Bolder than Boone: A Feature Story

To be published in The Forum - Loyoa's student-run annual non-fiction and art review


“To be content is to stop wanting, desiring and dreaming. When I become content with myself or any place that I’ve called home, I know it’s time to go; time for my next adventure, in a new phase, where I will no longer be comfortable with my surroundings. Being comfortable gets you nowhere besides exactly where you already are.”

By plane, train and her Honda Civic, Chelsea Krier, age 23, has breezed by more state and sea borders than Daniel Boone in the 1700’s; he made it only to Kentucky. When her initial plan – to flee industrial America for a more favorable, third world African village – failed following her high school graduation in 2006, Chelsea stumbled onto the more traditional track of exploration and independence. Chelsea’s dreams of the Peace Corps and tribal living both required a college degree so that is exactly what she sought: hello, University of Colorado-Boulder.     

After one semester at CU, Chelsea bid Colorado, its ski slopes and sexy snowboarders farewell, following the awful news that wrenched her heart more painfully than her professional plans: her father had been diagnosed with cancer.

“I knew from that moment, my life was no longer normal. Everything I had been planning to do with my life was no longer going to happen,” she explained. “Because my dad begged me to finish school so that I could make lots of money, for myself and for my mother, I tried. Three times I tried to re-enroll in school. After the fourth time, I said enough. It’s time to start doing what I want with my time and with my life. I haven’t looked back since.”

Chelsea’s favorite family memories include her mother’s jam-packed minivan, mediocre diners and traveling, anywhere that she and her family had not photographed, dined or danced in. She attributes her current nomadic existence to fond memories of family vacations and to her mother, whom Chelsea describes as her strongest advocate and the woman she most admires. “She is the bravest person I have ever known. I literally owe her my life (plus a lot of money) and I am endlessly grateful for her support that has no doubt sculpted who I am today, whoever that may be.”

Who is Chelsea Krier – an independent and optimistic woman. She is inspired by people who are unafraid of spontaneity, failure, and foreign culture. “Beginning to understand myself is the most gratifying feat I have accomplished so far.” Yet, constantly changing her address is far more difficult than simply learning new dialects and an occasional lack of gas money. She explains, “I either have a ton of money or I am dead ass broke. Relationships are challenging because I will never be able to please everyone and there has yet to be a moment when I haven’t missed my mother’s hugs, my brother’s sarcasm and WAWA ciabatta melts.

Three cross-country road trips, five state licenses (NJ, CA, WA, CO, WY) and one Visa (St Thomas, Virgin Islands) later, Chelsea has seen California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She has also sought international adventure in Mexico, the Bahamas, Aruba, Ecuador and St. John.

Chelsea possesses curiosity and open-mindedness that is, unarguably, distinctive to her. Every custom learned, co-worker befriended, and mountain climbed has affected her in a special and equally significant way. During February 2011 Chelsea visited her friend Julian’s home (whom she met tending bar in Yellow Stone National Park) in Ecuador. There, Chelsea immersed herself entirely into the lives of her host family and the traditions of their country. “I learned dance moves from his aunts, played piano beside his grandmother and practiced English with his grandfather.” Passionately, Chelsea described the Portilla family as the most genuinely accepting and beautiful people she has been blessed to meet in her lifetime.

Chelsea is aggravated by people who praise her lifestyle but neglect opportunities for themselves. “Sure, I don’t have a college degree, I have slept in an ungodly amount of sleeping bags and I have never worked at one job for more than a year, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I do what I want and I love what I do. It is satisfying to both say and believe that.”

From white water rafting in the Amazon to snoozing beside an active geyser and falling in love with an Australian in Mexico, Chelsea has both good and bad memories attached to every venue she’s visited. She enjoys traveling alone because it forces her into conversations with strangers, which from her experience, are undoubtedly the stepping stones that have built most of her lifelong friendships. Chelsea has no definite plans to end her physical exploration or emotional voyage. “I have yet to find one place on this planet that has stopped me dead in my tracks, making me think, this is where I need to be,” she explains.

Like December wind that flushes your cheeks and warms your core, my best friend and the woman I most admire, Chelsea Krier, will continue to blow by state and sea borders illuminating everything and everyone she meets. “There is so much of this world that I have not seen. In this moment, I want to keep moving until the day I die.” Her advice: “Life comes at you fast. Always bring a towel, never say I love you and at the end of the night... don’t forget to close your tab.”