Blog Posts

Here are all of my blog posts.

  • Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 3: Forest

    Trip odometer: 843 miles. Today: 223 miles. This trip is a long meander, allowing us to enjoy the slow days. Today wasn’t planned to be slow, but that’s OK,…

  • Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 2: Alpacas

    Trip odometer: 620 miles. Today: 464 miles. Packing up to leave is so easy with this motorhome. Unplug and drive off! Even though we could not tell, today was…

  • Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 1: Honey

    Trip odometer: 156 miles Highway 99 marks the edge of Houston’s urban craziness. As soon as we passed under it today, the driving was less stressful and the scenery…

  • Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 0: Tomato Soup

    Trip odometer: 0 miles “I’m so excited that we are going on another trip that I can’t stop running around.” That was Saydee’s perspective yesterday as we prepped the…

  • Reflection on Peru with Compassion International

    “How was Peru?” we were asked after spending a week there with Compassion International. Adjectives or sentences cannot adequately describe our trip, and I attempt to answer the question…

  • Trail Surveying Helps Clear Trails

    Summary In this blog post, I want to share how a hiker can easily and effectively capture trail-maintenance needs with just their smartphone. This applies when the trail does…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 6

    Our schedule labeled this day as a cultural-experience day, though I saw its main purpose as a chance to decompress from five days in poverty. It allowed me to…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 5

    Janet and I welcomed the one-hour ride in a comfortable coach to our first stop of the day. We were both feeling emotionally exhausted, with this trip building on…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 4

    Today was lighter, yet still full. We headed out at 9:45 because the church, Lily of the Valley, was close to our hotel. The area is known as Banos…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 3

    After two amazingly full days, we were happy to have a late start at 9:45, but the rest of the day made up for it in a remarkable way!…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 2

    We met at 6:15am to catch our 1.5-hour internal flight from Lima to Cajamarca, and then drive straight to one of Compassion’s church partners in the city. The city…

  • Peru with Compassion Day 1

    Janet and I are visiting Peru with Compassion International on a Vision Trip to learn about their front line operations. Compassion’s mission is “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’…

  • Backpacking the Four C

    There is a twenty-mile National Recreation Trail about two hours north of Houston in the Davy Crockett National Forest, starting at Ratcliff between Crockett and Lufkin. It is named…

  • A Guide to the Four C National Recreation Trail

    My research in preparation for hiking this trail led to apparently contradictory data. Official websites mentioned broken bridges and an impassable section, while a recent YouTuber thru-hiked with what…

  • A Week on Cayman Brac

    It had been two years since Samuel and I had last dived (in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty). It was also his penultimate Spring Break before college graduation and…

  • Hiking the Good Water Loop

    On the 18th and 19th March, I spent two days and one night hiking the 26-mile Good Water Loop around Lake Georgetown in Central Texas. I don’t know why…

  • A Guide to Lake Georgetown’s Good Water Loop

    I waited far too long before I backpacked the Good Water Loop in central Texas. I had some misconceptions about the trail, and had struggled to find an informative…

  • A Deployment with Texans on Mission Chainsaw Team

    My story of the journey with Texans on Mission to my first deployment with the chainsaw disaster relief team out of Kingsland Baptist Church.

  • Me and Four Thousand Retrievers: Goldens in Golden

    Wednesday I knew that something was up. The humans had packed those hard-sided bags. I was either going on a trip or staying with someone fun like Kylie or…

  • Birding in January

    In this post, I share photos of the first thirty-three bird species that I have photographed with a new 150-600mm lens. It’s been such fun!

  • Six Days in Prague

    A window of opportunity opened for me to take Janet to Europe for some Christmas markets. Fortuitously, Prague had recently joined our wish list. After finding a good flight,…

  • Risen from Its Ashes: Bastrop State Park

    In 2011, a major wildfire consumed most of Bastrop State Park and Texas’s Lost Pines Forest. We checked out how it had recovered when staying there in our motorhome…

  • Revisiting the Trail Between The Lakes

    It had been just six months since my last hike on Sabine County’s Trail Between the Lakes, and nine months since my first thruhike of it in January. The…

  • The Ask

    For several months, Samuel had been reflecting about where to propose to Kylie. Having been dating since high school, Samuel’s two and a half years at university in Colorado…

  • Four Days in Banff

    This was the first time that scenery has overwhelmed me. The Rocky Mountains beckon as one drives along the Trans-Canada highway from Calgary towards Banff, but distance dulls the…

  • Refrigerator Gulch from Goose Creek Trailhead in Colorado’s Lost Creek Wilderness

    There is always something special about heading into the wilderness. In the US, wilderness areas are public lands with special protections that prohibit motorized and mechanized equipment, helping ensure…

  • Lessons Learned from Attempting a Ring (Anillo) of the Picos de Europa

    In September 2025, my buddy James and I set off to hike independently the Anillo de Picos, aiming to hike the largest ring, also known as the Anillo de…

  • Trekking Spain’s Picos de Europa

    What an adventure! Spain’s Picos de Europa is relatively unknown outside of the country. It became Spain’s first national park in 1918. The rugged limestone mountains offer fantastic hiking…

  • The Thames Path: Epilogue in London

    We had two days in London to wrap up our nine-day adventure along the Thames. Walking nearly one hundred miles from Reading to Woolwich had given us a new…

  • The Thames Path Day 9: Tower Bridge to Woolwich

    Our final day’s walk was enhanced with a visit to the Crown Jewels and disrupted with a thunderstorm. We walked under the Thames from London’s new financial district to…

