Is there such a thing as progress without worry? Especially if you want to be in control of how you get there?

There’s a lot of noise out there. And it’s easy to lose control.

But what if the answer is *not* so much in tightening our grip? And what if it’s in the art and science of directing our body to solve a puzzle. Just like a climber would when he’s going up a vertical wall.

I'm here chatting with Eddie Taylor, who is a chemistry teacher turned Patagonia athlete and mountain climber of Denali, Aconcagua and Mount Everest, of course. Oh, and let’s not forget his role as “booger-blower” father—which might just be more impressive than Everest.

Listen to this episode if you’re curious about ways to gain unworried control of your life.

And in case you’re out and about without WiFi later, download this episode now.

Music: Silhouettes by Tobias Voigt (License code: 8IDBGGC5WXLDYLAU)

Previously: Stretching Manhattan with American farms

In this episode:

The ups and downs of solving a puzzle with your body

On deciding between two good options

Which is the best places to live in America?

Minnesota v. Arizona v. New Mexico v. Colorado v. California

The unexpected joys of the call to teach, climb, and parent

“There's no one that looked like us there”

Navigating money and safety in the Himalayas

The difficulty of clouding difficulty with danger

South America: “Friendships changed through that.”

Teaching the pattern and chemistry of controlled success

Episode 12 TRANSCRIPT

THALIA TOHA

I actually wanted to start with your day job as a chemistry teacher, which is super cool.

Why, why chemistry?

Is that something that you've always been interested in?

Something that you've always loved when you were little or?

On deciding between two good options: Chemistry vs. Math

EDDIE TAYLOR

Well, I can't say that chemistry was the most interesting thing to me.

Um, I graduated high school and I did really well with numbers.

And so I went to college, I came out to CU in Boulder and I studied math.

And I kind of dabbled in a lot of the different sciences and kind of through that whole process of trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

I had no idea, but I had taken a lot of different sciences.

I realized if I could take two extra classes, I could get a biochemistry degree.

And basically when I graduated, I didn't really know what I was going to do still.

And I started working in a restaurant.

And eventually I just applied for any jobs that I could use my biochemistry degree or my math degree in.

And I started working in a water treatment facility.

So I was a chemist looking at water, analyzing things.

And, but during that time I started coaching and working with kids.

And when I started doing that, I kind of found that that was the thing I really liked doing is working with kids and seeing them grow, especially the high school age where there's a lot of unknowns in their lives.

And so I quit my chemistry job and I found out that the best way I could work with kids more is to teach them chemistry.

So it was more about like that connection with kids, not necessarily about the subject.

Like I've taught math before, I've taught chemistry.

I really enjoy coaching and working with kids in that aspect, but I think the academics is super important too.

THALIA TOHA

And you happen to be very outdoorsy, which is really great.

What's kind of the centering thing in your life that keeps you from, okay, well, this is a lot of, you know, grading that I have to do for, you know, for school, but this is also this other thing that I want to keep up with.

The unexpected joys of the call to teach, climb, and parent

EDDIE TAYLOR

It's really hard to climb as much and as well as I want to, and then be as good of a teacher as I want to be, or be as good as a parent as I want to be.

So I try my best.

But I mean, the reality is, I'm not the best at everything all the time.

Me and my wife stick to a pretty regimented schedule that I think helps a lot.

Like we have our workout times in the morning.

We have the days that we're taking care of the baby and which really it helps but it's all I think it's just impossible to do everything well all the time.

THALIA TOHA

I know that there are some listeners who are also probably first-time parents or second-time parents, third-time parents.

What's kind of been the most surprising aspect in your opinion?

EDDIE TAYLOR

I really thought that becoming a parent would change our lifestyle drastically and we would, you know, not be able to travel, not be able to spend this much time working out or all the other things that we do.

And it's funny because it's changed our life a ton. But it's all been good changes. Being able to like go on camping trips with our little girl and to be able to even just like the things that you thought would be gross, like are sucking the snot out of her nose when she's sick.

You're like, oh, that's just what you do.

That's completely okay.

I don't know.

So that all that stuff where you just like as a non-impairing your life.

Who would ever do that as a parent?

I'm like, okay, yeah, it just makes sense.

You want to make sure that they're okay as much as possible.

THALIA TOHA

I know you say as a non parent, it's gross.

But I think to me, even now thinking about it, I'm still really grossed out by it.

So I mean, you're a better parent than I am.

Because, of course, for the non parents, Eddie's talking about this device, right, that you have, like, it's kind of like a tube.

And then there's a thing that you put up against your mouth, you suck on it so that and you put the other end up against your daughter's nose when they're stuffy, and you're trying to relieve them.

So anyways, again, Eddie's a better father than me and my husband.

So you have, you know, your baby, you have teaching.

And of course, you have the outdoors.

Do you think that people have kind of lost touch with the outdoors a little bit?

Is it because we're so dependent on, you know, whatever our cars and the modern life and all the necessities and comfort that is great, but then there is also the hesitation.

A lot of people have expressed to me that they don't even like camping.

They're scared of hiking long distances.

“There's no one that looked like us there”

EDDIE TAYLOR

My mom, she grew up in Chicago and she didn't, she didn't spend a lot of time outdoors.

She didn't spend a lot of time outside of the city, but she got a job after college going to work in the Native American reservations around the country.

And so we moved out to Canto, Arizona, this really small town, nothing like inner city Chicago.

And that was kind of my first experience with the outdoors.

We literally … There's no one that looked like us there.

There are no other black people. There were barely any other.

There was basically barely anybody else who wasn't Navajo on the reservation.

And we didn't, we didn't speak the language. Which there is a secondary language that a lot of people speak there.

We didn't really know what to do on the weekends.

One of my mom's coworkers invited us to go camping one weekend.

That was kind of like our first foray into the outdoors.

And we had to drive two hours because the town was really small.

It's like 3000 people. One stoplight.

So we drove two hours to get our camping stuff, right?

We went to Walmart.

We got a tent.

We both got sleeping bags.

Well, me and my mom and my sister, we just did what I do now. When I was really young. Just getting that exposure going camping every weekend. Going and seeing these places. Doing all these nature hikes. As a little eight year old, you don't love it. Maybe some kids love them. But I know I didn't feel like it. I was forced to go walking. But now, you know, I do it all the time.

THALIA TOHA

What's your decision making process on places to live?

Because I know that when people move around a lot. And I've moved around a lot. It's always challenging to not go, well, it's better on the other side, like the grass is greener, I want to go there.

Which is the best places to live in America: Minnesota v. Arizona v. New Mexico v. Colorado v. California?

EDDIE TAYLOR

Well, I went to high school in Minnesota.

So my mom's job that took us to all the different Native American reservations, we went up to Minnesota.

I had lived in Arizona.

I lived in New Mexico.

I learned to ski when I was younger as well.

And to be honest, when I lived in Minnesota, I was like, man, I really miss being out West.

I want to go back out West and kind of when I was telling you a little bit earlier, but my mom never really pushed me in any direction.

She said, okay, if you do well in high school, we'll try to figure out how you can go to whatever university you want to go to.

I did OK in high school.

You know, I got pretty good grades.

I applied for scholarships and I applied to the University o