Here I Come, Barcelona!

When I crawled out of bed on the morning of June 13th, earlier this year, I had no plans to travel overseas. Things were different when I crawled back into bed that night; I was going to Barcelona.

Barcelona, here I come!

I am bursting at the seams with housesitting requests. While I'm glad to be in such high demand, housesitting is something I do in my downtime. And while I appreciate my downtime, it's really the uptime that I look forward to -- when I'm out-and-about traveling and exploring. I've been more careful in the last year or so about not filling my schedule with housesits. I've deliberately guarded large blocks of unscheduled time in my calendar where I can allow for whims and serendipity. The month of October was one of those unscheduled blocks of time.

Biking Vancouver Island: A Photo Journal

Vancouver Island, which lies in the southwest corner of British Columbia, is a paradise of old-growth forests, mountains, oceans, lakes, and rivers. It is a marvelous place for Bathing in the Forest, something I've come to appreciate more-and-more with time.

I first fell in love with Vancouver Island when I backpacked the rugged West Coast Trail in 2010.

My brother (BJ) and me, standing in front of Tsusiat Falls on the West Coast Trail in 2010.

I fell even more in love with Vancouver Island when I spent three weeks Exploring Vancouver Island by car in 2014.

Striking a pose at San Josef Bay in 2014.

And so when I had a few days free after housesitting on Salt Spring Island for a little bike trip, Vancouver Island tugged at my heartstrings.

A Write-Up in the Tobacco Valley News

You may recall from Cycling the Great Parks North & Great Divide Loop that I stayed with a Warm Showers host in Eureka, Montana named Nikki. At the end of my cycling trip, Nikki, who is a journalist with Tobacco Valley News, interviewed me for an article in the paper.

Here is the write-up, reprinted with permission. (Click on the button in the upper right-hand corner to view a larger version of the article.)



How fun to be interviewed for a newspaper -- a first for me! Thanks for a great write-up, Nikki!

My Interview with "Eyes on the Goal" Blog

I was recently interviewed by Eyes on the Goal blog.

Run by Katerina Apostolova, Eyes on the Goal is about "personal finance for freedom seekers." Katerina has a goal of reaching financial independence within five years, and her blog is all about keeping her eyes on this goal.

In learning about financial independence, Katerina had listened to My Interview for "The Voluntary Life" Podcast. She then reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to provide a guest post for her interview series. Click on the image below to read the interview:

Thanks for the fun interview, Kate. I wish you the best in achieving your financial independence!

Part 1: Where the Magic Happens

The Venn diagram is one of the most beautiful diagrams, for it represents the magic that happens when we combine our interests.

As you may recall, a Venn diagram is a visual way of showing relationships among separate groups of things. Each group of things is represented by a congruent circle. The circles are overlapped to create regions, or "intersections," representing commonalities among the groups. These intersections are powerful; they are where the magic happens. The greater the number of intersections, the greater the magic.¹

Where the magic happens.

On February 1, 2012, I attended a talk given by John Scurlock. Called "Heart of the Distant Mountain," John presented aerial photographs he had taken while flying over the Cascade mountains. The photographs in John's presentation were amazing. But more amazing was the story of how John became an aerial photographer.