Why Rogue Wanderer?

(Originally published: 3-29-16)

I’m sure anyone who has checked out the page so far is wondering what the name means. Or maybe if you do get the name, you’re wondering why not “Renegade Traveler” or “Maverick Meanderer”? Oh! I kind of like that last one! Meh…forget it, I’m not changing the Facebook page, Twitter handle, and Snapchat name.

Rogue Wandering is a far different concept than tourist traveling. The rogues I think of don’t go by dictionary definition as a “dishonest or immoral person”. I guess the second definition as “someone who causes trouble in a playful way”. I look at it as going rogue or not doing what is expected.

I like the concept of wandering more than the idea of traveling. In my mind tourist style travel involves itineraries, schedules, stress, checklists, and of the other tools and stresses related to planning. Wandering is the relaxed version of travel: the whichever way the wind blows approach. Wandering involves a carefree, spur of the moment choice to do, see, or learn something new. Wandering uses free time, traveling involves planned time.

Planned travel works for most people, but I’m not a fan of planning. If a plan has been put in place, the moment you fall behind schedule the stress kicks in. If I’m wandering, what’s the harm in not being at a specific place at a specific time. The answer is….nothing.

Now I need to admit that the entire concept for this blog (and hopefully one day company) might not be possible without a partner whose desire to do the spontaneous matches mine. I’ve always had the desire to take these kinds of trips and to wander aimlessly. But it wasn’t until I met Jenn that someone supported this craziness. She is the one who has fueled these ideas to move forward when they would have sputtered to a stop in the past. Someone would have told me it was a dumb idea or to stop dreaming, but not her. Her response is almost always “let’s do it!”

Having that support is how a guy who hadn’t traveled out of Phoenix more than 10 times since moving here can suddenly dream of being a wandering blogger. That is the kind of lifestyle change you don’t go back from. We are two Rogue Wanderers who wandered into each other.

An Amazing Start: Our Weekend in Tonto National Forest

(originally published: 3-28-16)

It’s not that I hate my job, I just love my weekends. So here I sit on a Sunday night feeling like I am just starting to wake up from the dream of another great weekend, for the reality of the work world.

And what a great weekend this one was! The highlights of the weekend only got better since the last post. Jenn and I hiked Tonto Natural Bridge Park on Saturday morning. What an amazing sight it was! After a short trip down to the creek bed, the hike reminded me of a seemingly generic scene from a movie where kids jump carefree from rock to rock to cross a river. Truly it did kind of make me feel like a kid again. Even after managing to miss a rock and put a foot in the creek, I just shook it off and kept enjoying the hike.

Jenn wore a pair of running shoes without much grip, so we did have to stay pretty cautious at times. Though I loved being able to be her support with a hand, pull, push, or catch along the way, I would recommend having a good pair of hiking shoes if you’re going to do this hike. The bridge was amazing! I’ll post a pic, but this is certainly a sight that pics cannot do justice. It is a hard to fathom the the time and natural forces that go into making something this gorgeous in nature. A quick read from one of the park plaques outlines the five different natural occurrences which combined to create the world’s largest known natural bridge. I won’t bore with the details of the natural phenomena here, mostly because I don’t remember any of them.

After viewing the Bridge from every angle possible, we were off to find another adventure before the weekend was over. The next hike would not be nearly as scenic. We headed to a random trail near the campground, Houston Mesa Horse Camp Trail. It was rated high on the hiking app I use, but I think there was only one vote and no photos which probably should have been a sign. We were pretty tired and didn’t do the whole thing before turning back, so I guess I can’t rule out that it might have been a 5-star hike. Judging from the empty trailhead parking lot and backwoods horror movie feel I don’t think it lived up to the previous review. We got some fresh air, exercise, and a few nice views into tree covered valleys. One of the things I’ve come to love about hiking in Arizona is even a bad hike is usually pretty good.

We wrapped up the day by checking out the Bear Talk presentation back at the campground. One rule I think I’ll set for these trips is if we see a sign about a free presentation during our stay we must go. Here are a  few of the facts I bored my relatives with at Easter dinner:

• We stayed in the world’s largest known Ponderosa Pine forest.
• Ponderosa Pines have bark that smells like vanilla.
• Black bears lose fat during hibernation, but not muscle.
• If you see a black bear you’re pretty much screwed if they attack because they are faster, stronger, better climbers, and better swimmers than you.
• If attacked your only real defense is to try punching them in the nose.
• Bears, like lions, are the king of their domain because they have no natural predators.

