Growing up in Denver, Colorado, I was never good at sports, but I could ski better than I could walk. I was a knee injury away from trying out for the Olympic Team.
After my father’s death, my mother left Colorado with my younger brother. I stayed behind for a gap year at Keystone Ski Resort, which became a professional ski career. My mother was shocked to see her debutante turn into a ski bum.
Ski to Live and Live to Ski
I lived to ski and skied to live – so many mountains and so little time. I would pick a new place to ski every few years or so and move there. The world is big, and your life is short, so travel as much as you can in the time you have. With my ski bum salary, it was the only way I had to see the world.
I worked and lived at eight different mountains over a 20-year ski career:
- Keystone Colorado
- Northstar Tahoe
- Copper Mountain Colorado
- Crystal Mountain Washington
- Stevens Pass Washington
- Alta Utah
- Mt Bachelor Oregon
- Whitefish Montana
I was a white water raft guide for my seven years in Washington, washing wetsuits in exchange for guide school and working as a volunteer firefighter to get my certifications. I ran every commercial river in Washington State and worked awful jobs in the shoulder seasons, like putting buttons on soundboards and as a flagger on road crews.
In an effort to become more financially secure, I moved to Utah for massage school and enjoyed teaching private powder lessons at Alta before the first chair. Nothing compares to Alf’s High Rustler early morning in fresh powder.
The Birth of Coleman Concierge
Fast forward five years, and I left Tucson with two new knees, a new husband, and a new hope to continue exploring the world. Together, we started Coleman Concierge to help ordinary people have extraordinary adventures.
The name “concierge” has confused many people. We loved the alliteration with “Coleman.” While working as a concierge at Hilton Torrey Pines, I advised people on where to go and what to eat all around San Diego. We don’t book trips at Coleman Concierge, but we provide detailed information on where to go and what to do, along with a healthy dose of inspiration.
Coleman Concierge is our vehicle to see the world and transition to life 2.0. We’ve moved from California to Florida and now the mountains of Alabama (such as they are). I’ve also traveled to 13 countries on four continents, having extraordinary adventures and sharing them with our readers, such as:
- Waking up on a floating platform on Cheow Lan Lake in Thailand
- Seeing the sun rise over Chichen Itza
- Visiting baby gray whales in their Mexican birthing lagoons
- Diving with bull sharks off Playa del Carmen
- Cycling on Ireland’s first rail trail
- Watching the sunset from a bubble tent in Wadi Rum
- Paddling in a bioluminescent lagoon in Puerto Rico
- Sleeping in an ice hotel north of the Arctic Circle in Norway in the winter when the sun never rises
- Trying to sleep in Lapland during the summer when the sun never sets
After eight years of dedicated travel and content creation, we are only getting started. I’ve found knee braces that allow me to ski again without risking amputation and have developed new passions like scuba diving that I can continue into old age. It’s not just about me because I’ve also seen firsthand how travel can positively transform travelers and the lands they visit. Ultimately, that’s what makes the long hours and late nights worthwhile.
FUN JENN FACTS
- I have many years of experience traveling and camping with cats
- The longest I have lived anywhere in my adult life is six years in Goldbar Washington
- I am a compulsive non-repeater
- I love to make up my own words to popular songs…or just meow them (I am a bit of a crazy cat lady)
- The first time I ever met a bear I was tied to a tree with a gentleman on belay working at a ropes course in northern California
- I love to dive but am afraid of fish
- I am mildly addicted to coffee, cats, travel and trashy tv
- I can’t type my way out of a paper bag, yet I’m a blogger…thank goodness for voice to text!!