We have a limit on the number of visitors we can host during our work-heavy summers, so people need to “claim their spot,” ideally by November. Justin’s other sister was next in the line of family visitors, and we loved introducing them to our home–especially our 9- and 10-year-old nephews. They stayed in the yurt…
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***You may have noticed that my website got hacked for most of May into June. My website guy said there is no rhyme or reason for why I was targeted, but “they” (not a real person) installed a pretty vicious malware virus that kept self-replicating. Then the backups to the server were taking crazy long…
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I mentioned in previous blog posts that I went on a gear testing trip for Outdoor Life from April 24-28. Justin and I have been gear testers since 2013, and had always been salivating to go on a “gear testing” trip. When this one came up, we sort of had to rock-paper-scissors as to which…
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Currently living/working: Neither Justin nor I had any deadlines in April, nor any virtual presentations, nor much cleaning, nor any hours working at the library, so it felt like we didn’t work since we didn’t get paid! But, we were pitching and prepping for future projects, which is a very important piece of the freelance…
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I mentioned that Justin and I took separate getaways this month, him to Texas and I to NJ. Justin’s trip to San Antonio had the purpose of watching the Valero Texas Open and playing some golf with his college buddy, Jason. I would like to mention that nearly every single person I told about Justin’s…
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Currently living/working: I mentioned last month that winter freelance work has been busier than any other winter—between writing projects, virtual presentations, pet-sitting, cleaning, and my library gig. We are grateful!! But I’m personally trying to slow the roll a bit for April, knowing that summertime means double time productivity. I wholeheartedly believe in off seasons,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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(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…
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