Fellow blog readers, I know you have been hanging on for dear life these past few years for my next post and alas here we are. I never finished my tales from my 2022 South American adventures and according to my brother Paul, I am still in Quito Ecuador since that was my last blog post. But alas so much has happened in my life since then. Sadly I never got around to writing about the last three months of my trip in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina but I just fell too far behind. And now here we are a little over three years since I returned from that trip, and I am once again fleeing the US and jumping back into an extended international travel trip. But first a life update from the past few years that have led to this moment. I wanted to keep it short but so much has happened that I didn’t know how.
Rocky Mountain Living
My goal when I came home from South America in February 2023 after nearly eight months of backpacker travel was to crush the Rockies in the same way I did the Andes and take my hiking career to the next level. And I can proudly say that I have done so the last couple years. I have to give myself a quick pat on the back for some of my accomplishments in the Rockies the past three years: over 1,000 miles hiked with 300,000+ feet of elevation gain, 19 fourteeners and 10+ thirteeners summited, a handful of class 3-4 rock scrambles, backpacking trips on work nights, backcountry hikes with no discernible trail, and so much more.
But it’s not just about the stats. It’s about the strong connections I now have with the mountains; the landscapes and views; the challenges, rewards, and mental determination required; the drive to explore new places and push myself harder. For me hiking slows life down. It gives me a chance to decompress my thoughts in a serene place with a clear mind, or to think about nothing at all enjoying the scenery, or to put all my focus on pushing forward physically and mentally. I always say a good challenge hike has me cursing under my breath a few times wondering why this is my favorite hobby.
My Sweet Copper
So how was I able to hike this much? I moved out of Denver and deeper into the Rocky Mountains. I knew that I wanted to live in Summit County with all the amazing ski resorts, hiking trails, and easy access back to Denver; but I just didn’t know where. After making a post in a Facebook housing group I began chatting with a guy named Nick and after the typical guy convo of about two sentences we decided to find a place together. Nick was already living in Keystone so it was easier if he looked for us, and when he toured a place directly on Copper Mountain he said we’d be fools not to take it. So site unseen, roommate unmet, I said “sign me up!” And lucky ole me could not have asked for a better experience. Nick turned out to be an incredible roommate and great friend; and Copper Mountain was truly a life hack to live on a ski resort with endless adventure, beauty, nature, free concerts and events, great public transportation, and family friendly vibes.
Copper Mountain was my intro to ski town living and I’m not sure I will ever turn back…or at least not anytime soon. I spent two years living at the base of the ski resort where I could walk 7 minutes to a lift and ski home down a bunny slope. It was truly a surreal experience and took me from being a casual beginner/intermediate skier to someone who hit over 100 days on the various Summit County ski resorts (with over 70 days being at Copper) in my first year living there. I had a fairly easy remote job so what better way to spend my lunch break (or longer if the powder was good and work was slow) than to go get some turns on the mountain. Multiple times I would be going up the lift and receive a work message to hop on a call and could say “yes give me 15 minutes” and I would be back at my desk ski boots still on helping troubleshoot a bug in the system. Next thing you know I’m skiing five days a week and doing my first double black diamonds by the end of the season.
Of course the main reason I had moved to the mountains was for summertime activities like hiking, camping, and backpacking; and Copper Mountain delivered. Centrally located in Summit County; the Eagles Nest Wilderness, the Tenmile Range, and the Gore Range became my backyard playground for hiking. I quickly got creative with my mountain adventures and lifestyle doing things like leaving work at 2pm to backpack in the Eagles Nest and then waking up at 5am and walking back home before my 9am meeting at work. Or one day I took the bus into Frisco and hiked the first five peaks of the Tenmile Range before bailing out and hiking down home to Copper on the other side. Just a casual nine hour, five mountain peak hike home. Another time I got up at 3:30 in the morning, summited a 13er, and still made by morning Daily Stand Up. The work day hadn’t even begun yet and I had already climbed a mountain peak. It was always fun to go for a hike where the end of the trail was my apartment door. One of the many cool things about climbing a mountain peak (or set of peaks) is that you can’t unsee it after. By the end of my two years in Summit County I would drive around the area and could recognize the different peaks I had been on top of and relive the memories of that hike. I could go on forever about my outdoor excursions while living at Copper Mountain but that is not the intent of this post.
On top of the endless things to do in my Copper backyard, I would frequently go back to Denver to hang out with friends, and also managed to go on multiple trips around the country to see my favorite bands Phish (Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago) and Sound Tribe (Montana) as well as seeing those bands whenever they played in Colorado. And I went to two incredibly fun electronic festivals – Lightning in a Bottle a few hours outside LA and Movement in Detroit.
