Migrants Through Time

Today I dust off my keyboard and stretch my fingers for the first time in a while. It might have been almost two years since I last wrote anything here, and what have I been doing? What have any of us been doing but migrating through time?

Over the last 18 months, time has been anything but regular. It's flown by, dragged on, stumbled, slipped through the cracks... The time that has passed since COVID entered the scene seems at once both like a long time, and like no time at all. 

As hard as the pandemic has been for everyone, I was fortunate enough to have some sense of stability; after returning to California from my position with FoodCorps in rural Oregon, I worked on an organic farm at a wellness retreat in the Santa Monica mountains. It wasn't long before I was offered the opportunity to manage the almost three-acre garden, an opportunity that would become the next chapter of my life - until now. 

It's been over a month since the close of that chapter, and over a month since I've left California. For the first time since before the pandemic began, I felt free to consider leaving the country to see friends and family I hadn't seen in a long time. 

This story is about what has happened when I made the decision to do so. 

To make the most of a wonderful (and privileged) opportunity, I decided to first make a stop in Connecticut to visit close friends. Besides catching up, cooking dinner, and sitting together on the couch reading books (or napping), we spent a lovely, hectic weekend playing board games and playing at Sumo wrestling on a floating dock in the Atlantic. Besides getting obsessive about a card game called The Game (we all agree its a ridiculous name), we played multiple rounds of Terraforming Mars, a game that was new to me but one that I now can't wait to play again. But it's not the games that make those kinds of days/nights great; it's the people.  

From the East Coast, I flew to Brussels to spend the next two weeks with relatives in Belgium. Although we moved to the US almost 17 years ago, part of my heart and my identity will always be linked to my relatives and the country to which I was born. I am grateful that I got to see and spend some time with both of my incredible grandmothers and visit with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Time flies when you live on opposite sides of the world, and since my last visit to Belgium, babies had been born (both in the US and in Belgium), partners had come and gone, and many other changes had transpired despite the damper of a pandemic. But no matter the distance, family will always be family, and they'll be there whether you want them to be or not. 

A little hike in "Het Muzikbos"

A stroll with the cousins and co. 

As soon as I started making plans to visit Belgium, I knew I would want to combine the trip with the opportunity to volunteer once again at UTMR, the ultra trail race that takes place in Switzerland (see this post about my experience volunteering there in 2018). I messaged the race director, Lizzy Hawker, who was eager for extra hands on board. Like UTMB, UTMR (Ultra Tour Monte Rosa) consists of a set of five long-distance trail races, the longest being 170km (about 105 miles) through the mountains on incredibly technical terrain (read: very difficult). I volunteered for the event in 2017 and 2018, so I mostly knew what I was getting myself into. 

The Swiss town of Grächen, the home base of UTMR

Who said volunteering couldn't be fun?

Still, it turned out to be one of the most exhausting things I've put myself through. Due to an unfortunate shortage of volunteers this year, we were stretched thin (though certainly not as thin as the race directors themselves), and all worked to lessen burdens where we could, answer questions, and man the aid stations to provide runners with support, food, and water throughout the course. 

Because of all the work that needed doing, and partly because I had arrived several days before most people, I managed to work up some sleep deprivation, made worse by two nights of less than 2 hours each. Even in college I always had more sleep than that! My diet also went haywire; due to the constant adrenaline rushes and lack of down-time, I just did not manage to eat enough or rather eat much with any real nutritional value. 

My mother, Ann Ongena, was attempting the full 170km race again after a previous attempt, so I was also there to support her. By the time she arrive for race check-in, I was already tired and frazzled (sorry mom!), but I am glad that I could be there to witness the next couple days of her pushing through an incredibly grueling event. If I thought that volunteering was difficult and tiring, I can't even begin to imagine running for more than two days without any real rest at all! 

Despite my volunteer home base being the town of Grächen (in order to be around to assist the race directors and guide other volunteers and runners around town), I did manage to sneak in two aid stations: the first one I hiked to from the town of Zermatt with an incredible ultra runner who decided to sit out UTMR and instead volunteer because he needed rest after attempting UTMB the previous week and having run other ultras in the weeks before. We had a ton of fun manning the station together, despite the weird Swiss-German family running the mountain hut and boiling tea for us/the runners. After about 12 hours of disappointing runners because "no, I'm sorry, but we could not hike up with any coca-cola for you," we finally packed up, turned around, and ran down the mountain back into town. 

Checkpoint Trift

Because I was at this point: hungry, sleep-deprived, and emotional, I ended that night with a breakdown. Luckily, I had made some good friends amongst the volunteers, and they had stayed up that evening until I came back just to make sure I got some food in me (thank you, Sam and Kat). Volunteering at events like this may not always be fun and games, but this is why I love it: the people you end up being surrounded by are some of the best, period. 

The next day, some last minute changes in plans led to me hiking up another mountain to another checkpoint: Hannigalp, the last station before the finish line. The hike itself turned out to be a great opportunity to let go and just enjoy the fresh air, mountains, and cow bells off in the distance. I stayed there through the night with Sam, another volunteer, and we alternated shifts to both get a couple hours of sleep. By the time morning came around, I was expecting my mother to come through the checkpoint at any moment. I packed my bag, ready to jump up and finish the last 6 km by her side. 

Bada$$ as she is, she ultimately persevered through 51 hours of being on her feet, on the move, finishing 2nd woman in her age category, and 10th woman overall. Not to mention, she had suffered a nasty fall and still managed to finish, running!

After her first bit of sleep after more than two days of running, a little group of us went to dinner to celebrate her accomplishment. At this point, there was still much to do as a volunteer, but things definitely started winding down and soon I too was ready for the next leg in my journey...

After the race ended, I decided to spend a few days in Chamonix, France, to recover some rest and explore its amazing mountain ranges. Then I took a train to Munich, Germany to stay with two friends from college, before I was supposed to catch a flight back to California.

A little glacier stroll. 

But, surprise surprise! I decided to delay my return, and have changed my flight to a later date. I am "leaning into" my desire to be in Europe; to explore this aspect of my life and identity, to meet people, to continue developing my language skills, and to put together the next chapter of my life. 

Of all places I could be, I decided on Chamonix. I've been there a few times before for UTMB, but never in its "off-season"- that time between busy summer and winter tourism. There's mountains, glaciers, lots of international, outdoors-loving people, and numerous trails for exploration.

And that, my friends, is where you can find me now; typing this up from a little studio apartment right in the center of town. If you want to know more about what I will be up to, you can stay tuned for the next update or send me a message. 

With love,

Helena