We traveled to 17 countries over the course of 10 months. We observed generosity and hospitality on whole new levels. And we dreamt big for how we could contribute to our own community in Colorado Springs, Colorado, upon our return! 

So, what are we up to now? We're opening a communal space downtown where travelers and locals connect around outdoor adventure and city exploration.

When you walk into Kinship Landing, you're met with outrageous hospitality, uniquely inspiring accommodation options, food and drink that express the local culture, and generous resource sharing that helps you to sink your teeth into all that Colorado Springs has to offer.

When Brooke and I give money or ask others to chip in, 98% of the time it is to an organization or individual who has done their homework. We give thoughtfully and consistently and only after some significant research into the effectiveness and precision of how our dollar translates into more good in the world. And then there’s the other kind of giving…

Like how we recently gave $500 to a man I’ve known since only September and spoken to for less than 1 hour. This kind is of giving is often knee jerk giving, inspired by emotions, story, personal encounter, self assurance, or even guilt. We think there’s a time and place for this type of giving. If you want to read more about the giving we try to do most of the time, the kind that is researched and analyze and consistent, keep an eye out for our upcoming post about where and why we spend money. If you want to see why we gave a one time chunk of our around the world trip budget to a man who lives and pastors in a country I’ve never been to, keep reading.

Here’s the story…

After a week or more in Prague touring castles and sampling food, our next stay in the Czech Republic was in a small rural town. It lay 90 minutes outside of Praha. We were hoping for a hillside experience, something that resembled a more realistic picture of what the Czech lifestyle was like outside of the city center and tourism. A converted apartment in an upper room of an old brewery overlooking the town church and square seemed a good bet. It was.

Our host greeted us at a bus station in Prague, over an hour from where we would be staying the next couple of days.

To my dismay, traveling the world has not eliminated fear.

In fact, it's probably heightened my awareness of it, given the excess amount of time I currently have to contemplate, reflect, and feel. So when Bobby is still in line for a smoothie and the plane leaves in 12 seconds, my heart races. And when I'm walking alone on a trail in Thailand, I'm aware. And when Bobby, with a history of seizures, says he's going swimming in the ocean for a while, I watch. And when I see the street vendor put questionable water in my soup, I hesitate. And when I have ongoing health symptoms, I google. And when the options are Donald or Hilary, I panic. And when I think about being unemployed for this long, I'm anxious. 

1. THE AEROPRESS

For the love of God, don't make us live without the Aeropress. As we were leaving town the first day of our trip, we stopped by a favorite coffee shop, Fifty Fifty Coffee House, for some brekky and to pick up a couple of pounds of Switchback Coffee beans to go. When asked how fine to grind it (no we didn't bring a grinder on our trip, did you seriously even wonder that?) , we told them we'd be bringing our french press - to which the barista replied: "No, you're not." 

Why would we tuck away money in a worn and creased envelope labeled "World Travel" in the bottom drawer of our filing cabinet for seven years? Why did we quit our good jobs that allowed us to take Fridays off sometimes only to throw ourselves out into the wild blue yonder of millennial-style travel? Because we wanted to play like we did when we got our homework done. We wanted to learn the way immigrants are forced to. We wanted to dream dreams we've been to scared to utter out loud. We are are either too young or not practiced enough at playing, learning, and dreaming within the everyday humdrum to do this well at home, so we needed to GO. We also wanted time, space, and inspiration to free ourselves to do those those things. Like the go to sleep after reading for hours and wake up on our crinkly camp pad mattress at 10:12am for six days straight type of time. We were growing restless of the busyness and productivity. We weren't dissatisfied with life, but we wanted to taste and see more and to taste and see differently.

1. THE WORLD IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN WE EVEN KNOW

I’ve been lucky to have lived in and experienced some painfully beautiful places in my life. Maybe this has made me numb to ordinary beauty or extinguished the flame of wonder that a new vista brings. If so, Iceland put my reverence, awe, and hopeful expectation of more to come back in place. Natural beauty is marvelous. One time in particular, I left the cairn obelisk marking the end of the trail on top of a mountain. We decided to go past where most hikers usually stop, and I was having an already grand time running along a black sand alpine shores. The terrain looked like the moon - lifeless, dark, dangerous. Just as I came to a crest, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a symphony of visual overload. The 300-foot wall of glacier stood perched on top of a 1000-foot drop of charcoal looking rock, spewing 20 or more waterfalls, stalactitic and grand, into an amphitheater fit for the gods. All of this as I was standing on juvenile moss lining a stream, glowing fluorescent with new life and growth, fed daily by the beauty and power around it. This not only literally left me breathless and speechless, but stamped a seal; there are wonders more beautiful than I know. 

We don't need much to travel across the globe, but there are some essential items that have made our long-term travel journey more convenient and practical, especially as we camp and find ourselves in different climates. We'll hash out the individual items and link them when we can. Packing for an epic and long term trip doesn't have to be a daunting task!

This is a story recipe of a time when we casually decided to gather and cook mussels from the ocean, having never done it before. I wrote this sounding like I know what I am doing, but I don’t. I also don’t know the legal ramification of the actions described in this blog, so use your own judgement.

Here’s something I observed: steamed mussels are easy to come by, simple to cook, and ecstatically delicious. If you find yourself near a mussels-covered pier with no more than an ounce of ambition and even less an appetite, commit to the short journey of gathering, preparing, and enjoying fresh mussels from the sea. It is a simple and delightful experience.

{Preface: We both have been plain lucky in life. We've got wonderful family, insane opportunity, and killer networks of relationships and inspiration. We are not blind to this. While not everyone can take a trip around the world, everyone can accomplish dreams bigger than what they think they're able to. We all need to be willing to live alternatively than what our culture suggests.