I also did a two week international trip with Yen going first to Guatemala – exploring the city of Antigua, hiking Acetenango (you get to spend the night just below the highly active Volcan de Fuego that erupts every 10-15 minutes. So much so that you become a critic of how good an eruption it is), and relaxing by the mystical Lago Atitlan.
Then we decided to cut Guatemala short due to rainy weather conditions and spent a few days in Mexico City eating, eating, and eating; as well as making a day trip to las Grutas de Tolantango – beautiful turquoise colored hot springs 3.5 hours outside the city.
Summer 2025 Plans in Motion
My two years at Copper Mountain were absolutely amazing and I could have easily gotten stuck there for a decade to life, but the wandering adventurer in me yearned for change. As the end of our two year lease approached in June 2025, it was time for me to figure out my next steps. I had my heart set on moving to Steamboat Springs for the following ski season as one of my best friends from college, Sumner, and his wife Abby had just moved to Steamboat and it would be amazing to live in the same city as them. But rather than being a normal person and moving straight to Steamboat in June, I decided to take a more off the wall approach to my summer ahead.
At this point in time I had been doing a few hours of freelance work per week with some co-workers on top of my day job and that small software company, Wiski, was starting to gain traction. My day to day job at Edge was pretty boring and the project I was working on was very poorly run (plus a few co-workers were starting to jump ship from Edge to join Wiski) so I figured this was a good time for me to do the same. Earlier that year I had envisioned doing an extended trip in Europe for the summer, and what better time than now to quit my main job, travel for the summer, then start the freelance work full time…well not full time – my own variation of that. I already had it in my head that I would be doing extended international travel in 2026, so I made an arrangement with Daniel (founder of Wiski) to where I would be working 15-20 hour weeks at a good hourly rate starting after Labor Day. He was open to the idea and so here I was in mid May with this crazy plan:
Copper lease ends May 31; live with Yen and Shay in Denver for two weeks; trip to Houston to visit Paul, Nichole, and Jade and to see my new favorite artist Sharkia (I found my love for her during my last travels to South America and became a top 1% listener on Spotify)
10 day trip to Europe Part I – wedding in Barcelona then traveling with one my best friends since 3rd grade Jordan road tripping the French Riviera (my first time returning since studying abroad there junior year of college) and exploring Copenhagen (Jordan is a huge foodie and got us reservations to Noma – five time top restaurant in the world, and the Alchemist – current number five restaurant)
Give my two weeks notice to my main job at Edge upon return from Europe, Phish 4th of July in Boulder; camp/live out of my car in Steamboat for 10 days
5.5 weeks in Europe Part II – family trip to Budapest > Vienna > Tuscany; solo six day hut to hut trek in la Vanoise in the French Alps > Verona > four day trek in Italian Dolomites that had multiple via Ferrata sections with my British friend Rebecca who I met during previous South American backpacking trip > Lago di Garda > Croatia with my cousin William including a doing a House and Techno festival on my birthday.
Then I would come back to Denver just in time for my friends Maggie and Julia’s wedding and Sound Tribe at Dillon Amp for Labor Day before starting back up at work 15-20 hours a week and coming up with the next plan for my nomadic lifestyle.
Scary Freak Accident
But then in early June, I had a freak bike accident that almost ruined my whole summer plans (or much worse). I was out biking on a city trail in Denver on a slippery day and tried to ride my bike from the street onto the sidewalk but my tire got stuck in the curb and I went over the handle bars where the gear shifter launched into my chest to break my fall creating a giant puncture wound. I won’t go into much more detail on the accident, but long story short I had to spend the night in the hospital and the future of my summer full of plans was looking bleak as I was supposed to leave for Houston in less than two weeks and go to Europe part I directly from there. I am forever grateful that my loving mother and my amazing friends Yen and Shay were there to support me along the way and I am so grateful that my recovery went incredibly well. Within just a few days I was already walking around the neighborhood and showing rapid signs of improvement. After ten days I went to the lung surgeon with my mom and got the approval to go on my Europe trip with discretion of paying extra attention to how my chest and lungs feel. While I was not 100% (and still to this day occasionally feel the strains in my chest), I was able to plow forward with my plans and ultimately still able to have the amazing summer of travel and hiking I described in the section above. This traumatic experience made me more appreciative than ever to live the life that I do and to savor every moment because you never know when that could change.
