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Entries Rated: PG

Indoor Eave Trimming

Saturday, April 30th, 2016

When building our little cottage, we didn't stack straw bales all the way to the roof. Instead, we left an open, angled channel running along the eaves. The base of this channel is a "bale stop" that compresses the straw for increased wall strength...

Grindbygg Timber Framing Course: Rainproofing the Worksite

Monday, August 12th, 2013

Class is over for the day; dark clouds are looming, and the forecast is calling for rain. With only four work days left in our course, we can't afford to lose any time to inclement weather. So, after dinner, Peter and I spring to action. Jumping...

Excited about a Breeze

Friday, July 19th, 2013

The largest window in our entire camper is an emergency exit, and it's right over the head of our bed. Annoyingly, we can't open it. Unless we want to be besieged by mosquitoes, that is—it doesn't have a screen. I suppose the screenlessness is so...

Getting Our Poop In a Group, Part Two: Building Compost Bins

Monday, May 13th, 2013

During the first few weeks living in our camper, I'd feel a sense of impending doom every time I lifted the lid of our composting toilet: the sawdust level would be mounting, moving ever closer to the top of the container. Invariably, the sight of...

This is Ivica

Friday, May 10th, 2013

…continued from the March 21st 2013 entry, "This is Karina". Sometimes we are all witnesses of how life can be weird and magical… On one fine spring day in 2010, my brother Sladjan came in my room asking me go outside and help him with his ...

Heading East

Saturday, January 12th, 2013

After our amazing-race-style marathon to leave for a winter of reed collecting in Vermont, we've finally hit the road. Armed with a gigantic ice-cream bucket of taco salad from Tyler's dad, an episode of Radiolab queued up for entertainment, and a...

A Rainy Day in Canada

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Last night, after our camp was made, a dark blue truck appeared, chugging slowly towards our campsite. Oh shit, I thought, as I felt my stomach drop. It didn't matter that I have a wealth of positive free-camping experiences under my belt, I was s...

Thoughts on Returning: Part Three

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Tyler: We're back in Minnesota, now, and our time in New England is rapidly becoming a distant, fuzzy memory; some days, it feels as though we only imagined it. Our return has brought the pain of an ongoing family disagreement to the forefront o...

Leap

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Tyler makes it look so easy, climbing over the guard-rail with a rakish grin on his face, peering down at the river far below, with a hint of nervousness glinting in his eyes. The twinge of apprehension manifests itself not as fear but as a raised...

Life & Death

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Yesterday, just as we arrived off the boat from Nong Kiaw, we watched wide-eyed as three little piglets were being slaughtered. They lay on the ground, their throats slit, warm blood pooling rapidly into the dirt. It was hard to watch the little ...

Scenes From a Day on the Road

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

In Which We Cycle a Bit Here we are, cycling along the coast of Vietnam, and we can hear ourselves think! We can hear each other talk, and we can ride side by side, all thanks to an unusually quiet road. Thrilled about this change of circumsta...

Going to the Movies

Monday, December 27th, 2010

This evening, with the help of our friends who are both highly motivated to see the new Harry Potter film, we mobilize to go to the movies. Catching a taxi, we arrive at the nearby movie theater / shopping mall with plenty of time to spare. On th...

Củ Chi Tunnels: Part Two

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

Safely above ground, our guide takes us on a walk around the grounds, teaching us more about the tunnels. As he shows us tricks of the guerrilla's trade, we are in awe, totally and utterly impressed by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Củ C...

Củ Chi Tunnels: Part One

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

Our first introduction to the Củ Chi tunnels is a stroll through the lovely, innocuous woods above them. As we make our way to the first exhibit, leaves flutter on to the path, falling gently from the trees overhead. It's quiet and restful h...

Our Process: Shitty First Drafts

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

This entry is part of an ongoing series about how we've documented our adventure. When we sit down to inspect our notes and bloobs, ready to shape the mass of discombobulated sentences into a journal entry, the words sometimes flow from our...

Far From Home: Part Two

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Tara: I'm standing in the bathroom of our hotel room, trusty yellow scissors at the ready. With one hand, I grab handfuls of coarse, sun-bleached hair, and with the other, I snip. As brown fluff falls away from my head, looking like some furry ...

Our Process: How We Write, Notes & Bloobs

Monday, December 6th, 2010

This entry is part of an ongoing series about how we've documented our adventure. A couple months ago, we decided to start recording the ever-evolving process by which we've been wrestling a page or more of writing from every day of our liv...

Pinkie Swear

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

2:30 PM We arrive in Sihanoukville at last, and find ourselves not in a secluded beach town as I was somehow imagining, but in a hippy backpacker paradise with bars and music and tanning tourists. Passing sign after sign advertising "happy" this...

Chafed into Phnom Penh

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

I'm not concerned about the onslaught of chaotic traffic as we approach Phnom Penh. I'm not bothered by the dust clouds swirling around the unpaved road construction projects we're riding through, or how the green fields and Cambodian countryside ...

