6.22.2025

The Art of Roaming: Travel Tips for the Independent Globetrotter


Polizzi Generosa, Sicily
Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, 2025
During a team meeting at work several months ago, a 20-something colleague asked about traveling abroad. He was interested but hesitant. Should he do it? The answer from the team was an unmistakable yes. 

A few of us lit up as we talked about the benefits of a journey abroad. There was consensus that international travel is a great way to expand your horizons, get a new perspective, keep your mind active, build confidence by navigating new places and unfamiliar languages and cultures, learn about the world, and maybe learn a few things about yourself. 

This conversation coupled with my recent trip to Sicily (Story coming soon!) got me thinking about travel advice. Here are a few practical tips for anyone wanting to explore the planet.

There are endless places to go and many, many ways to strike out on an adventure. This is my advice based on 15+ trips abroad since 2000. Your advice, which you can leave in the comments section of this post, is welcome but please be kind to novices and don't tell me "you're doing it wrong." I am well aware that there many things I've left out and not all tips works for all destinations.

5.05.2025

Skiing Quadrant Mountain

Skiing Quadrant Mountain, Yellowstone

Over Easter weekend Mike and I joined a few friends for a spring ski tour up Quadrant Mountain in Yellowstone National Park. 

Elements of mystery are inherent in many spring ski tours. Will there there be sufficient coverage? What will the weather do? Will the snow conditions hold up? What about the creek crossings?

As I began writing up this post I realized that our outing was very much like our tour up Sepulcher in 2021 where we asked the same questions, didn't know what to expect, and a web search that revealed nothing about skiing it. As with Sepulcher, we got very lucky and everything worked out perfectly. 

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3.10.2025

2024-2025 Snow Update

Backcountry skiing, Bozeman, Montana
Montana's Steenburg winter ends on February 24 so it is time to check in on this winter's snow conditions. In Bozeman we've had steady storms since just after Christmas with no real melt-downs. After 10" of snow overnight in town, about 26" of snow sit in my yard and deep piles of snow line the streets. It feels like real winter and is an especially nice change after last year's disaster.

1.27.2025

From Sea to Shining Sea


My writing practice has really stalled. Here is another one stuck in my drafts folder. I wrote up the New York City piece shortly after I returned from that trip (Over a year ago!) but the San Francisco trip report (Last March) never materialized so I'm including a short paragraph and a few photos. 

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