2023 Byline Roundup

You’d think my skin was as thick as Kevlar with as much rejection as I’ve endured over the years in my freelance writing career and book publishing journey. But 2023 ended up being deeply soul-sucking in the ratio of my article pitches to published articles. In an attempt to rationalize (to myself) why I have…

Currently: October

Currently living/working: Writing while hibernating, as per the season. But we’ve also been regularly giving weekly virtual presentations (Life in the Last Frontier: Alaska) for libraries!   Current mood: I did not rush into any substantial writing projects after the seismic seasonal shift to winter, knowing I needed a minute to recover from the frenetic…

Currently: July

Currently living/working: We are in the trenches of a very typical Alaskan life: juggling multiple jobs in the long twilight days of latitude 64. Justin guided 16 trips this month! All while squeezing in a press trip and a smattering of cleanings when he could. Meanwhile I guided 14 trips!! And I took on the…

Currently: March

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,…

Currently: February

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…

Currently: December

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…

Currently: November

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…

Currently: August

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!…

Currently: June

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: April

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…

Food Testing and a Giveaway!

I’ve written blog posts about the world of gear writing, and even though I’m doing less and less of this type of coverage, I just wrapped up a “Best of 2022 Foods” article for Backpacker, and thought I’d dive into the behind the scenes, plus let you know about a giveaway a few of the…

Currently: January

Currently living/working: We returned to our cabin in Alaska 1/6, and it feels so good to be home!! Work is slow right now, so we are doing more scheming/pitching/planning to fill in gaps (AKA, the non-paying, soul-sucking part of our freelance life), as well as focusing on adult life chores. Thankfully, we did have a…

Te Araroa Book Progress: Volume 13 – MY BOOK IS ONE YEAR OLD!

My trail/travel memoir, Between Each Step: A Married Couple’s Thru Hike on New Zealand’s Te Araroa, took a full lap around the sun! It’s a small pebble of a detail, but I’ve sold 293 books directly from my website and 718 from Amazon/Ingram. You guys, that’s almost 1000 books in my first year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cue incredulous…

Currently: June

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…

Currently: May

Currently living/working: Most of you know we haven’t had “traditional” 9-5 jobs in years. Actually, a decade. We always make the claim that we sling a lot of mud at the wall to see what sticks. So even though we had no idea what our summer would entail, it turns out there’s a lot of…