  • The Thames Path Day 8: Barnes to Tower Bridge

    It was fascinating to walk this section of the river and see so many sights in one day. We were surprised by the number of open green spaces and…

  • The Thames Path Day 7: Kingston upon Thames to Barnes

    I had expected this to be very similar to the previous day but it was surprisingly different. On the downside, a collapsed path by Kew Gardens forced a detour…

  • The Thames Path Day 6: Chertsey to Kingston upon Thames

    A day without the big headlines was still a great day of enjoying the river and a detour. Most of the day was a gentle stroll alongside the peaceful…

  • The Thames Path Day 5: Windsor to Chertsey

    What a full day this was! Our sixteen-mile walk started at Windsor Castle, and our stroll along the Long Walk through Windsor Great Park took us past many mature…

  • The Thames Path Day 4: Cookham to Windsor

    It was always going to be difficult for day 4 to beat day 3. The weather was fine but not quite as sunny. It was peaceful walking along the…

  • The Thames Path Day 3: Aston to Cookham

    Everything came together well to make this our best day on the Thames so far. The weather was great and the scenery was better. Highlights included a herd of…

  • The Thames Path Day 2: Reading to Aston

    We enjoyed a fine day along the river, sampling the quaintness of Sonning and the history of Henley, with a few light rain showers separated by sunny spells. The…

  • The Thames Path Day 1: Pangbourne to Reading

    Day 1 of our hike along the eastern half of The Thames Way from Pangbourne to Reading.

  • A Prelude of September: The Thames Path and Los Picos de Europa

    I usually write blogs during or after our adventures to share the experience with friends and family and to help preserve the memory. I’m using this prelude to help…

  • The Natchez Trace Parkway

    Yay! This was the first extended trip in our camper and it exceeded our high expectations. The idea grew from the thought of visiting Jett during his internship in…

  • An Expedition to the Royal Geographical Society

    It was over thirty-five years since I had used the Royal Geographical Society (RGS)’s Expedition Advisory Centre to help me organize my first expedition to Egypt in 1989. I…

  • Three Days in London

    The final stage of our wild trip with the Sems and the Townsends was London. We’d walked the southern half of the Cotswold Way, cruised the Kennet and Avon…

  • A White Horse, a Hot Range, Stone-Hugging at Avebury, and a Glance at Stonehenge

    Why did we only glance at Stonehenge, and what is Avebury and that other stuff? Explaining this to our crew of Sems’s and Townsend’s was the day’s mission. In…

  • Cruising the Kennet and Avon Canal

    We knew that we’d want some rest time after 60 miles of hiking on the Cotswold Way. A relaxing canal boat trip had seemed like a good idea. It…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 5

    This was our final day of walking as we completed the final leg from Toghill House Farm to Bath. It was a fine day with many views in great…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 4

    Team Sloth was back to full strength for the hike from The Dog Inn in Old Sodbury to Toghill House Farm near Cold Ashton. Our motto, “we will get…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 3

    The previous day’s heat claimed one victim in our group and today was another hot one as we walked from The Swan in Wotton-under-Edge to The Dog in Old…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 2

    Three steep climbs on a blistering hot day made just finishing the 11 miles from Coaley Peak to Wotton-under-Edge a very satisfying accomplishment. The day’s highlight was the Tyndale…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 1

    A great first day’s hike of about 11 miles from Painswick to Frocester climbing about 1400 ft in about 6.5 hours. The day’s challenge was the 80 degF (27…

  • Southern Cotswold Way: Day 0

    Our England adventures with the Sems and Townsends start with hiking the southern half of the Cotswold Way. Before starting a hike, there is always getting to the start,…

  • England with the Sems and Townsends: A Prelude

    This is a prelude to our next trip. Please follow us on this adventure by subscribing so you are the first to read about what we are up to.…

  • Rome’s Biblical Sites

    What evidence is there in Rome that Paul or Peter were in the city? The Bible describes Paul’s arrival in Rome (Acts 28:11-16) and that he lived there two…

  • Italy Day 13: Burano, Murano, and a Gondola Ride

    Visiting Venice’s outer islands is a popular excursion. Burano is known for its lace and Murano for its glass. While tours include travel on dedicated boats, the islands are…

  • Italy Day 12: Exploring Venice

    Having experienced a half-day taste of Venice on the previous day, we were ready to find “our” Venice. For Janet and I, that meant heading out early to a…

  • Italy Day 11: To Venice

    Traveling around Europe by train includes some classic moments. We’ve previously experienced a few, from overnighting between Paris and Berlin or passing through the channel tunnel. This day we…

  • Italy Day 10: Hiking and Swimming Cinque Terre

    Having scoped out Riomaggiore and Manarola the day before and after a good sleep, we were ready for a more ambitious walk. But first to enjoy coffee and breakfast…

  • Italy Day 9: Pisa and Cinque Terre’s Lovers Lane

    Hello from Italy! If you could do me a favor and “like” or leave a comment on the platform that you get this blog from, I’d greatly appreciate it.…

  • Italy Day 8: Florence

    Our full day in Florence was another chill day, but that does not mean we didn’t walk and climb! We had reservations to climb the bell tower at 8:15am,…

  • Italy Day 7: Rome to Florence and a Sunset

    After six active days, it was good to have an easier day without climbing but we still walked over sixteen thousand steps. The difference between Rome’s hustle and Florence’s…

  • Italy Day 6: The Vatican and a Cooking Class

    We wrapped up our three days in Rome with visits to St Peter’s Basilica (including a climb to the top of the dome), and the Vatican Museums (to see…

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