We wrapped up the night with another campfire and bundled up to endure the subfreezing temps in our tent. Jenn claims it was cold, but I’m far to manly to admit that I felt even a little chilly. Most importantly, we survived a completely spontaneous trip. None of the bad things I feared came to fruition. The Payson area wasn’t out of campsites so we would have to turn back. The tent didn’t blow away. We weren’t attacked by a bear, mountain lion, or rabid squirrel.

I am as guilty in my normal life as anyone else – or I’m sure some who know me would say more guilty – of imaging the worst case scenario will be the result of a wrong choice. The truth is, this is rarely the case. More often than not even when we make the worst decisions imaginable things work out better than expected. Sometimes a choice may result in a cold night’s sleep, but it usually doesn’t result in freezing to death.

I don’t remember where I read it, or who said it, or if I’m paraphrasing, but a key mantra for unplanned travel should be:

A bad decision is not the worst decision. Not making a choice is the worst possible decision. 

When fear paralyzes you from making a decision, you’ll always be nagged by the “what if…” thoughts.

The Philosophy

(originally published: 3-26-16)

The basic philosophy behind these trips is simple:

1. I hate planning
2. I love to travel
3. I’m not rich
4. Things don’t always go perfect but they usually work out alright
5. I’ve fallen in love with the outdoors

Things worked out perfectly last night. We rolled into Payson at about 6:00 pm. The late arrival was because Jenn and I needed to satisfy our desire for boba tea which was worth sacrificing way too much time trying to find a parking spot at the mall. We picked up some pamphlets from the visitor’s center. Then we chose to completely disregard taking the time to read through them and just kept driving.

We stopped at the first campground along the way, Houston Mesa campground. The reservation and claimed sites system had us confused, but we lucked out by coming across one of the park hosts, who gave us the rundown on the only two sites left.

The campground is beautiful! It’s so nice getting into the woods for the weekend when you’re so used to the Phoenix desert scenery. We made one last stop back to town at Walmart to get some extra warm clothes after we realized it would be a cold night.

It was too late to get in any sightseeing, so we got our campfire rolling. We toasted/burned some marshmallows and failed miserably to make campfire popcorn. But the absolute highlight of the night was holding Jenn while we stood by the campfire and looked at the full moon through the trees. Not a bad start  

The Roots

(Originally posted: 3-25-16)

Two weeks and one day ago I sat in the VP of Marketing’s office, with what I can only assume was the most dumbfounded look imaginable on my face. I asked for the meeting to talk about three marketing positions that had become available. Even though it wasn’t a job interview, the tone quickly turned that direction.

He began to ask where I wanted to fit in the organization. To sum up my responses to this series of questions: “Anywhere but where I was”.After all of that, the most pitiful look of my career stemmed from a question I think most people would have an easy time answering:

“Where do you want to be in two years?” 

I drew a complete blank, which terrified me. I stammered and stuttered something along the lines of contributing anywhere I could. He followed up with:

“What are you passionate about?”

and

“What do you do for fun?”

Once again, I was stumped. I had lost my passion for running (my favorite pastime for years) in recent months. I was never much for hobbies, other than reading. I had only recently begun camping and hiking. I had recently started seeing my current girlfriend so things with her family consumed a lot of my weekend time. I really didn’t have a strong answer to any of the questions he had asked.

It was at this point that the tone of our meeting changed from an informational session to a life coaching/mentoring session. He encouraged me to think about what I have to offer that is unique. We wrapped things with him giving me a few reading suggestions, most notably The 4-Hour Work Week. 

I started on the recommended reading right away, but other than that I tried to block out how terrible our session had gone and just forget about it. That is until 2 weeks and 1 day later. I started to develop my list of what makes me, a 32-year old college adviser living in a one-bedroom apartment in Phoenix, unique.

Today is when I had the epiphany that uniqueness is not like a snowflake. You don’t have to be 100% unique. You really just need to possess things that most people in your position do not. This is what can make someone, who considers himself boring, interesting to others. So here goes:

1. Freedom from obligations
2. A 4-day work week (more importantly 3-day weekends)
3. 5 weeks of paid vacation time
4. Adventurous spirit
5. Spontaneity
6. Willingnes to accept ambiguity
7. A girlfriend (Jenn) who is just as spontaneous but together we’ll make sure our spontateity doesn’t get us killed
8. A pop-up tent
9. A new found love of the outdoors.

This combination is the foundation for this blog and the source for this weekend’s trip to Payson, AZ. Jenn and I have no idea where we’ll be staying and we started planning about 2 hours ago after finding out her boys don’t have basketball games this week. The car is loaded with the things I can remember and we’re ready to hit the road. It’s time for my new favorite pastime: Traveling with no expectations. I can’t wait to see what this weekend and future trips has to offer.