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).…
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…
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…
Currently living/working: April was another doozy of a month. It included a pet/housesitting gig in Healy, a funeral, and three trips to Fairbanks. Work-wise, we’ve been busier than all winter (yeah for income!). Our joint gear project is underway for Outside Business Journal and wrapping up mid-May. Justin is rocking quite a few new gear…
Dear Dad, We still cry and we still grieve, but admittedly we moved forward in life without you for 3 years now. There are absolutely moments when my voice is full of loss and longing—either triggered by a memory, a dream (I love when you visit me in my dreams), your voice on a voicemail…
Ever hear of the 2008 movie, Four Christmases? The one where the child-less couple travels to everyone’s homes to visit for the holidays? Change the name to Three Christmases, and that was us this year! From NJ/CT to Massachusetts to Colorado, we were all over the map. And thanks to holiday/weather/Covid airport delays and cancellations, we arrived…
Maui was our first stop on our November Hawaii tour … and sadly, we only planned 2.5 days there. People come to Maui for the balmy ocean air, stupidly perfect sunsets and dancing palm trees. And we did that. But our main Maui purpose included none of that. Marking our 56th National Park, we were…
I gave fair warning that I’d be posting all about our first-ever trip to Hawaii in several posts!!! So here goes the first one. And a second warning: it’s long and I am sharing a gazillion pictures. As I said, Justin’s mom instigated the trip, saying she wanted to celebrate her 70th birthday in Hawaii…
Currently living/working: We spent the first half of November in Alaska, and the second half in Hawaii! We purposely stacked our work projects so that our time in Hawaii would be 90% blissfully free of any work. And when we hit the eject button from Alaska on 11/16, we stuffed away our puffies and long…
Guess who wrote this blog post??? JUSTIN! For my 45th birthday, I thought I would write about one the biggest influences in my life … MUSIC! I estimate that I’ve seen around 400 live concerts, with a few bands multiple times. Music is a way for me to escape, to celebrate with friends, to bring people…
My last grandparent, Nana as we all called her, passed away Saturday, just 5 days short of her 95th birthday. She spent her last years in decline, but she was still pretty sharp until the end. And I have to say she set quite the example for all of her family during the other 90-something…
Currently living/working: We are still spinning A LOT of plates at once. Still cleaning 5 Airbnbs, Justin is still guiding for Traverse Alaska, and then we still have all that freelance work—the Leave No Trace curriculum project, my UCO history book project, my book marketing, our Backpacker and Outside Business Journal work, my Alaska Magazine…
How many of you thought “dipnetting” had something to do with chewing tobacco? As with so many Alaskan things, you probably wouldn’t know the term unless you live or visit here frequently. Dipnetting is a type of fishing. Available to Alaska residents only, you use a large diameter net to dip into a river and…
If we could have predicted anyone who would come to visit us in Alaska, it would be Justin’s sister and her wife! So it’s no surprise that Jamie & Rachel officially kicked off our summer as our first visitors. These two are natural adventure travelers and really didn’t need us to “guide” them, as…
Justin has been in Colorado since 4/8, but I joined him 4/21! It has been so wonderful to see so much family after way too long (I’m sorry to those who haven’t been able to reunite with families just yet …). There’s a lot of moving parts to our trip down to “the lower 48,”…
I realized it’s been 15 days since my last blog post and I have a very good reason. My cup is overflowing with love from my family (and a few friends) after not seeing them for 16 months!! I’m in NJ for 14 days, while Justin went straight to Colorado (I will join him there…
Currently living/working: It’s still been quieter work-wise around these parts with a long lead out for deadlines, but it’s been an adequate balance of paying work and fun! Current mood: Now that the bright orb is back in the sky for more than fleeting moments and we’ve enjoyed more much-needed snowfall, how could I not…
Dear Dad, How can 2 years seem like forever and nothing at the same time? It’s been a full year of the blandemic, and I think of how it would have impacted you. Particularly your last months of your life when you were hospitalized and in a nursing home. Had Covid-19 been a thing between…
Currently living/working: We are still wintering in Alaska, and November was a freakin busy month with writing deadlines, book madness and finishing up Leave No Trace. So we spent a lot of time hibernating in our cabin hunched over our laptops. Backpacker Magazine: We submitted just about 100 items for the holiday gift guides, all…