Llama House Adk

It’s nice to have talented friends, thanks for the logo Eva!

At that moment, a switch flicked in my head. I started thinking of myself primarily as a lodge operator and not a tour operator. A little further down the road, and I stopped thinking of myself as a tour operator all together.

This decision was not made lightly but it helped to realize that the lodge was accomplishing everything I had set out to do with Live More Adventures. People were connecting through outdoor adventure… and my home was facilitating the experience. It frequently had the same magical spark I sought on my favorite LMA trips. And it was actually succeeding!

From then on, working on & improving the house became the top priority. I swapped out a confusing theme of naming the rooms after various mountain ranges to prominent themes in the Adirondack Park. The Alps became The Chain Lakes Room, The Rockies to The Firetowers, and so on. 

I happily painted over my initial room color choices with themes selected by guide turned interior designer, Eva. Things were starting to click and with each room I gutted, my ambitions grew as did the reactions from the guests (not to mention the number of guests!).

Magical moments happening at the lodge started to reach a steady flow. A pair of Italian sisters and their husbands congregated from 3 continents at my house for a week and fed me the best Italian food I’ve consumed outside of Italy. The first boat I guided of house guests featured a Belgium father & daughter, a Canadian, an Italian, and a couple from western NY. A French couple somehow hitchhiked to my house from Albany! 

I was thrilled that despite (mostly) sacrificing my personal travel ambitions, I was immersed in the travel community. The hostel-style accommodations seemed to self-select some of the most warm, carefree, generous, inspiring and excitable individuals I’ve been fortunate to cross paths with.

By 2019 all of the guest rooms had received at least one makeover. I tangibly felt as the house transformed from a nice home with a cool room or two into something truly unique and a special place to visit. That summer, I hit 100+ consecutive days of at least one guest in the house and for the first time in my entrepreneurial endeavors it felt like I was hitting my stride.

…And then Covid happened

The brakes got slammed hard on operating a hostel. After a bleak spring 2020, I felt fortunate enough to be able to adjust my operations and temporarily host private groups. I spent many weekends of 2020 camping with Wilson and roommate surfing with generous, local friends.

I nervously hoped the private groups wouldn’t destroy my home and that I wouldn’t infect some of my elderly friends during the pre-vaccine days. Fortunately my friends stayed healthy but a guest did fall through my ceiling and another group flooded 2 floors of my house. 

Nevertheless, I continued to feel exceedingly grateful for where I lived and this chaotic lifestyle reminded me of my first days starting Live More Adventures. It was easy to see that my struggles paled in comparison to the far greater hurdles that people were up against. I continued to ski, raft & run in the mountains as the outdoors became the best mental medicine one could ask for.

I hadn’t realized how special running my hostel had become until it was taken away from me. Even though I earned more with private group rentals I longed for the days when I could give that up for a bustling, mingling crowd. There were glimpses of joyous moments as I allowed myself to rent out a room at a time to cautious leaning guests while I resided in the house between private groups. Some of my favorite guests returned and I was able to have even more meaningful conversations with new guests with occasional 1-1 interactions.

I also took advantage of a quiet house to make project messes and continue upgrading the house. I ripped apart recently remodeled rooms and made them even better. I painted over my questionable paint color choices with far better ones not selected by me. I also made the best of the awful flooding situation I alluded to earlier and built a shiny, new bathroom which has been very well received.

As vaccines arrived, I slowly transitioned to allowing 4 and then 6 guests at a time in the house. I was even able to host Friendsgiving again which featured a 78 year age gap between the youngest and oldest of friends! Heading into the current winter I optimistically planned to operate a functioning hostel again. Then omicron showed up and it was back to mostly taking private groups again. 

Most recently though things are quickly trending to beautiful hostel vibes again. There was a full house the other day for the first time since 2019 and I was walking around with a big, dopey smile on my face all night. Impromptu board game nights are happening again as are new connections over rounds of foosball. People are passionately arguing about bicycle tire pressure and chasing first lifts. Things are starting to feel right in the house again.