Currently living/working: How many times and ways can I explain that Alaskans operate on full throttle through the summer? Some kind of mosquito-powered adrenaline compels us to pursue a no-sleep summer, which mostly equals a no-work winter. While the summer days fly by at a breakneck pace, we are still doing well finding balance between…
Justin’s sister, Jamie, is trying to go for the record of being our most frequent visitor, as she came in 2021, 2022 and now 2024 (and actually this is her 5th time in the state)! I’m convinced she loves Alaska as much as her brother does … The stars aligned when Jamie and Rachel had…
During the last week of June, one of my best friends that I’ve known for nearly 35 years, Sara, came to visit! She (and her family) visited me (us) in several of the places we’ve lived, but Alaska is a different beast. In general, we have low expectations for friend visitors since we live well…
We welcomed A LOT of friends/family this summer and fall, with the culmination being Justin’s mom (and her friend) specifically timed with Justin’s bday. (For the record, our friend Sarah made this sign for Justin since I am so terrible at creating bday fanfare). The selfish perk of having visitors is the excuse to check…
Currently living/working: We survived another summer of wrangling what seems like a 30-gallon bucket worth of income streams and logistics!!! From guiding to managing/cleaning investment properties to freelance writing/speaking gigs to passion projects, I love the diversity of our safety nets, but it is always admittedly exhausting. Now we’ll both make the shift to solely…
I have a penchant for exploring seldom-visited, off-the-beaten-path natural destinations, and since most of Alaska is inaccessible by roads, there’s no shortage of adventures I can dream of. Enter Spencer Glacier. I’ve had Spencer Glacier on my radar since we moved to Alaska. It sits 60 miles Southeast of Anchorage, but you have to take…
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…
We’ve had most of our immediate family for a visit over the last few years since we made Alaska our permanent home, but we had our first set of FRIEND visitors! Pat is one of Justin’s buddies from high school, from the famed Seton Hall Prep Framily, which means that these 2 have been friends…
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…
(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…
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…
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…
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…
When we decided we’d be spending our first winter in Alaska, we made the claim: no one should come visit us in the winter in Alaska. Mainly because we live in a 300-square-foot cabin with just enough room for the 2 of us. But also because … it’s winter in Alaska (regular 25 below temps,…
I received the greatest gift. The gift of time with my mom. This hasn’t happened in quite a bit. And we had 7 whole days, just her and I. She flew out to Denver to briefly see Justin too, then she and I road tripped back to New Mexico. The one-on-one time was something we both needed…
For 7 days straight, we’ve hosted 3 different sets of back-to-back visitors! Hosting people is one of my favorite things to do, but being nomadic has made it a little more challenging for most people to plan trips. Now that we’ve been “settled” in New Mexico for nearly 2 years, more and more peeps are…
I can’t say this enough. I LOVE hosting people! So given the fact we’ve stayed in one place for more than a few months, Fenton Ranch keeps on proving to be a perfect place for doing that. Justin’s sister (Jamie) and her wife (Rachel) were our latest visitors! Their stay was filled with lots of hiking,…
We successfully hosted our first Thanksgiving at Fenton Ranch! J’s mom, sister, husband and 2 kids drove from Denver for the celebration. We haven’t hosted a Thanksgiving–much less any holiday–since 2010, so it was a real treat to have the ability to host once again. ***Warning, picture-heavy post!*** J’s mom came a few days in…
We finished another environmental education session at Fenton Ranch Oct. 12 and now our main job is to watch the property for the school. Fall is a perfect time to complete outdoor projects around the 5 acres of land and prep for the winter. As our wood-burning stove beckons to be stoked every morning already,…
Besides Justin’s mom, who visited in December, we’ve had 3 other brave souls venture into the boonies this past week to spend time with us. First were our kindred spirits: Paul and Kristen. We call them our kindred spirits for many reasons, but mainly because they are just as keen about sleeping in the dirt…