I never identified with my career. I wasn’t tied to being an engineer, or a leader, inventor, mentor, or manager. Since I graduated from college some years ago now, I’ve been fortunate to have had just two “real” jobs. I often loved them, sometimes hated them, and most days just showed up and gave my best effort—but the job wasn’t me. It never was. I raced bikes. I traveled. I wrote poetry. I took thousands of photos that largely nobody has seen. I’ve had dogs pass through my life and have been fortunate to have a good wife who tolerated all of it. If we remove “work” from the last twenty-plus years, we’re left with those things. We have scribbled notebooks, hundreds upon hundreds of trip itineraries, and mountains of unprocessed photos capturing it all. I guess this is a roundabout way of saying that, at the core of it, I’m simply a traveler, a writer, and a photographer—but I’ve largely kept it under cover, with work providing the way to get paid for what I enjoyed doing. When circum...
Spent the last week of August 2024 in Iceland. It was my first trip, but Kim's third visit. Absolutely loved #vanlife for the week. Every mile was met with glaciers, waterfalls, sheep, and often in gale-force winds. We camped on the 66 th Parallel in which is the furthest North I've ever been, matching Hobart Tasmania in the Souther Hemisphere for me. The photos below are in reverse order, but give a great look at the incredible scenery of Iceland. Caves, Glaciers, Glacial Lakes, Volcanos, Mountains and so much more. While the food and drink are expensive, like Hawaii, it is an island and that is to be expected along with currency conversions. We did not spend any time in Reykjavik, so certainly we'll be back. Icelandair from Chicago was cheap and easy with a short 6 hour flight. Budget though it may be, it made for an inexpensive way to get to Iceland and can be used as a jumping off point to connections in Europe. Traditional Homes...