From spending four months on the frigid Alaskan waters, to backpacking his way across the humid South American rainforest, new Westside English teacher Scott Gealy is no stranger to traveling. Gealy came to Westside this August after teaching at Lincoln East for ten years. His passion for exploration blossomed when he was in high school, but he felt as if he wasn’t venturing enough.

      “I either wasn’t interested in college or wasn’t ready for it.” Gealy said. After making the discovery school wasn’t for him he decided his first move would be to take a year off and start his adventure.

      “I wanted to grow up a little and go back to school to share those experiences,” he said. Before going on any trips, he attended his freshman year of college at Colorado State. Gealy began his journey in May of 99’ by making his way to Alaska on a whim, where he tent camped in the rain for 10 days before finding a small fishing boat to work on. After spending a few months on the small vessel he decided that he was ready for a change of scenery. Gealy moved to Oregon to live with a friend who was attending school there the same year in October. He soon realized he wanted to pack up his life and try something a little more interesting, so he decided to go to New Mexico to satisfy his wanderlust.  

      Gealy said he spent January 00’ to December the same year in Taos New Mexico working a job in construction, as well as helping with the upkeep of his bosses ranch. He did what he could to make a living that kept his interest while putting some money in his pocket. After getting tired of the New Mexico scene finally decided it was time to go back to Lincoln where he got an undergrad in English and Theatre at Nebraska Wesleyan from 01-03. During one of his spring breaks, he went up to NYC to visit his sister. Having always wanted to live there Gealy decided after his visit to pack his bags once more and moved to New York in the August of 03’ to start another new chapter in his life. While in New York, Gealy worked for and produced small productions and further his studies in the arts. After making a home for himself in NYC, he decided he wasn’t quite ready to settle down and in 04’ took a quick vacation to Argentina to see what it had to offer. He started out his Argentinian adventure by taking a quick intensive spanish course at one of the colleges in Buenos Aires. He spent his time there taking in the culture and enjoying everything Argentina had to offer. After riding through the mountains on a dirt bike in South America, he got back to the states the same year and felt compelled to get his motorcycle license. Now he uses his bike mostly for long distance camping trips over the summers when he’s not teaching.

      On the subject of his bike travels Gealy said that typically rides out west, in 2008 he rode 42,000 miles through Nebraska, Colorado and Montana.

      “Traveling is a huge part of my life,” said Gealy, “when I met my wife she was also very into traveling, so we continue to go on trips.”

      While planning some trips out, he also threw in a few spontaneous vacations. The adventurer likes to experience different parts of the world, and has many different places he wants to explore. Many of his favorite memories are the people and the stunning landscapes. His advice for traveling is to really appreciate the surroundings and culture; to get in there and see the nitty and gritty of the neighborhoods and lifestyles people live.

      “One of the most meaningful things about travel is making connections,” said Gealy.

Gealy said he would love to continue traveling for a very long time. Gealy uses the experiences he’s picked up during his travels to bring back and teach others to find their own paths. No matter if he’s teaching in a school in Omaha Nebraska or dirt biking through a forest in Central America Scott Gealy sees life as one big adventure.

Timeline:

1995 – 1996 graduated fort collins

May 99’ – october 99 alaska

Portland october 99 – january 2000

january 2000 dec 2000 taos new mexico

Lincoln 2001 2003 wesleyan undergrad

Nyc aug 2003 aug 2005 working and film production acting

Feb – march 2004 argentina/chile

Back to school after went 2007 teaching