This quirky nontraditional life we built for ourselves has a model like no other. Our sources of income are varied, and ever-changing. We’ve worn many different hats over the years, but now that we settled down in Alaska and are homeowners again, we try to keep a steadier stream of income year-round. Summer income consists…
I mentioned in previous posts that I’ve been “outside” (AKA, outside Alaska) for most of the fall. It ended up being nearly 7 weeks (Justin was with me for 2.5 weeks)! I started in Nashville for my sister’s 50th birthday celebration, then it was in NJ/CT for family visits (my side), as well as Colorado…
Currently living/working: Wandering in the lower 48, but writing! Justin & I joined forces on holiday gift guides for Backpacker … these are always fun, and we didn’t get to do any last year, so it was exciting to get the assignment for “Under $25,” “Backpacker” and “Car Camping” this year. Justin has also still…
My first book, Between Each Step: A Married Couple’s Thru Hike on New Zealand’s Te Araroa, turned 2 years old on 11/15/2022!!! Like any good mother, there are a few milestones I’d like to highlight about my book baby. Somehow, I managed to sell 1,000+ books through Amazon (and other booksellers) and my website these past…
(I’m catching on a past event!) I like when visitors trickle in during our off season, as we certainly have more time and energy to host. So we were ecstatic when Justin’s sister, Jamie, decided to take an impromptu trip to Alaska in October! We hadn’t received any significant snowfall nor the true drop in…
Currently living/working: We were kind of all over the place this month—Justin in Oregon for his boys’ trip and me in Nashville for my sister’s 50th bday trip. And both on our own in Alaska for a bit! Since Nashville, I’ve been in NJ at my mom’s and will be here into November. Work-wise, we’re…
We’ve always considered fall and winter to be our downtime since we have fewer jobs. We always stack writing projects for the winter, but they have sporadic deadlines and can be done from anywhere. So we travel!!!! Usually it’s a hello-goodbye tour to see family, but we also sprinkle in fun trips “outside” (outside=outside Alaska).…
As hiking guides, Justin and I are always trying to expand our knowledge. It’s easy to be a connoisseur of trees, since we only have 5 types here. We’ve also been gaining traction on wildflowers, although with more than 650 species, we will probably only ever scratch the surface. Mosses, lichen, birds and mushrooms seem…
Currently living/working: Our season came to an abrupt end on Sept. 5, when Justin ended up in the hospital! Life went from warp speed to a snail’s pace. But in general, we had a very fulfilling summer and y’all know how I love stats, so here they are! Justin led 61 trips for Traverse Alaska…
Many people are already aware about Justin’s Crohn’s disease, but we’ve been fairly quiet about it on the blog for the past 4 years because there hasn’t been much to say! His doctors proclaimed he was in remission in April 2021, he’s been on a maintenance infusion since 2018 and he continues to do all…
Currently living/working: Summer work (guiding, Airbnbs) will wrap up next month, but August was still bananas! Current mood: I’m still in fired-up summer mode, but I can definitely feel myself physically and mentally slowing down. Currently excited for: Ready to trade chaos for calm and to take a break from fulfilling the needs of tourists!…
As I celebrated another waltz around the sun this week (yeah 44!), I’m keeping to my annual “birthday reflections” post. Being an external processor means I pretty much verbalize whatever is in my head, so this year’s reflection has to do with women’s health. Specifically, perimenopause (fair warning! long post! TMI!) The average age of…
When Justin & I purchased our cabin in Healy in August 2019, we had no idea what we were in for. We thought we would still be living and working on the road for awhile, and our cabin would be an occasional respite. We all know what happened in 2020, which cancelled our road job…
Currently living/working: We are still in the go-go-go stage of the typical boom and bust arc of Alaska life. For me, it’s a juggling act of managing our yurt, cleaning other people’s airbnbs, guiding and writing. For Justin, it’s mostly just guiding (like 6 days a week) and writing. Figuring out when Justin & I…
Justin & I have collectively lived in 14 states, and every state—heck, every town—has a different system for trash collection and recycling. So I’m not surprised that moving to a small town in the woods means there’s no Trash Day or Curbside Trash Pick Up, let alone recycling. I thought #plasticfreejuly would be an opportune…
Now that we’ve settled down for the first time in a decade and have actual space to host (granted, it’s a yurt), we’re starting to have visitors! This summer, it was my family’s turn. I remember when I first pitched the idea of a trip to Alaska to my sister, Janice, last year. My 76-year-old…
Currently living/working: Definitely in a topsy-turvy phase where Justin and I are passing ships. Justin is guiding for Traverse Alaska pretty much 5 days a week, and when he has off, he’s working through ongoing gear reviews, helping clean the yurt, eyeballing our long list of summer projects or trying to fit in a game…
Earlier in June, the stars aligned and I was able to get on a flightseeing tour with Fly Denali! Given Justin’s two Denali expeditions, he’s been through the Alaska Range several times and for someone that doesn’t like small planes, he would do it again and again. So of course I wanted to do a…
Currently living/working: We’ve started the summer chapter, where Justin & I will likely work for the next 130 days straight. You know Green Day’s song, “Wake Me Up When September Ends?” That’s when we can take a breath. More specifically and beyond any ongoing writing projects we juggle, Justin is guiding for Traverse Alaska, essentially…
Last August, when we bought our yurt, we thought about all the time we could spend in the fall and winter getting it set up and ready to go. We had plenty of time before the first snowstorm, right? Then it snowed September 15. And basically didn’t stop snowing until May 12. While we were…