The winter has been particularly mild in the Midwest. Minnesota has been hard pressed to keep even a few inches of snow on the ground. As it is, I can't wait for spring and the start of a new adventure.
To quickly bridge the gap between June of 2013 and February 2015:
After the farm, I went on a traveling spree. At the time, I believed I would never get another chance to travel so freely. I went on several backpacking/camping trips including my first solo backpacking trip in Isle Royale (pronounced royal) National Park.
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| Isle Royale - The Trail |
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| Isle Royale - Morning Mist |
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| Itasca State Park - Pink Lady Slipper |
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| Temperance State Park |
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| Boundary Waters Canoe Area |
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| St. Croix State Park |
And then I traveled some more...
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| Bogota, Colombia |
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| Hong Kong |
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| Vancouver, British Columbia |
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| Atlanta, GA - Pride at Coca-Cola |
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| Badlands National Park |
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| Yellowstone National Park |
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| Bison at Yellowstone! |
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| Craters of the Moon National Monument |
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| San Francisco, CA |
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| Point Lobos, CA |
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| Red Woods National Park |
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| Dinner Reservation... |
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| Chicago, IL |
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| Dominica |
Other than that, life remained very mundane. I went back to office work and office life. Starting January of 2014, I instituted a personal spending freeze and began saving money for whatever was next, although I had absolutely no clue what that would be. Around July of 2014, I happened upon the Tiny House movement and dove into research. I discovered a subset of lifestyles ranging from the transient poor, to minimalists, to boondockers, to overlanders. One thing led to another and I found myself driving over 2,000 miles to attend the Overland Expo in Fletcher, NC. The first picture is the actual vehicle which was used in Expeditions Overland Alaska/Yukon series (click here to
watch).
The Overland Expo was an eye opening experience. I found myself surrounded by travel enthusiasts, people who had traveled far and wide. Those attending were both young and old, laid back RVers to hardcore rock crawlers, and overall super friendly and willing to share their experiences. I even met Ted Simon, the man featured in
Jupiter's Travels, a story of a man who in the 1970's traveled 78,000 miles through 45 countries by motorcycle. Thirty years later, he redid the same trip in his 60's and made a documentary called Dreaming of Jupiter of his second trip (click here for
trailer).
Needless to say, I have been inspired to attempt some form of world travel come spring. More to come.
"What will you do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver
Jack
