Almost everyone I meet is worried about the future. At what point did we start thinking about life as something that is supposed to be secure? More…
SUCCESS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE
The material material trappings of life – and I use the word trappings in the animal with it’s paw stuck in a steel trap that’s chained to a stake sense – have never much appealed to me. More…
EXPLORING ECUADOR – EL MITAD DEL MUNDO
So… after three and a half years we left the Northen Hemisphere. It’s all downhill from here they say. More…
EXPLORING ECUADOR – SERENDIPITY IN THE ANDES
We followed a steep, muddy ribbon – that no responsible map maker would include on his map for fear that someone might actually try to take it… More
PARQUE EL ANGEL – ECUADOR
PARQUE EL ANGEL
Exploring Parque El Angel in Ecuadors high country, we found a landscape more befitting the imagination of Doctor Seuss than what we had imagined we would find in the Andes. A forest of hundreds of thousands of the same plant that none of us had seen before. And those leaves… as soft as a rabbits ears!
THE UPSIDE OF DISCOMFORT
FORTY FEET UP AND INTO THE OVERHANG. NEVER ONCE LOOKING DOWN.
The first world has things a little backwards right now… equating comfort and security with happiness. They think that the more comfort and security they can bring to their lives, the happier they’ll be. And now they’re so comfortable and secure they’re miserable. Because there’s no sense of adventure in their lives. No struggle. Computers and cars and climate controlled environments have made it all too easy.
What we’ve found in our adventures is that we’re most alive when we’re outside of our comfort zone. When there’s some insecurity and fear and discomfort. Because this is where the magic happens. It’s only in the struggle with our boundaries where growth is found. Important moments for Malia and I. Life changing lessons for Wyatt, Carson, and Kaila.
BREAKDOWN IN COLOMBIA – THE POVERTY OF WEALTH
Santander, Colombia
Sixty kilometers to go.
“C’mon baby, don’t quit on me now. One more hill… please.”
Think of the steepest mountain road you’ve driven in America. Double it. That’s what the roads are like in South America. More…
STORIES, STOUT, & FAMILY
Our lives are driven by narratives. The myths that tell us what we’re capable of. The stories that inform us, set our boundaries, and… hopefully, bind us together. They are the filters that we use to interpret our world. Some of the stories are… more…
A FOOLISH ENTERPRISE
Imagine… a friend asks you to invest in their business. So… you grab a cold beer, sit back to listen to their pitch… and, it’s nothing short of astounding. They ask you for… more
HONDURAS
WE SEND KAILA IN FOR ALL POLICE NEGOTIATIONS
Out of the frying pan… into the fire. There’s no way to get from El Salvador to Nicaragua without passing through the northwest corner of Honduras. You can… more…