Things have been quiet here lately and, at least for the time being, that is not going to change. The last few years have been a bit of a struggle for both ECOA as a brand and me as a person. Without going into too many personal details, it’s been a bit of a comedy of errors as I’ve attempted to get back on my feet coming out of the pandemic.
Eh, screw it, if you’re reading this you’re at least curious. Let’s just break it down by year:
- Summer 1993-1997 – I get an opportunity to teach merit badges at Boy Scout camp which ignites a passion for outdoor education
- Spring 1998 – I graduate high school and prepare to head off to college
- Summers 1998-2000 – I work for an adventure based church camp where I dig deeper into outdoor education and associated learning theories
- Spring 1999 – During a field training exercise with my Army ROTC unit in college I suffer injuries to both of my knees resulting in me having to drop out of college, forfeit my scholarship, and undergo months of physical therapy
- Spring 2001 – I make the decision to change majors and pursue a formal career in education
- Late 2023 – I graduate college with two bachelor’s degrees and move on to pursuing a master’s degree
- Spring 2008 – I finish graduate school earning a MA in Higher Education with dual concentrations in Teaching and Administrative Leadership
- Summer 2008 – I start an off-road focused media company, 4Low Digital Labs, covering competitive rock-crawling and off-road racing on the east coast.
- Fall 2010 – I start working on a Doctorate of Education
- Fall 2014 – Grant funding for my day-job at the university is pulled out from under me through no fault of my own. Consequently I lose the ability to finish my doctorate. I make the decision to walk away from the formal education field.
- Spring 2015 – I revive my off-road media company and embark on the first No Highways Tour from Maine to Florida with the goal to demonstrate both a budget-minded-approach to overland adventure travel as well as showcase the rich and diverse history of the east coast and all it has to offer overland travelers.
- Summer 2015 – While on the No Highways Tour, somewhere along Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia, I conceive the idea of a blog to share my knowledge and experience with other overland adventure travel enthusiasts with a clear mission to Educate, Encourage, and Inspire – ECOA is born.
- 2015-2017 – I travel to events as ECOA teaching classes and write a total of three NHT books chronically different adventures across the country with less emphasis on myself and more emphasis on the places I went.
- Winter 2017 – I make the (dumb) decision to take a day-job working for a local 4wd shop thinking I could eat my cake and have it to. This proves counterproductive and fatal to my goals to continue developing ECOA into a viable brand. I did however write book #4 which was about the 2018 Unlimited LJ Adventure in Uwharrie, NC
- Winter 2018 – I am diagnosed with skin cancer after having surgery to remove a questionable spot on my forehead which serves as a catalyst for me to quit the toxic 4wd shop and go back to work for myself
- March 2019 – I leave the 4wd shop with the goal to resume full-time travel and make my first attempt at rebuilding the ECOA brand to what it was in 2017.
- Spring 2019 – After recovering from my second skin cancer related surgery I start traveling and make the trip to Overland Expo West. On the return trip my mother’s cancer is back and she starts full-time chemo.
- Fall 2019 – After balancing travel with being home between events to help my mother, she wraps up her chemo. This is also when the Echoes of Adventure Podcast is launched with sponsor support from LT Wright Knives.
- Spring 2020 – The global pandemic kicks off and, seeing the writing on the wall, I seize an opportunity to work for one of my Corporate Partners, Blue Ridge Overland Gear.
- 2020-2022 – I work for Blue Ridge Overland Gear doing sales, marketing, customer service, inventory management, and a bunch of other small tasks
- February 2022 – As I am transitioning out of working at BROG and preparing to resume full-time travel the unthinkable happens and my mother passes away due to complications related to her cancer, related chemo treatments, COVID, and post-COVID pneumonia.
- Summer 2022 – I honestly don’t remember much of anything from 2022. From her passing in February till late 2022 is a foggy blur of fractured memories that don’t feel like my own
- Fall 2022 – With the fog of depression lifting I set my sights on 2023 with hopes to, once again, return to full-time travel.
- January 2023 – On the first weekend of January 2023 I am struck by a car and suffer a Stage 1.5 Lisfranc injury to my right foot requiring surgery and the installation of a braided wire rope to hold my foot together.
- Summer 2023 – After undergoing months of physical therapy and learning to walk again I take a summer job at the same scout camp I taught merit badges at when I was kid. In a way this brings my life full-circle 30 years later.
