Keep Saying Yes
A few years ago in the alley, my buddy Mike, who is a big skier and biker, confided that he had been feeling like he wanted to do some great bicycle adventure. He knew I had ridden across the U.S. in…
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Lessons from Derek
Our middle son Derek was born severely disabled in 1987. Seventeen years ago, he died on Mother’s Day in 2007, right before what would have been his 20th birthday. With the recent Mother’s Day, I paused to reflect on the lessons I gained…
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Your Unique Abilities
25 years ago I started a backpack gear company, Gossamer Gear. While it literally started in my garage, we now manufacture some of our products overseas. I get emails periodically from manufacturers in China wanted to sew backpacks or tents…
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The List
Years ago, inspired by my friend John Mackey, I created what I call The List. When I would meet someone, and find myself thinking, “it would be fun to go backpacking with this person…”, I would add their name to The…
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Secret Club: Coffee Roasting
Our lives are enriched by our passions. As we become interested in something, we learn more about it. If it’s a practice, as we do it, we become more skilled. It’s fun to share these with others, and sometimes they also become intrigued. I…
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Intentional Community
In a recent post on Instagram, my buddy Dan Buettner breaks down the lessons of Blue Zones into 4 suggestions…
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Wilderness as an ‘All-Off’
Last gear we were invited by a friend to join him in hiking the 450-mile Alpe Adria Trail through Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The trip was organized by the highly creative and efficient Kathy Dragon at Whole Journeys. Before the…
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Seen by the President
I was 16 years old, standing in a long line at Amherst Savings Bank. Then a man in a suit walked up…
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Service with a Smile
When the boys were young, and we would be visiting their brother Derek at Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, we would often stop by Ruby’s Diner in Mission Viejo on the way home. Ruby’s is styled on a classic…
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Thinking Like an Engineer
“I’m always spending time with a bucket and hose in the driveway, trying to keep this doggone car clean,” my wife Francie commented. Her commute to UCLA, where she worked at as a nurse in the NICU, left her vehicle…
