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What do you think it would be like to live in a tipi through the winter? If you had asked me this question three months ago when I was living in a non-insulated, non 4WD van without snow tires or a steady place to…

Ever heard of type two fun? It’s the kind of adventure that you look back on and laugh, and every time you tell the story it gets better and better. Overtime, the story may become a fond memory. Some might call it a misadventure….

In 2019, I lived in a small cowboy town in Mexico known on the map as Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon but known internationally to climbers as Potrero Chico. While sitting in the famous El Buho coffee shop that overlooks the canyon walls, I interviewed a…

How did we decide to live in a van? Funny story. We met three women in their fifties and sixties who owned a horse farm in the middle of Bumfuck Nowhere between the Colorado and Utah border. “Come live with us,” they said. “We’ll…

Since the close of 2021 (The Year of The Bike!), I have been sitting next to the wood stove in my house, reading through all of my journals over the last year. Occasionally pausing to trudge through my yard, which is sparkling with a…

Read Day One:(Bikepacking Diaireis 008) to catch up on our bicycle trip so far. After a sleepless night of cold rain, we woke up to loud wind rattling the tarp above us. It annoyed me to no end, all I wanted to do was…

“What’s the point of only going out for one night?” Ian grumbled as we sipped hot coffee from the comfort of our couch. “There might be lessons for us. Who knows!” I grinned, eager to get outside. “This could be the trip where I…

The last thirteen miles of our trip were a gift from Bryce Canyon National Park. In the trees away from the road hid a beautifully paved two lane bike path. We exited the skinny shoulder of the road and left the passing cars behind….

“I hate pedaling on pavement,” I muttered, throwing my bike down and sitting in what little shade the bushes offered. Ensue rant: This is dangerous and stupid. American roads were made by bastards. Why is there no shoulder? Heaven forbid a bicycle lane be…

“Pavement is a good place to get into a strong mental space,” Ian said. “I’ve worked through a lot of inner conflict on pavement.” Yeah yeah yeah, Yogi Yoda bike shit, sure. My reaction to the steady uphill, steep and grueling in the rising…

16 miles before breakfast and coffee. 90 degrees by 9am. Hangry and hot. Pavement pedaling into town. The hole in Ian’s pants is exposing his whole right cheek. Needs new pants. My ass hurts. Butt bruise is getting bigger every day. Need padded pants….

While bikepacking, there are many things to get pissed at. Like a puncture in my water bottle. The one with the sticker I liked. Never get attached to water bottles, they’re fickle. You buy, they break. They break when you need them most like when a desert stretch is coming up where water carrying capacity is the key element to living.

Day 2 What’s in a sunrise? Bleary eyed shivers. Determination and stupidity to unzip that sleeping bag. A quiet calm in the darkness and a sense of anticipation. Watching, waiting, and observing every shift of light. Hot water bubbling, coffee steaming.  Waiting for it to cool…

The desert is flooding. The Boundary Waters are on fire and closed for the first time in forty five years. Every single National Forest in California is closed. The Bootleg Fire in Oregon is bigger than New York City, casting a hazy smoke across…

Jenna started volunteering as a firefighter when she turned fourteen years old, the earliest age you are eligible to volunteer in the state of Connecticut. Her dream of fighting fires formed when she was twelve, when she watched in horror as her childhood crush’s…