Currently living/working: May was busier than we both anticipated. Justin had 2 weeks of training, but I had a bit more because not only did I myself attended training sessions, I also led quite a few training sessions for the new Alaska Geographic staff. I keep chasing that perfect summer balance of work & play,…
Better late than never! I still wanted to encapsulate February … so let’s pretend like it’s March 1, and February just ended. Currently living/working: I arrived to my sister’s in Connecticut 2/6 and returned to Alaska 3/1, so my “jobs” this month were caregiver & funeral planner. Justin, on the other hand, worked 78 hours…
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 living/working: As the summer season draws its curtains, I would say we more than earned our keep jam-packing the season with multiple jobs (guiding, cleaning, writing). I guided 15 trips in August, and Justin 18, making for the busiest month for both of us thus far! Current mood: I always mourn the loss of…
In honor of National Library Week (April 3-9), I thought I’d chime in about how libraries have played a role in spreading the reach for my travel/trail memoir, Between Each Step. I’ve always loved libraries. A cool fact that most probably don’t know about me: I worked at my college library. It was my “work-for-study”…
We finished our Leave No Trace/Subaru contract on Oct. 15 and returned the car to the Leave No Trace office in Boulder. The decorations for our last day were provided by Mother Nature! We absolutely loved working for Leave No Trace & Subaru. Leave No Trace is small, but mighty. There are 12 (maybe 13?)…
Justin and I have thoroughly loved working at Fenton Ranch teaching kids K-5 about nature. We try our darnedest to impart everlasting knowledge, particularly Leave No Trace lessons on the young minds. Maybe out of the 50+ kids in every grade level, 3-5 learn something. Maybe they don’t retain the facts, but I am comforted…
Dates: May 1- July 25 Distance Traveled: 14,240 miles *12,328 miles on the Superfeet Van *1,912 miles on our own car ***Our friend Alexis put together this REALLY AWESOME video of the Superfeet van. Check it out on our YouTube channel. Gracias Alexis!*** Longest Drive: 922 miles on 7/23/17 from Moorehead, MN to…
We’re making our way West after 3 very full weeks on the East Coast. We only had 5 events in the East, but if you’ve been reading my previous posts, you’d already know our road trip was more about seeing the people. Not all the people we could possibly see, but many of the people.…
Currently living/working in: The Superfeet Supervan!!! Only 6 stops left on our NZ speaking tour and 4 weeks!! Current mood: I’m a little overwhelmed these days. Road life is blissfully chaotic and though we stay on top of most of it, being disconnected and on the go poses challenges. Road life is equally carefree, so…
Just in case you are wondering, it is NOT recommended to drive eastbound and jump 2 time zones in 2 days. I spent most of my last week jet lagged without ever stepping foot on a plane. This is because we drove nearly 2500 miles across the United States in a week for our NZ…
Are you tired of hearing about California??? This is it … the last post with a quick recap of our New Zealand Speaking Tour stops, I promise. When we were planning our tour—which has been primarily West Coast-based—we debated how many stops to do in California. Do you guys realize how big of a state…
It is time to unveil the innards of our summer home on wheels. Reminder: this van is BORROWED and we have to return it to Superfeet in late July after our NZ speaking tour (sniff sniff). But I digress. We have traveled more than 2,000 miles in Superfeet’s converted Sprinter van for since picking it…
Currently living/working in: The Superfeet Supervan!!! We are 1/3 of the way through our summer speaking tour around the US (2000+ miles) in our borrowed Sprinter van. The van is awesome and I can’t wait to share interior pictures! Current mood: This road trip/speaking tour is totally our jam, so I would say happy everyday! Currently excited…
First of all, can I just tell you how much I big puffy heart the Pacific Northwest? Our time in Washington & Oregon has been full of presenting and playing and almost immediately, I said to Justin, “we need to move back to the PNW one of these days.” From the moss-covered hemlock and douglas…
We’ve done 6 presentations–2 in New Mexico and 4 in Arizona–thus completing the Southwest leg of our road trip. All the events were at smaller stores, but it’s always nice to ease in with a more manageable crowd. Incredibly enthusiastic listeners nonetheless, and it is awesome to be standing up in front of people again…
Currently living/working in: We just wrapped up our 5-week spring teaching session at Fenton! It went so, so fast, but was so, so busy and tiring. We had kindergartners, 1st graders and 3rd graders this go around. Nonstop from Monday late morning until Friday at 1pm. Chock full of: campfires, tree identification, Leave No Trace,…
It’s been a whirlwind of vehicles for us this month. In case you didn’t hear about some of the excitement—and also because my head spins sometimes—I’m here to do a recap. We sold our beloved “Wanderer” 1995 Chevy Roadtrek. We only owned it for 8 months and put 10,000 miles on it, but we knew…
Well folks, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but we have a summer of adventure ahead of us. We are going to once again drink in the inspiration of the road and get the country under our fingertips … We are going on yet another speaking tour about Te Araroa around the United States…
We were so happy with the outcome of New Zealand’s Te Araroa Speaking Tour! We are so grateful to all our friends and family that came out to support us. We are also so appreciative of our sponsors for the support/giveaways. Thank you Hi-Tec, GSI Outdoors, Gregory, Superfeet, Big Agnes, Sawyer, Princeton Tec and Therm-a-rest. During…