I am so fortunate that all the summer of 2025 travel plans still came to fruition in spite of this scare. These travels warrant their own stories and posts, but I am not going to backtrack on all of that as I’m already rambling too much. I do still continue to keep notes about these trips in a scatterbrain bullet point manner that maybe someday will be released from the archives but I wouldn’t count on it. Those are just to trigger my own memory as so much always happens on these adventures and I try to write it down while it’s still fresh. For now the best way to summarize the highlight moments of my summer trips are through the photos shown above.
Taking Digital Nomad to the Next Level
After Labor Day weekend I started my next chapter of life where I decided to see how far off the grid I could get while still working. I got Starlink, a big battery, a solar panel, and a portable monitor; and I took my home office into the wild. I was going to spend the month of September camping in different spots around SW Colorado while working my 15-20 hour freelance job from camp, coffee shops, or the park and hiking as much as possible. I learned the importance of solar power, portable batteries, charging electronic whenever and wherever you can, Starlink, organization in a small space, mouse traps, and so much more!
The first week was incredibly tough as I tried to get back into the mindset of working after my six week Europe trip while also detaching and living from my car. It was a harder adjustment than I anticipated and I really struggled in the beginning. But the first weekend rolled around and I did an incredible triple peak backcountry hike in Crested Butte (thanks to a recommendation from the cute bartender) and it was all uphill from there.
I really found my stride working from the woods and hiking as much as possible. The longer I did it, the more accustomed I became to the life of living outside. It had its own rhythm and routine to it that was so simple and slow moving yet small tasks were also very involved and took much longer. I ended up roaming around Crested Butte > Ouray > Silverton > Telluride > Aspen spending 5-7 days rent free in each of these beautiful mountain towns and the surrounding wilderness. I ended up camping 27 out of 29 nights, hiking over 100 miles, summiting 14 mountain peaks (there were many days where I did multiple peaks), having a mouse (actually two mice) as a roommate, (or should I say car mate), and truly embracing the nomadic lifestyle; all while still putting in my weekly freelance hours. The hardest part besides the initial transition was that it was September in Colorado and every morning was incredibly cold.
What started as a challenging transition into this new lifestyle turned out to be one of the most fun and adventurous one month stretches of my life. I found my loophole out of normal life without even leaving Colorado. It gave me an even greater appreciation for my “home state” that I already loved living in so much and my connection to Colorado felt stronger than ever. I have so many more stories and thoughts to about this experience but I will move on.
Continued Nomadicism
My goal was to make it off lease until the end of the year and then sign a three month lease in Steamboat Springs for the ski season and somehow I managed to fill my time October thru December. First of all, I cannot thank Yen and Shay enough for letting me bounce in and out of their place as home base throughout these six months from June until the end of the year. They are incredible friends who truly helped make this all possible providing me with a comfortable room to crash in and so many delicious meals (Yen is a chef). In October, I also spent a week in Houston hanging out with Paul, Nichole, and Jade.
In November, I went on an incredible week-long to northern Costa Rica thanks to my friend Carin inviting me on an Inspirato trip where a group of seven of us had an amazing time boating, fishing snorkeling, ziplining, ATVing, cooking fresh seafood, hanging out by the pool in our mansion in the hills, and sighting monkies. This trip was immediately followed by a ten day stint in Sarasota relaxing and hanging out with my parents.
In early December, I went with Yen to her childhood home in Charleston and spent a week hanging out around there seeing all of her old haunts and hearing endless stories of all the places she partied around town growing up. I have a huge crew of friends in Denver from Charleston so it was nice to finally get some perspective on the town. Plus the food was unreal! I flew straight from there to Sarasota for a week with my whole family in town for my mom’s 70th birthday. I was back in Denver for a little over a week before heading to Olympia, Washington for my company Christmas party and ending the year at a three night Sound Tribe run in Chicago. And that is how I filled up my time going off lease for six months; bouncing around the country and the world while still doing freelance work.
Ski Season in Steamboat
It had been my plan to move to Steamboat Springs for the ski season since the beginning of the summer and once again I got lucky enough to find a great roommate situation. I was still on the hunt in November posting in the Facebook housing group and hoping that something would turn up when CJ hit me up saying she had a spot available for three months. We had a brief convo on the phone and she seemed like a classic easy going mountain woman so just like that I was signing another site unseen, person unmet lease in the mountains. I’m a very positive person who puts out good energy into the universe and fortunately that’s usually what I receive back. SometimesI have to pinch myself on how I always get so lucky. She charged me an incredibly reasonable rate to live in her son’s old room, fully furnished, and perfect location between the mountain and downtown with the free bus running every 7 minutes to go in either direction.
