The Decision That Changed Everything

In 2023 I quit my corporate job in Mexico, sold everything I owned, and moved to Canada.

It wasn't impulsive. It was something I'd been building toward for a long time. I knew I wanted to work in the adventure industry, but I also knew I couldn't do it from the outside. I needed to understand it from the ground up, from a guiding perspective, from the inside.

So I enrolled in the Adventure Guide Certificate program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC.

The program covered wilderness travel, rock climbing, white water kayaking, sea kayaking, swift water rescue, skiing and more. Each discipline pushed me in a different way. But what it really taught me wasn't any single skill. It was how to think in the field, how to manage risk, how to keep people safe when conditions change fast, and how much your life can depend on the person next to you.

Working as a team wasn't optional. It was survival. That shift in mindset changed how I approach everything.

One course stood out above the rest. White water kayaking. We ran the Skykomish River in Washington State and something clicked out there on the water. The river doesn't care about your plan. You read it, you commit, you adjust. And you accept that everyone, no matter how experienced, is between swims. That humility has stayed with me.

The program gave me the foundation I was looking for. Not just the technical skills, but the understanding of what it actually takes to deliver a safe, high quality experience in the outdoors.

It confirmed I was exactly where I was supposed to be.