A Hall Lot of Adventure – A 6000 Mile Summer 2016 Trip

Some very big things are in the works for me this summer—well—they have been in the works for quite a while, but now everything is in order and the stage is set! From June through August 2016 my wife, son, and I will be embarking on a 6000 mile trip from New Mexico, Arizona, and California, up through Oregon and Washington, into Canada, and back down through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. I am going to label this adventure under the “Work-Cation” category, as it is both a trip for our family and a trip for our business, and I see no better way to enjoy our life than by the combination of our favorite things: family, travelling, photography/videography, and adventure.  

(My son, Tristan at Courthouse Mountain, Co)

That sounds crazy! Why are you doing this???!!!?

Our ultimate goal, outside of the intention to expose our son to the natural world and to teach him natural sciences, anthropology, psychology, general outdoors skills, and all things science and art via firsthand experience, is to inspire, and help eliminate fear, as well as to share our experiences and these teachings with everyone else. So many people these days, especially people with families, or with large financial obligations—which, let’s face it, is the majority of the populace—are either too afraid to travel and explore, don’t know how, or most importantly, don’t know or think that they can. This can partially be contributed to a lack of easily accessible, well laid out information, which if provided, would help eliminate the ignorance, reservations, and fears most might have when considering exploring nature.  An additional objective is to capture as many beautiful places and natural wonders as I possibly can—to the best of my ability—through both still photography and video, utilizing my skills, gear, and knowledge as a professional photographer/videographer, in order to share these places and experiences with everyone. It is our hope that through sharing our experiences as a family, that others like us—and anyone really—will be inspired and become educated in the ways of adventuring and becoming more in touch with our planet.  We will do this through a variety of mediums and platforms, including—but not limited to: Youtube (arguably the largest and most effective platform), Instagram, Facebook, websites, blogging and vlogging. We will be creating a myriad of different information and visuals to share, including travel vlogs, blogs, still images, travel vignette videos and mini documentaries, video tutorials ranging from family travel tips, location guides, outdoor skills, photo and video tutorials, gear reviews, timelapses, and stock footage. All of this information will help create not only the information people are seeking for travel and adventure of this nature, but will also depict a “lead by example” and “if we can do it, you can do it” mentality, which will inspire others to get out there as well.

(My son, Tristan)

We are doing this for many reasons, though the biggest and most motivating one is the way in which I have always tried to live my life, inspired by a quote from William Blake, “Those who restrain their desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.” This quote, and the writings of Blake, Thoreau, Tilman, and others have been with me since I was a boy, and these sentiments have long resonated with me.  I have never wanted to live a typical 9-5 life, nor by someone else’s expectations of me.  This feeling was exponentially strengthened after I got out of the Navy in 2006 and even further instilled after the birth of my son Tristan in 2008.  My wife and I are not normal people, with normal lives, nor has our son grown to be, and we want to continue to instill him (and ourselves) with the wanderlust, and to maintain our deep connections with nature, the earth, and a full life. Going along with all of this, it is my desire to share our adventures with the world; to let people know what is out there and that anyone can experience it, especially those with families who think they can’t do it, or whom are too scared to try. The style in which we will do this will be through a 2 month trip in our Subaru.  We will not be staying in any fancy hotels or B & B’s, instead we will be camping (largely in national parks) the entire trip.  This is for many reasons—first, we love camping. Second, it is the cheapest way to get out there—and as a normal family with bills and everything else, it’s really the only way we could afford to do attempt such a big trip.  Third, because it’s so cheap (comparatively speaking) it will afford us the opportunities to go farther, explore more, and stay out longer.  

(Camping in our Subaru in New Mexico)

For this trip, we will be travelling very light, all things considered.  Everything we will need, including gear, food, clothing, etc. for the entire 2 months will fit in our small Subaru. We wanted to maintain a light travelling style, and not be burdened by things we don’t need, such as hotels, plane tickets, RVs, trailers, etc.. While these things could have increased the quality of our travels in some respects, they would greatly reduce it in others.  Mostly in cost, as we simply cannot afford to travel that way; nor do we really desire to, as then we would not be able to see as much or get to some of the places we want to explore.  It also leaves less room for things to go wrong; which always happens to some degree.  The lighter and more independently we travel, the less things can go wrong.

Though millions of people have traveled our intended routes and visited many of the places we are headed, I would wager few have done it in the same capacity and style as we will—that is, as a family, and for two months straight, and without planes and hotels and fancy lodging and restaurants, etc.. The US has been blessed with a copious amount of public lands, which of course encompasses the national and state parks; however, most people either don’t know or tend to forget about BLM and how much land is at our disposal for exploration and adventuring. This trip will include visiting over 15 National Parks plus state parks, and national and state monuments, as well as many areas of accessible BLM land from New Mexico, Arizona, and California, up to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and back down through Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

(Rough route outline, exact places and dates may be subject to slight changes)

I hope you will join us on our adventures by staying connected with our various social media platforms, which will be updated regularly with pictures, information, trip details, videos, writings, and more. If you have suggestions or advice about any of the places we will be going—or should be going—please don’t hesitate to share and leave comments, questions, and thoughts here at the blog, or on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Vimeo, Twitter, or wherever you prefer to interact.