While it was a historically bad winter in Colorado with less than 50% of average snowpack and only a couple of good ski days, I still had an absolutely incredible time living in Steamboat. I got to hang out with my college buddy Sumner 3-4 times per week skiing together, doing dinners, and becoming locals at the Storm Peak Brewing Company (the brewery at the base of the mountain). His wife Abby was pregnant so it was the perfect time for me to be there as his drinking and skiing buddy. And while I knew her before, our relationship got much stronger as we spent more time together than ever and I got to see just how amazing of a person she really is. I also had a couple other groups of friends that I previously knew who lived in Steamboat and greatly improved my relationship with them as well. Steamboat really is one of the best ski towns in Colorado and was a much more social lifestyle than when I lived in Copper Mountain.
There were fun events every weekend – free concerts at the base, Winter Wondergrass bluegrass festival, and the Winter Carnival where kids aged 6-14 skijoor on Main Street during the day (ride on skis while being pulled by a horse) in front of the entire town and in the night at Howelsen Hill kids from 6-18 showcase a series of skills wearing light up ski outfits launching the alpine ski jump, riding down the mountain doing coordinated turns in sync, and ripping moguls on ice, as well as the Lighted Man who rides down the mountain in a Roman Candle suit, and ski patrol who comes down while lit on fire. Child protective services turn a blind eye that weekend. Man how cool it must be to grow up in Steamboat!
And of course me being me, I also went on multiple trips while I lived in Steamboat. I was gone three out of the twelve weeks I lived there. The first one was a two week Mexican excursion that started with eight days in Oaxaca – a lovely city in southern Mexico with bustling markets, lively squares, incredible street food, vibey restaurants and mezcalerias, beautiful rolling hills, and lots of history. Every day there was a parade in the streets celebrating something and on Saturday night there was three weddings going through town like a New Orleans second line with the wedding party dancing in the streets and fireworks shooting off.
The first few days were just me and Yen eating our way around town and getting the lay of the land. Then seven other friends showed up (our Phish crew) and we had a five bedroom compound in town with a pool in the center. We did some great day trips to the pyramids of Monte Alban – former center of the Zapotec empire, Hierve el Agua – geological site with petrified waterfalls and pools that you can swim in, and a Mezcal farm – where we learned about the process of making Mezcal and took numerous shots of the different variations. Another highlight of the trip was the seven mole, seven Mezcal tasting.
Following Oaxaca, our crew of nine flew to Cancun for four nights of all inclusive Phish. It was truly the most incredible Phish experience and worth every penny. Everyone said once you do Phish Mexico you will never not want to go back and now I get it. The pool parties, the endless drinks served directly to you even during the concert, unlimited food, the ability to walk to the venue from your room, the vibes of all the people, and of course the energy and music Phish provides. Truly paradise.
The other excursion was a ski trip to Bend, Oregon where my buddy Greg’s parents have a place. Me, him, and our friend Russell went out to ski Mount Bachelor and in spite of the incredibly windy conditions that affected lift operations (the resort was closed entirely on our third day due to the wind), we still had a couple really nice days skiing on the mountain. It was also great just to explore the town of Bend with its amazing breweries and laid back vibes.
My final ten days in the U.S. were a reminder that the hardest part about going on an extended international trip like this is leaving behind family and friends. I have created such a strong community around myself and it becomes extra clear how important that is to me when I get ready to leave the country. My send off started with a Sunday full of drinking in Steamboat with my closest friends there followed by a Tuesday going away party at a bar in Denver where about 20 friends came out on a school night (made me felt so loved to see such support from a city I haven’t lived in the past few years) followed by a nearly 30 hour drive to Sarasota with my mom that included a detour to Saint Augustine to see Billy Strings and hang out with Yen, Shay, Julia, Maggie, and a few other friends. The last stop was less than three days in Sarasota to pack all my stuff and finish admin tasks before leaving, hang with my parents and eat incredible home cooked meals by my dad, and spend a few hours with my Grandpa. In less than a week since leaving Colorado, I’m off and running.
Reasons for the Trip
Whew okay I told myself I would try to be less wordy in the blog this time so that way I actually keep up with it, but I’m not really sure that’s possible. Anyways, maybe I will learn someday. Now onto my new adventure. I always knew in my heart when I returned from South America in February 2023 that I would go on at least one more extended world journey. At first I was aiming for the end of the decade around 2028-2029, but after a few years of being back in Colorado I figured there’s no reason to keep waiting any longer. I’m not getting any younger and might want to settle down more one day (or at least in my own way). So this plan has been in motion ever since I started my nomadic life back in June of last year.
