My mom started caving in about 1988 after a trip through Mammoth Cave. Over the next few years she got increasingly involved in caving, which meant she dragged me and my brother on occasional trips, where I'd whine about the mud and the dirtyness...but I still, for the most part, enjoyed hanging out with all the cavers - they were our social circle (once I got used to their weird sense of humor). Those trips were mostly in Kentucky.
When I got to Wellesley College in fall '00 I discovered, much to my chagrin, that I MISSED THE CAVERS! so in Feb '01 I started frequenting the Boston Grotto's meetings, and going caving in the Northeast - New York, mostly.
I spent my junior year (02-03) studying abroad in Bologna, Italy, where I avoided all other American students by finding the Gruppo Speleologico Bolognese-Unione Speleologica Bolognese, who have their WEEKLY meetings in one of the city's ancient gates - it's in the middle of a roundabout! They convinced me to take their "course" on caving, which amounted to 8 weeks of classroom and in-cave instruction, with a HEAVY emphasis on vertical technique. Sure, it cost money, but I managed to get phys ed credit for it - and came out the other side with a couple dozen friends, a slew of Italian speleo-jargon, and something to do EVERY WEEKEND. So, lots of caving in Tuscany and in the gypsum caves outside Bologna for me: it all peaked in May '03 with a trip to the bottom of the Antro del Corchia, which is the longest cave in Italy. I also managed to sneak in a course in Speleology with Paolo Forti at the Uni of Bologna: I was HOOKED!
Came back to Boston and involved myself in caving as much as possible. Took the bus out to NY state for the weekend occasionally, just to go caving. Applied for the Cave Management Intern position at Jewel Cave and GOT IT! So I spent my post-graduation year (04-05) at Jewel Cave NM in South Dakota, going on camp trips in Jewel, working as a full-time volunteer making about $400 a month (free housing 300ft from work, in the only "gated community" in Custer County!
), going to NCRC levels 1 & 2, surveying in both Wind and Jewel Caves...
And by some mysterious chain of events, while I was in South Dakota, I fell in love with Ben Currens - whom I've known since we were 12, since his dad and my mom are both cavers - and we got married 10 months ago. We live on the KY/TN border (though Ben has been in Iraq for a month, and will come back in September), and I've got a job as a seasonal ranger at Dunbar Cave State Natural Area in Clarksville, TN...which I recently began to resurvey.
Ben and I (Ben's the lead-pusher, I just sketch) also mapped about a half-mile of virgin passage in another part of the Dunbar Cave System.
OK, kinda long, but at least it scratches the surface!