With van upgrades complete, I finally made a video tour of the gear garage. If you’re interested, check it out! *** I left home for college driving a small red car containing everything I owned. That list included my favorite fan (with remote control), which I jammed in the trunk next to the subwoofer. Different priorities at […]
We’re on the road! After a stint at home in Oregon, we’ve headed out for the summer with a fresh set of tenants renting our house. Four weeks in Iceland awaits, followed by outdoor adventures in the Canadian Rockies through the fall. Before I come at y’all in waterfall photos from the Arctic Circle, let’s wrap […]
This post is inspired by a podcast interview I did with The Consummate Athlete. Check it out here! Topics ranged from my daily habits to navigating van life to benchmarks for my personal fitness to why I love ping pong as much as shredding rocky trails on my mountain bike. —– I didn’t “exercise” as […]
As we’ve traveled in our Sprinter van the last few years, we’ve made a list of upgrades to make. This post details recent favorites that I’ve finally had the wherewithal to complete since we landed in Portland in late April. I considered my initial van buildout effort in 2013 a prototype design. Our goal was to use the […]
**This post first appeared here on MindBodyGreen** It started as a four-month trip to get out of the rainy Portland winter. Just a camper van jaunt down the coast from Portland to San Diego, Chelsea and I declared. We had no idea we’d end up traveling for 2.5 years. During this adventure-filled time, we mountain biked […]
I recently spent four days mountain biking in the outdoor playground of Oakridge, Oregon. All I can say is: Visit. This. Place. Riders out there, bring your mountain bike. If you or your family are into other sports, there’s fun to be had in a kayak, with a bird spotting scope, and by lacing up hiking […]
Have you ever quit something you used to love? A job? A relationship? Well, four years ago, I quit rock climbing. It was no longer fun for me, so I stopped after a decade going at it. At the time, I was also cranking on my fledgling business and every day was intense. Keeping climbing […]
In 2007, I was a fresh-faced engineer working my first job after graduation and a year of travel. Flush with cash relative to years of penurious living, I wanted to invest my money, and not in old project cars like the above. My reading list at the time was full of books about Warren Buffett […]
Today is special. Ten years ago to the day, Chelsea and I met for the first time. In Prague. At the time, I was studying abroad in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Ok, mostly having fun.) Chelsea had just moved to Portland. Through an introduction from her brother, my college roommate, she and I wound up chatting online, […]
Ten million self-help books exist, all promising to improve our lives. Many focus on a strict schedule and the addition of various tasks or practices: Meditating, exercising, time scheduling, eating well, always smiling, never complaining, being a perfect person… Just turn into a robot and BOOM, life becomes easy. Except it doesn’t work for most […]
This post first appeared here on Mind Body Green. — Over the past two summers, Chelsea and I have cycled 7,000 miles through 14 countries. No sag wagon, no designated route—just leg power, our bikes, gear, and desire for adventure. During our travels, we accept local advice and hospitality, wake up open to each day’s […]
I’m stoked to share this podcast interview with me and Chelsea. It’s a fun conversation packed with discussions of business and travel, plus lots of joking around. It’s a great way to learn more about what fueled our desire for our footloose lifestyle. You’ll also dig it if you’re dreaming of working remotely or currently building a business with […]
We’ve spent the last two weeks visiting Portland. Spring is in the air, a battle of cherry blossoms, occasional sunshine, and frequent rain showers. The mountain biking and running trails here are a bit mucky with mud, but the hills are a vibrant green and the waterfalls are firing. Best of all, I’m hitting the […]
Whether you’re road tripping for months or heading out for spring break, technology can make your life easier. A purist may insist a tech-free road trip is the way to roll, but I think most of us appreciate traveling with a smartphone. People are always asking me about my favorite apps for car camping or rolling […]
For the past few weeks, Chelsea and I have been surrounded by green hills and hundreds of cute, fuzzy animals. Crowing roosters kick-start each day of our picture-perfect pastoral scene here at Farm Sanctuary. I am volunteering here all of February to tell the stories of the sanctuary’s animals. The tales often begin at unseen […]
***** Quick note: Vader arrives! Check out a fun little video I put together while volunteering this month at Farm Sanctuary. ***** I’ll go out on a limb and say it: Yeeeeeeehaw, spring is on its way! For the first time in a two years of trips into California, the hills are green. Even the awkwardly-named […]
Rosy sunrises and chiming roosters have peeled my eyelids open every day this month. Northern California hills undulate into the distance out my window and the nearest town is over 10 miles away. We’re sharing our housing with three other people, and after ten years of only living with Chelsea, I’d almost forgotten the conversation […]
If you have enough money, it’s easy to buy an incredible adventure rig. Building a camper van, on the other hand, is trickier but a helluva lot more affordable. You can either go the cheap, bare-bones route or opt for the nicest amenities around, but I prefer an approach that strikes a balance between the two. […]
Mix a hippie vibe, grunge undertone, and a few yuppies like us and you’ve got Santa Cruz’s base flavor. Churn in street punks bumming change, plus some hardcore cyclists and surfers, and you’re almost there. All you need is handful of old timers complaining about real estate prices and the North Coast Smoothie is complete. On […]
Hiking a ridge, valley views on either side, I thought, “How do more people not visit this place?” Welcome to Pinnacles, a palace of rocks, where we tromped beneath condors sailing on the wind, wove through oak groves, and lazed on soft moss by creeks. Pinnacles was a lowly national monument until recently. (National parks sneered at […]