when in roam…

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but I must admit to a feeling of renewed ambition… or perhaps obligation.  Maybe every body else making resolutions emanates a general feeling of optimism, or there is something about the arbitrary calendar demarcation that provides a psychological boost. Whatever the motivation, I am compelled to post both about this year’s upcoming travels and my intention to pay more attention to this blog.

Last June I took advantage of an opportunity to attend the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX ‘11) convention in Vancouver B.C.  Not only was it a short 2 hours drive from Seattle, but I had a free place to stay with a good friend from the Mongol Rally, and the ticket to attend was affordable.  What a blast!  Blogging about our trips is something I’ve done for fun to share vicarious experiences with friends and family.  I suppose making a living writing/photographing/documenting is a dream that lingers subconsciously, but there I met several hundred people actually doing it!  I met people skateboarding around the world, traveling all the countries of the former Soviet Union, other Seattle photogs, and even some new soon to be Mongol Rally veterans (why am I tempted to use the word fodder?). The whole weekend was inspiring, so I was excited to pre-register for TBEX ‘12 in Keystone Colorado this summer.

TBEX ‘12 would have been a great American road trip for Kim and I, not unlike our Canadian Rally drive through Alberta and British Columbia last summer, our previous marathon drive to Estes Colorado for Afternoon Tea with the Adventurists, or our American southwest tour three years ago for my cousin’s wedding.  I say “would have been”, because it wasn’t a few weeks after I had registered when we decided we’d be taking a road trip of an entirely different nature.

No, we won’t be going to Colorado this summer.  On invitation of our German friends Dan & Sebastian, Kim and I are wrapped up in another crazy rally!  We met Dan & Sebastian on the Mongol Rally, first in Istanbul and several more times en-route.  They loved the rally so much, they decided to start a company of their own, the Superlative Adventure Club, and we will join several dozen German teams this summer on the Northernmost Rally in the world: The Baltic Sea Circle!! Hunting Santa Clause while he hibernates, crossing the Arctic Circle, driving by the light of the midnight sun… our route takes us through Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.  We’re now in the market for a 20 year old German beater… will exchange for 2 tickets to TBEX ‘12

In addition to having a great new trip to blog about, I intend to actually update this site a lot more.  Don’t call these resolutions, but rather goals or milestones to be met:

• Baltic Rally 2012!
• Update this blog… update platform, new design, new features
• Write more. Once a day? Naw, probably not… once a week maybe?  Just more.
• Photograph more. Edit and curate existing backlog, and post more photos.
• New trip means new languages: I’m learning Norwegian right now, probably one of the easiest foreign languages I’ve attempted yet.  I should probably try German again, and reacquaint myself with my Russian lessons.

I’m excited, this year has a lot in store.  I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do!