ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., - “Nothing really terrible happens to me,” claims Megan Frost with a Cheshire grin as the light from the bar plays across her pixie features. Anyone who knows her would know this to be fundamentally untrue; plenty of terrible things can happen to Frost, who is known to most as “Megar” (a spelling error that has since become an identity of its own). But it’s Frost’s attitude that keeps her from being affected. Determined to find out where this devil-may-care streak came from, I began pressing her about it (as well as convincing her with more than a few Corona’s). She finally admits that, more than her stints as a waitress in St. Augustine, her passion for her art, or knowing any of the multitudes of people who live and work downtown; it quite simply comes from who she is, and who she is comes from where she’s been.
Frost is 5 feet 2 inches of energy with a shock of short, blonde hair framing an almost constant grin. She was brought up as what some refer to as an “army brat.” She was born in Stuttgart, Germany while her father was stationed there, and has since managed to live in Panama and every state in America except for Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas and Maine. After her parent’s divorce, her mom bought a camper and the Frost family toured the country, twice. She even managed to live in the Estes state park, which to this day is a claim most don’t believe. Her life as a sort of nomad is really what makes Megan Frost “Megar.”
Megar may have lived in a lot of places all over the world, but St. Augustine is her home. She grew up here emotionally, if not physically, and despite the wanderlust that flows through her, has put down the most permanent roots she can muster here. Even so, travel still defines her. She’s since visited Australia, Canada, the Bahamas, Peurto Rico, France, Austria, and went back to Germany. “Traveling has made me unafraid of adventures or starting new things and meeting new people,” Frost explained while playing with her puppy, a souvenir from her spring trip to Peurto Rico. “Instead of going to school [growing up], I mostly learned things based around local customs and history. I also learned that if you’re open and honest, and smile a lot, people will help you.”
When asked where the best place she’s gone has been, her eyes light up and it takes less than a second for her to blurt out, “Australia!” “Australia is the most fantastic place. It’s like America 20 years ago everywhere; people are all so honest and up front, everything has that big-sky-spirit-of-adventure feeling to it.” She should know, she’s been twice, although the first time was not as exciting as the second. “I drank spoiled milk in Samoa and then threw up from one end of Australia to the next.” Despite that trauma, she came back for more. “I went to the Great Barrier Reef and was chased by a Clown Fish, which are really mean despite what Pixar tries to tell you. Then we got stranded on the reef when the boat engine failed and had to finish the beer while we waited for rescue. Fantastic time.” If forced to give a recommendation on where to travel; the number one place to see before you die, “Australia would be it. It doesn’t matter if you’re staying for one week or one year, the longer you stay the more you’ll see is all.”
Despite all the resilience that travel’s afforded her, though, she does concede the drawbacks on moving yearly, if not monthly as a child. “I have a tough time putting down roots; permanence becomes a frightening prospect,” she said. “I also never really had that one best friend growing up. The only people I’ve ever been really close with are my immediate family. I guess that’s made me more independent, but sometimes I wish I had that [close friend].” The friends she keeps now all know the Megan Frost that marches to her own tune. “Megar’s always been a free spirit,” her friend Melissa Strait said, “she’s not afraid of starting over from scratch, living out of her car, and having fun while doing it.”
Megar may not be world famous, but she can at least say she’s seen more of the world than most famous people. Her strength of character comes from being forced to adapt while being on the move. While most of us have never had a life like her, we can at least learn from Megar that life’s too short to stay in one place. That people are basically good, nothing really terrible ever happens to you, and that, “panic never helps you. There will always be a later flight.”
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