- Don’t forget your eating utensils when you go backpacking.
- Though if you do, a leatherman has everything you need to make a perfectly functional stand-in.
- My wife is the best friend and travel companion I could ask for.
- We should have allotted for more beer in the budget - there’s so many great brewpubs all over the west!
- Speaking of budgets, we’ve spent 7% over our March-May budget of $4,479. But we’re on pace to be well under for June thanks to free camping near Tetons and great grocery planning by Cristina, so by the end of the month, I project we’ll be 1% under the March-June budget. #publicaccountability
- Long term travel is pretty incredible. We create our own schedule. Every day is different. There’s no alarms (except to get up at 3am to look at the stars), no overflowing email inboxes, etc etc.
- Everything is better outdoors. Food tastes better. Sleep is sounder. (OK, except in bad weather. That’s worse. Yikes…. ask us about North Dakota next time we see you.)
- Our National Parks are truly spectacular places. We as Americans are fortunate to have them available to us. And that’s made so much clearer by the vast numbers of foreigners who come to the US to visit our parks.
- The parks are all so unique. Not only are the features so very varied, but the parks themselves are managed very differently. Some have lots of private concessioners, some don’t. Some allow fires in the campgrounds, some don’t (and it doesn't seem to have much to do with risk of fires spreading). Some have entrance fees, some don’t. This is not the way I’d choose to run anything, but it seems to work nonetheless.
And now from Cristina:
- Less really is more. Especially when you have to carry it all on your back.
- My complexion is clearer when I don’t wash my face every day, which leads me to ask this over-simplified, yet loaded question: Why do I wear makeup?
- Nature has a profound yet quiet way to inspire calm and healing. I’d like to learn more about it.
- Food is a powerful source of personal creative expression, passion and joy. Camping and a nomadic lifestyle have made me think a lot about access to and the human relationship with food. I’ll spare you the novel here, but feel free to ask.
- Clouds are fascinating. I like them much more than I realised.
- Did you watch Cosmos with Neil de Grasse Tyson? The universe exists in all of us, and all things are connected. You can feel it in nature, which leads me to the next point:
- Earth is full of beauty and magic, and we get to live here. Let’s take better care of it!
- I married the kindest, most patient person I know. He also happens to be a great travel buddy.