My Blue Montana Skies Moment

Before I get into the rest of my Oregon journey, I should probably tell you about the stops I made along the way. One month into dating, my boyfriend thought about getting an app that could let us travel around the states for a low cost. He stumbled across this app called “TrustedHousesitters,” which only had an initial $120 fee and ran a background check. If approved, you can start applying to be a pet sitter for anywhere with anyone who’s looking for help while they leave for a period of time. Though you don’t get paid, you do get to stay in their house free of charge, so basically we could go anywhere at anytime for only $120. Our first sit was close to us in Portland and everything ran normal, so we decided to expand our search bar and look for sits in nearby states. Luckily, there was a perfect sit open in Big Sky, Montana.

As I was talking about in my previous post, I wasn’t feeling super at home in Oregon. Yes, there was some extremely beautiful sights, but I still lived close to the city and I was not a fan. To be completely honest, I pushed for our trip to be in Montana because not only could I use the much needed country peace, but I had also dreamed of moving to Montana since junior year. During lockdown, I fell down a TikTok rabbit hole and studied each of the states. There were other places that I thought about moving to, but it didn’t take much for me to realize Montana’s beauty is unmatched.

Before I was realized how horrible my hometown was, my original dream was owning my own restaurant in my hometown. But then, I discovered my love for writing and thought about being a travel writer or screenplay writer in California. However, I saw all the Hollywood allegations and thought if I would want that kind of lifestyle. Not to mention, I now know I’m not cut out for the city. It was junior year when I realized I wanted to live a quiet, cottage or farmer life and it was senior year when I realized I wanted to be a teacher. My current dream is to write about my travels until I find somewhere rural that I want to settle down in and then start teaching elementary school. That quiet place I always thought would be Montana.

If I’m being honest, it was a little hard at first being in Montana. Though I was planning to someday move to Montana before I knew my ex, he and I had talked about moving there together, buying some land, and having a rancher lifestyle. I was going to be a teacher, and he was going to be a mechanic. I always imagined my first time visiting Montana would’ve been with him, but that wasn’t the case. After the small moment of swarming memories, I saw I was in Montana with the right person. I left Fremont County to grow and I finally felt myself starting to grow. My current boyfriend would never break my heart out of nowhere and leave me questioning everything. He’s caring and I know he has my back no matter what.

Montana is still the best pet sit we’ve done. The people we were pet sitting for had a chill as hell dog, and a mansion with four bedrooms. They also were only an hour away from Yellowstone, and since my boyfriend was in the army, we were able to get in for free. In the mornings, we took their bikes and rode around the neighborhood, and at night we stargazed in the backyard. Not to mention, Montana was the trip where my boyfriend and I told each other “I love you” for the first time. That was the trip that nearly cemented me to Montana’s floor. There was incredible views, the people were sweet, the air was fresh, and my energy was endless. By the time we had to go back to Oregon, I wanted to cry. Montana was the first time since my big move away from home where I felt at peace.

Even though my original plan didn’t go according to plan, I realized that maybe it’s all a part of one huge, major plan. Sure, I thought by the time I got to Montana I would be with a different partner and friends, but the friends and current partner I did have were the best. Maybe I’ve had a few best friends and different relationships throughout the years, but in the end, I always end up where I’m meant to. Heartbroken or not, and in a relationship or not, I know I’ll end up exactly where I need to end up. My main realization was I needed to get out of the city ASAP, because you can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can never take the mountains out of the girl. Meaning, even though some of my friends back home thought I’d be a perfect city girl, I was not meant to live the city life. I knew that for sure when I had my blue Montana Skies moment.