Photo by Marcella Winograd on our trip, February 2019
I wanted to write all about something really amazing that happened to me in my life. For those of you who know me, I'm not what'd you'd call a very sporty nor outdoorsy kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, I love being outside. I love the beach. I love beautiful mountains and can appreciate nature with the best of them. The thing is, I'm not very typically, like active in said outdoor spots.
Historically, you could find Andrew Tyree enjoying the outdoors sitting down! Preferably with a drink and a cig...yeah, I know. I smoked cigarettes for far too long. Wait, wait, keep the judgement down and bear with me, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Brief history, after leaving college not knowing what to do, young me moved abroad from San Francisco to Seville, Spain. Already dabbling in the "cancer sticks", I moved to smokeland! Needless to stay, it stuck. After moving back to SF, and getting tired of feeling gross from them, I had a good friend, Courtney Moore (hit her up @mission_intuition for body work and healing), gave me acupuncture. It helped me QUIT those damn things, except I let myself cheat whenever I was traveling. Fast forward to my first hike to Machu Picchu in April of 2018. See, I told you I was getting ahead of myself. As the owner of this company, the fearless leader of our group, I was determined to just be totally fine with hiking at nearly 8,000 ft above sea level with never training. Man, was I wrong.
Photo by Marcella Winograd on our trip, February 2019
Brief history, after leaving college not knowing what to do, young me moved abroad from San Francisco to Seville, Spain. Already dabbling in the "cancer sticks", I moved to smokeland! Needless to stay, it stuck. After moving back to SF, and getting tired of feeling gross from them, I had a good friend, Courtney Moore (hit her up @mission_intuition for body work and healing), gave me acupuncture. It helped me QUIT those damn things, except I let myself cheat whenever I was traveling. Fast forward to my first hike to Machu Picchu in April of 2018. See, I told you I was getting ahead of myself. As the owner of this company, the fearless leader of our group, I was determined to just be totally fine with hiking at nearly 8,000 ft above sea level with never training. Man, was I wrong.
The Andes mountains taught me a lesson. A lesson as big and dramatic as the mountains themselves. I need to get myself healthy. I am not going to live forever. I would prefer to live a longer and healthier life than I was living before. After getting my ass thoroughly handed to me (I made it but it was very difficult), I made a pledge to myself to do two things. One, I needed to climb Mt. Washington (a few blocks from where we live in LA) at least three times a week and I was going to quit smoking for good.
I'm happy to report that as of a few months ago, with the help of another friend Joe Homs (shoutout #2, he's super good!), I'm 100% off the cigarettes and I've been hiking up the "mountain" by my house almost every day. Plus, I've learned to appreciate nature in a much healthier way. I feel kind of funny saying this but I've kind of turned into a hiker....it's amazing how life turns out!