I’m an active duty U.S. Air Force officer trapped in a vagabond’s body; basically I protect democracy by day and plan adventures by night. I don’t eat meat and I’d love to be vegan but…queso. I’m working on it though lol
I like to hike, bike, play with dogs, eat vegetables, recycle, play music, workout, swim, read, get tattoos, go to church, play golf, suffer through marathons, pray, write, ride on airplanes, ride on those things that make you walk faster in airports, camp, and anything that exposes me to something new.
I’ve been stationed in Texas, Colorado, South Korea, and now I’m in Germany–watch me as I “join the military and travel the world” as they say!
Lastly, I take photos of things I find beautiful because I believe God put those things here for us to admire, and you’ll see that in my posts. I know that those things will not last forever thanks to climate change caused by humans and by major corporations’ insatiable need for money, so I’m on a journey to see what I can before it’s gone for good!
Redneck gatherings, a hippy town, and the implosion of a dream
Yep, that’s me: the curious, Colorado kid in the righteous cowboy hat and denim jacket. I grew up around a massive Nebraskan family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, friends, cousins’ friends, and lots of time outdoors. Mom and Dad hauled my brother and I around in a tiny camper for the first few years of our lives until we got older and opted to sleep outside in a tent. Camping was in my family’s blood then, and it’s still there today…they just got old and bought campers to sleep in while I remained in the tent.
Fast forward to 2010 and I’m attending college in the beautiful city of Boulder, Colorado with the majestic Flatirons as my daily backdrop. Biking to my architecture classes, hiking the Rocky Mountains, doing this ROTC thing, and snowboarding Eldora was my life. You can imagine my surprise when those 5 years of exploring somehow resulted in a bachelors degree and a commission as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force lol.
My dream was to be a special operator–you know, those dudes who shoot at and get shot at but you never hear about? So, I busted my ass for 4 long years to become one of them and was finally rewarded with the opportunity to attend “Phase II” for Air Liaison Officer selection (i.e. think hell week for the SEALs but toned wayyyy down for Air Force dudes lol). I successfully passed the physical torment and all I had left to do was pass the medical test; how hard could it be? Well as it turns out, seeing color is pretty hard to do when you’re color deficient (I had no idea), so the flight doc failed me and I was reclassified as an intelligence officer student…not at all what I had prepared for in the last 4 years, let me tell ya. I was depressed, sad, and had a massive, massive chip on my shoulder.
West Texas, homesickness, and a store called Happy Trails
I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to my dreams and my home state of Colorado, and moved to the hottest place I’d ever been in my life: west Texas. No, I did not choose to live in west Texas, the Air Force choose it for me lol. The next 10 months of my life went something like the tune of that Fresh Prince theme song: “iiinnnnn west-ern Texas, scorched and blazed, in the schoolhouse is where I spent most of my days”…you get the idea lol.
Stressed out of my mind and having nowhere to escape, I started to get homesick. I started to miss the accessibility of the Rocky Mountains. Everyday I had to drive home from tech school after 12 hours of drinking from a firehouse of information with what seemed like nowhere to escape and recharge. Everything around me was flat and featureless; I couldn’t recognize where I was.
As I was driving home one 3-day weekend, I passed by a store called Happy Trails that I’d never noticed before. As I glanced out of my driver-side window, I noticed a tent in the window next to a big sign that read, “SALE”. At about that same time, something in my body turned that steering wheel and aimed my car right into their parking lot before I even had time to think! Next thing I knew, I was buying every piece of camping gear I thought I needed and was making my to Big Bend National Park.
It was in that park that I found my calling–I wanted to travel the world and experience new things.
I felt my stress melt away while I soaked in the Boquillas Hot Springs and I felt my heart light on fire as I climbed Emory Peak and peered south into Mexican territory for hundreds of miles.
Luckily, after I graduated tech school, I was fortunate enough to land my first intel job back in Colorado where I so desperately longed to return. I’ve was extremely blessed to be stationed there and I did my absolute best to make the most of this incredible duty assignment. The assignment didn’t come without challenges though. Read my monologue under the video in this post.
I started this blog in the summer of 2021, during my two-week quarantine upon arriving to South Korea. As such, all of my earlier material describes my fun trips around Colorado where I was stationed prior. I absolutely loved being in Colorado, and every chance I get to go back, I take it. It’s home for me; always will be.
But, when the amazing opportunity to be stationed in South Korea came to me, I couldn’t pass it up! The bulk of my time was spent traveling to every small town or village I could find in search of the perfect shot for my newly-acquired Nikon. I definitely developed a knack for photography I’d say 🙂
And now, as of June 2022, I have realized a dream come true for me; I live in Germany! I’ve wanted to get here for years, and while I never thought it’d actually happen, it has!
So what are you supposed to do with all this? Well, if nothing else, I hope my blog acts as a catalyst and encourages you to take a leap of faith into a lifetime of exploring this great, big world we all call home. That’s what.
Happy traveling!
