meet & greet

My name is Caelen. A Gaelic name that means "victorious people." It's hard to pronounce, weird to spell and I've never quite figured out how I align with the definition behind the six letters. My mom allegedly read it in a book years ago and decided after my birth to damn me into a complex childhood of constant corrections.

I grew up along the Willamette River in Oregon, building forts and adventuring through the ravine with my barbies. As a college student, I dove into an Interior Architecture program at the University of Oregon. After two years of all-nighters in the studio and harsh criticisms during formal reviews, I decided that a designer life was not for me and transferred to Western Oregon University to pursue a bilingual teaching degree. Three years later I walked away with my diploma and a fiery need for adventure.

I started developing a taste for travel in High School when my Spanish teacher pushed me to study abroad in Costa Rica for a summer. I had a similar opportunity again in college and was able to study in Morelia, Mexico for a term. It is no stretch of the imagination to assume that, degree in hand, I would flee yet again toward uncharted territory. And I did! I spent my first year after college working as a Kindergarten teacher in a tiny jungle village of NW Belize called Gallon Jug. Surrounded by jaguars, boa constrictors, alligators and a lot of confusing Creole proverbs, there was never a dull day (TRUST ME). This is when I started to keep an online diary of sorts through a blog that I humbly called The Worldly Adventures of Caelen Bensen. My hometown newspaper published my adventures in weekly installments for a while, which helped keep me in the habit of writing. After the jungle, I headed toward island life in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic where I worked as an ESOL/SSOL interventionist. The beaches were breezy, the Salsa clubs were poppin' and the plantains were to die for... and I kept on writing.

I currently live in Denver, Colorado and have been working as a nanny for the past two and a half years. I get to work with and help raise two amazing little kiddos who I love more than I can say. My job also provides me with lots of time off to explore the Rocky Mountain state. Since moving here, I have spent a lot of time searching for the best hikes, ski resorts, camping spots, climbing gyms, mountain bike trails, running paths and dog parks. My hope is that this blog will capture some of these great new adventures that Colorado readily provides and get back to why I love to write!

Now meet Andre. I don't know what his name means, but I assume Google would say something like, "A hunky, bearded Canadian man who eats cookies for breakfast." It is important that you know about him because he will be exploring with me during these adventures, most likely rolling his eyes as I constantly seem to be incapable of using Google Maps correctly.

Andre is a sweet-hearted, coffee-roasting, ski crazy man whom I met when he opened his first cafe just down the street from my house at the beginning of 2017 (and who is currently napping across from me on the couch). I have always adored a good coffee shop and it probably won't be a stretch for you to imagine the frequency at which I began visiting my new neighborhood caffeine dispensary after I was handed my first warm cup of heaven by this handsome, green-eyed man. You would go back too, trust me.

The first time Andre introduced himself to me he extended his hand to shake mine and I... well... I gave him my trash. Not a proud moment, I assure you. Luckily though, he claims he does not remember this incident, most likely because he was not interested in me or my garbage flirting at the time. However, after months of pestering and many heavily caffeinated conversations, we went on a hike for our first date. Since that hike, we have spent almost every day together and consumed a terrifying amount of coffee.

Throughout this blog, I hope to share with you the ups and downs of our explorations together. The funniest moments, the most beautiful views and that one time I accidentally drove us into a snowy ditch while the 4-wheel drive was broken. So, cheers to the good times ahead, bumps and all!

The Argentine Pass, Colorado