Patagonia has just launched a podcast, Patagonia Stories. In each episode,

host our Chana Rom will explore how we gather knowledge and ask questions about our relationship

to each other in the natural world. Questions like, how are lessons passed down through generations

to help us feel at home? What barriers prevent us from acquiring natural wisdom? How can we adapt

in the face for rapidly changing climate? There's so much more to come. You can find the first season

of Patagonia Stories wherever you get your podcasts.

You're listening to The Derback Dary, a production of Duck Tape Than Beer, with additional support from

Kuat Racks because you love your bike, athletic greens, the daily drink for healthier you,

and kicking horse coffee, wake up and kick ass.

Most of my early adulthood featured a non-stop fight with alcohol, drugs, depression, and self-destruction.

When I tried to drink my PTSD away, I got discharged from the Air Force for alcohol treatment

failure in 2008. Later that year, my wife at the time received a change in duty assignment,

so we moved to Adelene, Texas. There, I tried to stop drinking, quit abusing pills,

and started taking small steps towards a healthier way of living.

But, when I sobered up, none of my emotional issues went away.

My marriage was still a mess, I was still broke, jobless, and directionless, and still struggled

with crippling depression. I felt ready to die at any time.

Shortly after arriving in Texas, I became friends with Nick Martinez.

He grew up riding horseback around the desert of West Texas and became a mentor to me in the

outdoors and adventure. Nick and I had paddled a couple times together before, but I was still

brand new to kayaking. One rainy morning, he and I took off in my wife's truck,

slay her blasting out of the subwoofers, to paddle a stretch of the clear fork of the brazos.

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