever hangs out anymore, with just 60% of teens reporting that they spend ample time with friends each week. Even with the lack of third spaces, the rise of remote work and cell phones (ie: spending endless hours on our iPhones) could allow us to still experience the company of our friends and family while we’re at home — yet we choose not to.

If you sit at home all day and stare at your phone, life is objectively less interesting. Especially after a global pandemic, it’s easy to feel like we’re all victims of our circumstances: of a broken society, of late-stage capitalism, of the ugly years that follow the ‘good old days’, but the truth is, you get what you give. There’s community out there to be found if you’ll push yourself to find it. There’s life to be lived if you’ll let yourself live it.

So, here’s my quasi-love letter to Denver and all the reasons I think it’s an amazing place to live life.

Endless Things To Be Inspired By

Where do I start with this one? I’ve never felt more inspired in a city than I do in Denver. The live music scene, the art scene, the coffee shops, the seemingly endless small business markets/pop-ups, and of course, the mountains as the backdrop to it all. Everyone and everything is just so alive.

I was spoiled by the live music in New York. No matter how big or small, if I loved a band, I could almost guarantee they were coming to New York at some point. I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by how much that has held up in Denver. Besides the obvious answer of Red Rocks, the small venues continue to blow me away. From stumbling into a dive bar with live music to the Underground Music Showcase every August, you’re almost guaranteed to hear something you love.

On top of that, the art scene is my favorite I’ve ever experienced, bar none. Sure, there are plenty of cities with more galleries and more of an “official” art scene, but Denver is absolutely brewing with small businesses and ways to support them. No matter what neighborhood you’re in, there’s a 99% chance you’ll stumble upon some sort of farmers market, holiday market, or pop-up on any given weekend.

And, of course, the mountains. Having the front range as your backdrop to everyday errands never ceases to make me smile. You can be doing something as mundane as buying groceries and you’ll walk outside to a stunning view of Pikes Peak or Longs Peak on a clear day. It’s impossible to not daydream about where you can go and the adventures you can plan.

Exercise, Reframed

Whenever I exercised pre-Denver, I did it for one reason: to look good (see also: to make myself smaller). Exercising here is always for a goal. I’ll meet up with friends at a climbing gym because they’re planning on taking on a big route in a few weeks. I’ll hit the gym and get really, really serious about weightlifting and cardio because I’m training for a big hike in a few months, or I’m just trying to make sure my muscles are as strong as possible heading into ski season. There’s a purpose and a goal behind exercise, which makes it so much more meaningful — even if the goal is to just get outside and clear my head.

The bonus? Exercising with a goal in mind helps you see such a positive feedback loop. A year ago when I first got into backcountry skiing, I signed up for a gym membership so I could get back into weightlifting and cardio to improve my uphill endurance. Then for the rest of the ski season, I got to watch myself PR on the uphill at Loveland again and again — and more important than PRs — I felt stronger and stronger every time I went skinning. There’s nothing more empowering than charging uphill at 6AM and feeling stronger than ever (bonus points if you get to wax a few dudes on the uphill, too)

Ambition Is Contagious

Denver re-defined my version of what success and fulfillment means. So many of us have the same story about hoisting ourselves up a corporate ladder without stopping to ask “Where does this thing even take me?”

I always assumed you just had to find the right ladder and continue to hoist yourself to the top. Maximize income. Maximize space in your apartment. Ultimately buy a house. Maximize title. Jump around to a new cool company. Etc. etc. etc. You get the picture.

Fulfillment doesn’t come from your job. I worked worked worked in New York and figured I’d just be happy once I got the new job or lost a certain amount of weight or got a cool new piece of clothing. When you’re surrounded by career success and wealth, you think career success and wealth are the way you find your happiness.

Proximity to the mountains and the outdoors allows us to feel small, constantly and feeling small begs asking the big questions: Who am I? More importantly, who do I want to be? What makes me happy? One year in Denver did wonders more for me than any other place I’ve lived.

Just Really Freaking Cool People

This last one is my favorite. Besides the fact that Denver is possibly the easiest place in the world to make friends, you’re surrounded by really, really f*cking cool people; from skiing, hiking, climbing, to sending all sorts of big adventures. Take, for example, a weekend last winter when a handful of my friends decided they wanted to ski Dragon’s Tail Couloir in Rocky Mountain National Park. While they were out there, they ran into other friends of ours who were doing another big adventure! Or, when Alex was on the way to a hut trip, deep in the backcountry, and ran into a dude we’ve played pool with in Crested Butte who was on an absolutely insane 30+ mile expedition.

If those examples don’t hit it home hard enough, here’s some of the accomplishments from this past year from myself and some of my close friends:

• Skied off a 14er

• Hiked the Four Pass Loop

• Ran the Four Pass Loop in one day (!!)

• Skied Silver Couloir off Buffalo Mountain

• Ran the Leadville 100

• Biked the Grand Traverse - and came in 5th place overall (!!!!)

• Skied the Power of Four (they missed the final cutoff by mere minutes, so I’m certain a redemption arc is loading)

• Made the decision to turn around on a 14er because of weather, thanks in large part to my new relationship with risk from learning for my AIARE1 (I’m extra proud of this one)

• Hiked a total of 15K vertical feet in one summer

All in all, I love this place. And I think anyone else can too.

Artiste Break

Some art I found on Pinterest as inspo. Sometimes the simple drawings are the best.

To Go Snacks

⛰️ All hail: the first episode of The Fifty Plus is live.

🎧 Another episode of the Rich Roll podcast to plug. Is it because he’s such a great interviewer or because he somehow manages to book the craziest guests ever? Probably both. Enjoy this episode with Alex Honnold talking about life after Free Solo.

💞 I just couldn’t not include this Substack article about the growing pains of life.

🌲 The Aspen tree-inspired Populus Hotel has opened its doors to the public in downtown Denver! It’s the first-ever carbon positive hotel in the country and the word on the street is the coffee shop downstairs absolutely rips.

🐺 Another spicy headline about the wolf reintroduction efforts in Colorado — since 2021, they’ve cost $4.7M to Colorado, less than the amount appropriated by state lawmakers. Who knew wolves were so pricey?

Catch you next time!

- McCall 🌻

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