Part of the reason for doing this trip is that I would love to achieve the mindset I reached last time that I backpacked South America for eight months. It was truly the best experience that I’d ever had in my life that helped me grow in more ways I couldn’t have ever imagined. I’m not trying to chase the dragon of past experiences and to recreate old memories because those were the unique moments that they were. But I’m trying to return to that mental plane, and expand upon it and gain an even greater perspective on the world around me. Using the wisdom and knowledge that I have now to create a whole new set of experiences. I know that when you’re in the backpacker community, and living that lifestyle, that there’s just so much that happens every day, so much growth and challenge. I am ready to take that on again, and live that life, see where it takes me.
I’m in a much different headspace and mindset than I was when I left for South America a few years ago. My mind is clearer than ever. So much has changed for the better in my life thanks to living in the mountains for the last few years, and finding a new side of myself, this outdoor adventure life I’ve been seeking. It’s what drives and motivates me. I think as humans we’re all always seeking what drives and motivates us so I feel fortunate to have found my true passion and want to keep fostering that feeling. Climbing mountains and exploring new countries and cultures are what bring me intrinsic happiness, and I decided a few years back that I would really lean into this lifestyle while I’m in the peak physical form of my 30s. The 2022 South America trip was a chance for me to reset my life and find a new sense of purpose. This trip I am coming in as an explorer hoping to achieve a new personal altitude record hiking and with an open mind that anything can happen along this joirney. In the past few years I have gone from a casual hiker to what I like to a call a mountaineer-lite using the Rockies as my home turf. I recently made a new life goal to hike in all of the world’s most well known mountain ranges following in the footsteps of the legendary mountaineers before me (I have been living reading books about this history of mountaineering). While I don’t need put myself in extreme risk to do the highest or the hardest peaks, and will mostly stick to doing guided tours, I just want to experience the power and beauty that each range exhibits.
As is tradition with this style of travel: the only plan is there is no plan. I have done my research on various countries and come up with a list of places to go (mostly to help create a route that makes sense and to have things to look forward to), but the mindset is to go with the flow. I am open to all recommendations and willing to travel together with any cool people that I meet. Last time those spur of the moment connections were what made for some of the most memorable experiences.
My trip can be broken down into two parts. For the first part, I will once again be traveling solo to South America going to new destinations and potentially returning to some old favorites. I have a few detours that I need to make back to the US so it made sense to stay on this side of the world. I have all my international flights to and from the US booked and my first two nights at a hotel in Lima; otherwise the entire itinerary is open (although as mentioned I have ideas).
The schedule is as follows:
April 7 – June 2: Peru and Bolivia. I am already rolling with the punches and flipping Bolivia and Peru. I originally planned to start with Peru as it’s a country I’ve been to before and absolutely loved on my last trip; and I wanted to start out by doing some high altitude hiking. The rainy season goes until March so I thought April would be a good time to go but unfortunately the dry season doesn’t start until May so it’s the shoulder season and this year the rain is lingering. This is why I always keep my options open. So I am still flying into Lima as I already had my flight booked, but then I will make my way down to Puño in southern Peru and cross the border to Bolivia and go down to the Uyuni Salt Flats as the weather looks nice there. No reason to force myself into rainy hiking conditions when I have so much time and wiggle room.
June 2 – 10: Wedding in Chico, CA plus a few days in San Francisco
June 10 – July 22: Brazil
July 22 – July 29: Sarasota, FL for Grandpa’s 97th birthday party and family reunion
July 29 – Aug 10: New York for bachelor party, wedding, and to see some friends
For the second part of the trip, there is a little more uncertainty. Some of the decision making will depend on the state of the world in light of the unpredictability of changing political circumstances. I haven’t actually booked any flights for this segment, and don’t have a defined end date (originally I was thinking of doing an entire year of travel until April 2027 but there’s a good chance that I will be satisfied with my trip and ready to come home by January or February. There’s also the slight possibility that I just never come home and end up with a Kazakhstani farmer’s daughter), but the incredibly loose plan is as follows:
Aug 10 – Sept: Kazakhstan > Kyrgyzstan with my friend Kenny
Oct: Nepal
Nov – Dec: Vietnam > Philippines (and/or Indonesia) > Thailand with my friend Yen
Jan: Japan
Feb: come home or meet my parents somewhere for a final hurrah
Of course a million things are going to change between now and then; and that’s the best part about this type of trip. Last time it didn’t take very long for me to fall way behind on the blog (and ultimately never finish), but I will do my best to keep up with the posts. Regardless of the blog, I am always scribbling down bullet points, thoughts, stories, ramblings, and musings in the Notes on my phone as there is no way to remember all the incredible experiences and stories that I am about to have on this journey.