I’m the father of two great boys. We live in Boulder, CO.

I go for walks lots and from those walks come lots of thoughts. Too many, I’ve found, to store quietly in my brain. Even the good thoughts weigh me down at times, so I decided I needed a place to unload them, and here we are.

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Hiking with the boys in the Rocky Mountains, 2008

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I was born in Connecticut in 1970, four minutes before my twin brother, John. My gem of a sister came along a few years later. We grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana where our father was a professor at Purdue University for 25+ years. It was a quality up-bringing for sure, but being raised in a conservative, mid-western town left me a little bit sheltered and naive about the world. As it is for most people, high school was the best and the worst of times.

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It is ironic that I became passionate about the outdoors as an adult because, growing up, the outdoors to me consisted of “playing sports outside.” Basketball, soccer, baseball, football… you name it, we played it. I dreamed of being the starting striker for the New York Cosmos or the starting 6′ 8″ power forward for the Chicago Bulls. (Still holding out for that growth spurt.) My athletic interests carried into college where I played football at Purdue. I was the starting placekicker during the ’91 and ’92 seasons, which was one of the most emotionally challenging experiences of my life. Second only to my marriage.

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A year before I graduated college, a teammate at Purdue introduced me to whitewater rafting in West Virginia. A pivotal point, to be sure. There was just something about that trip that grabbed hold of my imagination and never let go. When I graduated in May ’93 with a degree in Kinesiology and three NFL tryout letters in hand, the only thing that interested me was the river in West Virginia. So, with no real clue about what I was doing, that’s where I went.

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After several months of training, where I faced my humanity on a regular basis, I became a professional raft guide. And before long my definition of the “outdoors” completely transformed. Up to that point, I had never backpacked or camped or kayaked or mountain biked or rock climbed or done anything like my present-day understanding of the outdoors. I discovered hills and valleys and rivers and trails, and life was everything but boring. I lived in a tiny cabin with no heat or indoor plumbing and I had few possessions. In the “real world,” my income would have placed me in the “poverty” classification, but I was never without what I needed or wanted. I lived simply and, in return, I was afforded constant freedom and adventure.

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Gauley River, West Virginia

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From 1993 to 1999, I explored the nooks and crannies of the mainland 48, traveled all over Canada and Mexico, and visited more than 20 countries throughout Central and South America. From kayaking rivers and seas to mountain biking, climbing, skiing, trekking, and general wandering.

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Pushing boundaries in Canyonlands, Utah

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I spent a significant amount of quality time alone, but the real magic was always in the shared experience. In a way, even when I was alone, I was never alone.

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I met my wife in the late 90′s, a powerful connection that progressed to marriage and children and home base in Boulder, Colorado, where we’ve been since 2000. Our first son, Kai, was born that year and our second son, Tragar, was born in 2004.

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Boulder, beautiful Boulder

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Professionally, I pursued opportunities in marketing and advertising. I was 30 and got my first “normal” job, selling print advertising. That evolved to a VP position at an ad agency in Denver in 2003, which evolved to me starting my own agency in 2005, which evolved to me merging with another agency in 2007. Today I’m a communications strategist. What I enjoy most is naming companies and products and programs, and then giving them language. It’s good work when I can get it.

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I started this blog in 2009 as my marriage was failing to explore and address how I’ve felt about my life since my backpacking trip in ’97. It has inspired me to do some serious soul-searching about how I have been choosing to live and work, and it continues to help me make  new decisions about where I go from here. If you’re interested, the conversation began here: A Journey Begins.