Mostly, it was my dad. He loaded my mom, sisters and me into our car every weekend and took us for a drive – often on bumpy logging roads in the forests of Eastern Oregon where I grew up.

For spring break, it was always US 395, south to California to visit National Parks, Spanish missions, and more bumpy roads.

I absorbed his wanderlust without realizing it: through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in California, thinking all along that I was Frodo saving Middle Earth; driving to Alaska in the wintertime with skis and climbing gear but not much in the way of rent money; heading off to India, Pakistan, and Nepal with my new girlfriend and her family when I was – just barely – welcomed; and later (with my wife, that previously mentioned girlfriend) taking our daughters out of school to travel to far flung places without, once again, much in the way of rent money.

Now, years later, Karen and I have – astonishingly – not only paid the rent, but ended up buying a house. The girls are grown, we are retired, and we continue to venture out with curiosity and wonder.

This blog chronicles our discoveries and tosses in some ideas and learnings along the way.

I hope you enjoy it.