Thanks for being here.
There’s an adventurer within us; we need the outdoors to honor this truth.
Do you feel unfulfilled after sitting in front of a computer screen for hours? Or are you looking for inspiration, a desire to experience the new and novel, but don’t know where to start?
You’re not alone.
Each day, we have the potential to experience that sense of awe and opportunity. And I’m offering you a chance to join me on everyday and not-so-everyday adventures.
Whether you carry a gun, fishing rod, camera, or a pair of hiking boots, spending time in the wild rejuvenates you; I hope Next Adventure provides you with a dose of excitement and new information that helps you on your own journey. Perhaps you share my passions or simply enjoy reading about them. All are welcome.
Free Subscribers get:
All Next Adventure and Off-Grid Dispatches.
Behind-the-scenes perspective on my trips and writing.
Ideas and inspiration for adventurous activities, both near and far, with a DIY slant.
Paid Subscribers get everything Free Subscribers get, plus:
My gratitude for the direct financial support of my work. Paid subscribers make my writing possible.
Founding Member subscribers receive a one-year subscription to Backcountry Hunters & Anglers or the Nature Conservancy.
I sincerely appreciate both free and paid subscribers. I aim for Next Adventure to provide readers with hope, inspiration, and practical knowledge, a bright spot in your day.
About Me
Why “Next Adventure?”
Starting when my kids were two and four years old, we sought out new experiences. Their mom was in a demanding and time-consuming career phase, so I was the sole parent for most weekday afternoons and weekends. Staying put in the house wasn’t an option; I wouldn’t stop exploring simply because I now had these two young co-pilots along for the ride.
When school or daycare ended for the day and Saturday morning rolled around, my go-to question wasn’t, “What are we going to do today,” but instead:
“What’s our Next Adventure?”
Hiking a nature trail, going to a balloon festival, or visiting a farm to shop for the piglets we’d raise became representative activities. As my children grew, the activities evolved: hiking mountains, ice fishing, and accompanying me on deer scouting missions. As teenagers, they’ve begun to embark on their own experiences.
We still go outside together, the dynamic between us changing with capability and interest, but the question that I ask them remains essentially the same:
“What adventure are we going on today?”
Framing my day this way represents a philosophy of life, an ingrained mentality.
So Why a Newsletter? Why Now?
A newsletter affords me a more direct connection with my readers to discuss outdoor and wilderness topics. But Next Adventure is not just a newsletter; it’s a call to action.
Please keep reading…
Adults and children are glued to their screens. Average daily screen time is at a record high. Social media companies openly admit to Congress that they’ve designed algorithms to addict users to their platforms.
Feeling a sense of adventure administers an antidote to this modern affliction. Hunting & gathering and their modern equivalents connect us to our ancestors, tapping into an evolutionary thread that dates back to the beginning of humans nearly 300,000 years ago. It’s no wonder we feel better going for a walk outside after a long virtual meeting.
Wilderness is a frequent theme threaded throughout my writing. What is it? And why is it important? Ongoing questions like these inform Next Adventure.
My Story
I grew up loving the outdoors and hating the classroom. With an unsettled home life inside the house, I sought calm and inspiration outside of it.
I was a horrible student, but cross-country running, skiing, and a few supportive adults enabled me to graduate high school and get into college at the University of New Hampshire. Without the arbitrary and constrictive confines of the K-12 classroom, my intellectual life blossomed in college and beyond, as I earned a Master’s and PhD degrees - diving deeply into topics that were meaningful to me.
I’m a freelance writer with a background in public and private sectors. I’ve held full-time positions, but I typically create a patchwork of consulting gigs that’s enabled me to raise my kids and do the activities I love in the great outdoors, such as hunting, fishing, and skiing. When I worked a full-time “real” job, it never lasted more than 18 months. On reflection, these jobs lacked the adventure I craved, so I left.
A Note about my hunting journey
Though I grew up in Vermont, I arrived at hunting and fishing as an adult. I fished a little as a kid, but hunting and guns were not part of my upbringing. At age 27, I bought my first gun (Mossberg Chuckster 22 Mag) for the sole purpose of dispatching our flock of grass-raised farm animals. Two years later, I purchased a proper hunting gun and have continued on a steady trajectory of hunting and fishing as much as possible in the wild places I can justify and afford going to.
My first deer didn’t come easy.
After I read Larry Benoit’s How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life and hung out with some trackers, I harvested my first deer in 2016, seven years after I started hunting.
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