Justin & I spent March 9-12th in the tiny village of Shageluk volunteering as “trail crew” for the Iditarod, and it was fascinating as last year’s experience, which I chronicled here and here. I think no two experiences while volunteering for the Iditarod will ever be the same. That’s actually our goal, and why we…
This blog post is selfish. It is more of a document for us to remind ourselves of all the cabin & yurt improvement projects we squeezed in during the summer of 2022! The yurt certainly took priority this year in terms of where we focused our attention, between putting in the outhouse at the 11th…
Currently living/working: I think it’s adequate to say Justin and I have established 2 distinct work arrangements according to the season. In summer, our hours of operation are pretty much 6am-8pm with a mix of guiding, airbnbing and a few writing projects squeezed in. We move slower through the winter, but leverage the freer schedule…
Going from Maui to the commercialized capitol island of Oahu was a bit of whiplash, but we were forewarned. The whole purpose of us spending time in Oahu was to visit Pearl Harbor National Memorial, and it was certainly the highlight of our 4-day trip. It used to be that people just came to the…
Our 8 days in Hawai’i in mid January included 4 on Maui and 4 on Oahu, which—let’s be honest—is just never enough time in Hawaii. Since this was our second time on Maui, we had already done the recon work and were armed with an agenda to explore new-to-us areas. As the second largest island…
Currently living/working: Petsitting/Writing/Virtual Library Presentations/Cleaning. That’s basically the summary of our work this month—a little of everything, but a lot of staring into the glowing screen. Current mood: This month, we spent an amazing 8 days in Hawaii (blog posts coming), where we eschewed the to-do list and stayed out of touch with calendars and…
I mentioned in my last Currently posts that we have a “temporary cat” (aka, cat sitting at our cabin). We’re more than one month in and are in love with Ted, so I thought I’d do a proper intro since she (yes, Ted is a she) will be with us for a few months! So…
I read 28 books in 2022, and that’s a record for me! I set a goal of 25 for 2022, so to meet—and surpass—felt so rewarding. I’ve always tried to incorporate reading into my routines (#1 rule for being a decent writer: you need to read to write). However, my reading habits ebb and flow…
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Currently living/working: We’ve spent nearly the whole month in Alaska, and it’s been so incredible to settle into winter routines at home after so much fall travel. I’ll be honest, this month has been less about paying work and more of a mix of life tasks, relaxation and play during this holiday…
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!…