My daughter and I worked for a few hours at the Beaverton Giving Gardens. While we were there we met a couple of travelers with an interesting story to tell. 

This morning, my daughter Tessa and I volunteered at the Beaverton Giving Gardens, a community garden which gives most of it’s produce to families in need. We volunteer with basic tasks, hauling mulch, weeding, pruning, and planting. The best thing for me, is that every time we have given time to the garden, we have met interesting people. Today was no exception.

Jennifer and Deron, formerly of Los Angeles, currently with beans.

Deron and Jennifer are travelers, in the process of escaping from Los Angeles. Deron was a lighting technician in the entertainment industry and Jennifer is a teacher. Deron says, “After working for twelve years, often sixty hour work weeks with an erratic schedule, it was time to do something different.”

Thus, they made a plan. They are going to live in four cities around the United States, staying in each city eight weeks. After that they are going to make a decision on where to move permanently. It is an ambitious and courageous plan as they are now effectively homeless.

What added an extra layer of interest was that while they are traveling, they are volunteering. Not only to give something back to the communities they are staying at, but Deron is using it as a way to learn more about sustainability and potentially move into that field professionally.

My daughter Tessa and the beans she picked

And so, as a group we harvested tomatoes, tomatillos, and beans. We pruned plants, sweated and chatted. We talked about the courage it takes to embark into the unknown. We talked about how it takes a budget and discipline. We talked about careers and kale. We talked about doing something meaningful with the time we have.

If you have any ideas for Jennifer and Deron on sustainability careers, volunteering options and ideas for them to pursue as they volunteer their way around the country, please send me an email and I’ll pass it along to them.

It was a great connection with a couple of nice people on a beautiful late summer morning.

I wish the happy couple well on their adventure!