Spain bike tour in spring 2019!

Traipsing About chronicles the life, adventures, and (some) thoughts of Dakota and Chelsea. We’re a husband/wife team exploring the world by bicycle, Sprinter van, or backpack.

When we’re not roaming, we’re digging into intentional living, community building, and sustainability. Always a balance between adventure and connection to a place! In that vein, after three years on the road, a desire for community prompted us to land in the outdoor playground of Bend, Oregon in late 2016.

To get to know us, check out the “Meet the Team” page! You may want to check out the archives.

I (Dakota) write about topics ranging far and wide, so click around! Recent fun includes bicycle touring in Spain and Portugal, bikepacking 700 miles on the Oregon Timber Trail, climbing in Hells Canyon and the City of Rocks, and running the Enchantments Traverse in the North Cascades on a van trip!

Since launching this blog in fall 2013, together we’ve cycle toured for 11 months and 8,000 miles through 18 countries and spent over 2 years road tripping in our van, plus volunteering for extended stints and living in places like Santa Cruz and New York City. Dakota enjoys solo van travel and bikepacking as well, so there are plenty of stories about that too!

I think of this site as two parts:

  • A practical guide to living an intentional, streamlined life aimed at pursuing dreams and developing new passions (like piano and gardening in 2020, the most random, crazy year ever).
  • Insights, helpful resources, and stories from our travels to help (and inspire) you to explore the world or your backyard.

Intentional Living

These are practical posts discussing how I run a business and keep track of our lives from afar:

For my philosophy on life, plus pursuing adventure and your passions, check out these posts:

My pot of gold at the end of a rainbow! Riding next to Weeping Wall in Glacier on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Chelsea cruising through the Rockies! Weeping Wall in Glacier on Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Bike Touring

When we aren’t traveling in the van, one of our favorite ways to travel is via bicycle. We always have two mountain bikes and two touring bikes in the Sprinter, and sometimes we park the van and head out on bicycles for unsupported tours.

In 2014, we rode 4,000 miles west to east across the U.S. In 2015, we toured a few thousand miles through Europe. 2019 featured two months riding in Spain and Portugal. Some posts in this realm include:

All the Van Posts!

Here’s a list of all the posts about DIY Sprinter camper van, which I built out in 2013:

That’s enough reading to make anyone nod off. Want to follow our journey? Plug in your email below and get my weekly newsletter. Thanks for stopping by!