Guides
I have two jobs. Write the essays — the finding-God-in-the-wilderness work — and get people out there. The guides are the second job, and they're free, because the Out There Club covers the cost so that price never gets to be the excuse.
The Adventure Blueprint
Get out there. Spend less. Stay longer.
A field guide for the person who keeps saying someday. Everything in it I've run myself — 43 states, three months in New Zealand on $32 a day, and the drive to the Arctic Circle.
3,000+ downloads so far. Still name your own price.
Members fund the guides and the essays both, and all of it stays free for everyone.
It was never the money.
Most people who say they want to get out there never go. Ask why, and the answer is almost always money — too expensive, not yet, someday. It's rarely the money. Money is what fear hides behind, because money sounds responsible. The real thing is quieter: what if I'm not the kind of person who does this.
So the guide costs whatever you want, down to nothing. Take the excuse off the table and all that's left is about five minutes of courage in a driver's seat. Everything after the ignition is just logistics, and logistics is what this guide is for.
What's inside
Part One · Road Trips
Your vehicle, water, food, staying clean, sleep and safety, finding free campsites, and how not to make a bear your problem.
Part Two · Going International
Passports and entry, money and banking, booking flights, where to sleep abroad, staying safe on the ground, packing light.
Printable checklists for both close it out — and the gear list I'd rebuy from scratch.
On the house — take this part now. No email, no checkout.
- Check the spare, the jack and the tire pressure in the driveway. Most trips that end early end on the shoulder, and almost always over something you could have caught at home.
- A gallon of water per person per day, and more than you think for the truck. Carry it yourself instead of buying it. It's the single cheapest thing you can get right.
- Dispersed camping on BLM and National Forest land is legal and costs nothing. Fourteen days in one spot, then you move. That one rule unlocks most of the West.
Why there's a free button
The free button is real, and I want people to use it. Somebody still covers the hours and the miles, though, and I'd rather it be readers than a sponsor — I chased sponsors for the Arctic drive, and the writing that comes out of places like that shouldn't depend on whether a company finds it marketable.
So a handful of people pay seven dollars a month. That covers the guides and the essays, and it keeps all of it free for everyone — including the people who'll never pay a dime. If this guide gets you out there and you want the next one to exist, that's what the seven dollars does.
Cancel anytime. The free button stays either way.
“I recently got out of the hospital after a heart attack from too much stress in my life. I wish I could afford to send you something but right now I can't. $0.”
Also free: California · Autumn · Presets