- Fall 2023 – I hit the east coast off-road shows in an attempt to, once again, revive the ECOA brand and lay the foundation for 2024 with hopes to resume full-time travel.
- February 2024 – Preparation are made to go back on the road. After rebuilding the transfer-case with the help of long-time sponsors Aylestock Automotive I am t-boned in Maryland on my way home to PA and the Jeep suffers a cut tire (bad omen)
- Spring 2024 – On my way to the first event of the year the LS motor in my Jeep gives up the ghost with a blown head gasket. The LS LJ is indefinitely sidelined – I transition to tent-camping out of the stock ’06 LJ
- Fall 2024 – The fickle LS motor in the Jeep finally stops playing ball altogether and the Jeep becomes an oversized paperweight unable – or unwilling – to start
- Spring 2025 – With funds pretty much dried up at this point almost any plans of resuming full-time are abandoned. Given the amount of philanthropic work with organizations like Tread Lightly! and the Overland Expo Foundation plans to turn ECOA from a for-profit LLC into a non-profit are explored.
- Fall 2025 – The decision to turn ECOA into a non-profit is made and things are put in motion to shift ECOA from a full-time endeavor to part-time and I begin looking for a full-time day-job.
- February 2026 – Well, here we are…
Obviously the timeline above is neither a detailed resume of everything I’ve done professionally in that time nor is it a complete chronological account of my personal life outside of ECOA. It’s just the highlights to help put this whole mess into perspective.
One thing I did not mention is my part-part-time working in the production industry. From time in school as “that nerdy AV kid” to my time as a radio DJ, bar DJ, band roadie, and working as local crew and in theater as a stage, light, and sound tech I’ve always been involved in the music industry in one way or another. Sometimes it was just side-work making extra money doing gigs because: why PAY to go to the bar to drink with your friends when you can get PAID to go to the bar and drink with your friends. Over the last 20 some odd years I’ve worked with no-name garage bands and top-40 chart-topping artists.
Recently, for the last few years, I’ve been working part-part-time for a local production company making ends meet (barely) driving truck and working crew calls at the local arts center. While it (and a very understanding and overly generous girlfriend) has kept me afloat it hasn’t been enough to allow me to make any foreword movement with ECOA, EoA, or another NHT book-trip. I’ve managed to still hit a few local events and check off a few stewardship projects, so I consider myself lucky.
Up until now I was really struggling with what to do next. I knew transitioning ECOA to a non-profit wasn’t going to be easy or happen overnight. I knew I was going to need some sort of day-job. I thought I had found a solid job in late 2025 but it unfortunately didn’t pan out. Trying to find something both meaningful and well paying in a rather rural area, and I mean r-u-r-a-l. My town has one stoplight and we have Amish and Old-Order Mennonite horse-and-buggies going down the street by my apartment. Everywhere you look is farmland. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here. I really do. It’s just not the best job market for someone of my caliber with a rather eclectic, if not eccentric, work history.
All that said, I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t have some modicum of good news to share. As of the writing of this article I am accepting a new job with a production company working as a tour manager for a national tour running pretty much the entirety of 2026. Now this opportunity is a double-edged-sword. On one hand, I am going to make good money and it’s a pretty cool tour, so I’m excited about that. However, it’s a major time commitment meaning both my availability and my flexibility is pretty limited. I figured I can commit to one event every other month; at least as of right now. There are a lot of variables to juggle with this tour one of which being the tour schedule is not finalized. Luckily, with my background and connections, I might be able to influence and help schedule the tour dates for this part of the country. So we’ll see.
In the meantime things here at ECOA will remain spartan. I will finally have the necessary funds to rebuild and revive the LS LJ, so there might be some content associated with that. I also have an article series in draft-form I’m working on that is exploring historical overland routes in the US. I also plan on taking some time off from the tour for certain key events I do not want to miss. Beyond that I’m sure I’ll be sharing some of my adventures (and misadventures) from the road. There really isn’t a huge difference between a national tour with a production company and being our a national tour as myself — other than the paycheck. LoL
In the meantime, I’m going to hit the reset button and restart the arduous task of transitioning ECOA into a fully legal non-profit. So, who knows, I might be ready to hit the road again in 2027… but that’s a long ways off.
As always I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for everyone who has supported ECOA over the last 10+ years. Whether you’re just casual reader of the blog or casual listener of the podcast, a former member of the ECOA Patron Support Team, or an industry member of our Corporate Partners, your support and interest in ECOA means the world to me.