Cave Hunting Again

Friday, November 12th, 2010

We've been to several caves on this trip, and we're still in search of that elusive, hard-to-get-to, natural wonder to explore. I'm thinking maybe we need to take up spelunking if we really want a remote cave experience. Even the "out of the way"...

Muay Thai: Boxing in Bangkok

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

I arrive on foot alone, covered in sweat, an hour into the event. Approaching the arena, a woman quotes a series of cringe-inducing ticket prices for the various levels of access, most probably reserved for farang. For a split second, I wonder ho...

Finding Tara: The Jimny Saga, Part Four

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Tara has been gone for roughly ten seconds when the reality of what has just occurred sinks in. Usually, my delayed reaction to external stimuli while programming is cause for playful teasing. It is a frequent occurrence that I'll answer a questi...

Herding Cats

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Sometimes, getting anything done in this convoy roughly resembles herding cats. This morning, we are packed and ready to hit the road before anyone on our team is even awake. Hoping they'll be up soon, we head into town to purchase supplies for o...

Driving at Night in Mongolia: Part Two

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Green, blocky numbers glow faintly from our digital clock above the tape deck; the time reads 11:30 PM. We know better than this, why on Earth are we out here? We are lost in a maze of barely-lit tracks, exhausted, stupidly driving over the alrea...

Driving at Night in Mongolia: Part One

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

It is already wearing on us that we can't get anything accomplished with our writing. This doesn't bode well; we've only been in Mongolia for three days. Even though we've decided to throw ourselves into this new adventure without writing about i...

Mongolia!

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

It is early afternoon by the time we're prepared to leave the Mongolian border. As we make our way towards the gate, the guards on patrol smile and wave enthusiastically. After we pass them by, the barrier which held us captive in no-man's land l...

Off the Beaten Path

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Our last adventure in the Siberian countryside left us feeling like it might be a good idea to stick to the highway for at least a few days. Though off-roading in our LRC is exciting, we want to be sure we'll actually make it to our final Russian ...

Russia's Golden Ring: Rostov

Friday, August 6th, 2010

The cities on our Golden Ring tour are teeming with ancient architecture, including loads of Russia's iconic onion domes. Leaving Petroslavl-Zalessky, Tara read from a website I'd saved about our next picturesque, church-filled destination of Rost...

Into Saint Petersburg

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Tyler: We've just crossed the Russian border, and are now driving towards St Petersburg. As we cruise through the familiar scenery of birch and pine forests, I flip on the radio. A crackly voice comes in through the speakers as cars speed by us...

Working in Jakobstad

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

We spent most of the day distractedly working on journals and programming projects. It's a bit difficult to focus when you have a hilarious, heart-breakingly adorable child speaking cute, unintelligible (to us, anyway) Swedish at you, and vying fo...

Norwegian Countryside

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

We woke up this chilly morning to the interminable call of seagulls and other goofy birds circling around the bay. While packing up camp, Tyler and I took turns photographing some of them. Here are the results: Having reached the easte...

Sick in Lapland

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

It must have been the questionably old chicken I had on my sandwich. Or I suppose it could have been the sweet, tangy addition of lingonberry sauce (like cranberry sauce). Either way, not long after we left the Amethyst mine, I began to feel sick...

Into Estonia

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Tyler: As I checked us out of our campsite this morning, I sheepishly handed a note to the woman working in the office. Before packing our tent, I had torn a piece of paper from one of our notebooks, consulted google translate, and carefully scr...

To the Baltic Sea

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Good morning, Poland! This morning, as we broke from our first-ever car-based free-camp, Tyler finally lost it about "that damned trunk." It is no secret he has a bit of OCD when it comes to organization. Despite his best efforts to ign...

A Little Help From Our Friends

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Us: The rain that falls on our tent this morning doesn't faze us. Our friends are here! Donning our rain jackets, we run over to their bright green van, and climb inside where they are already making breakfast. Safe under the metal roof of ...

Something's Got to Give

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Tyler: We couldn't bear to leave our tent this morning. Safe and warm in our secluded forest free-camp, listening to the constant patter of water pelting our rain fly, all motivation to start the day eluded us. The skies were dark and unwelcomi...

Robbed

Monday, May 17th, 2010

The weather here in Romania has been terrible for the last week. We went out this afternoon with the hope of seeing some of Sibiu, but the depressing drizzle overhead soon sapped any desire we had to see the city. We halfheartedly snapped a few p...

Intruders on the Danube

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

It must be 2AM when we are awakened by the sound of voices chattering in cryptic Romanian outside our tent. In moments, we are both wide awake. We watch intently as a shaky flashlight passes over our home, casting ominous shadows on the paper thi...

Morning Has Broken

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

8:00 AM I wake up feeling happy and Easter-y with the Cat Steven's tune "Morning Has Broken" playing on repeat in my head. Birds are chirping, frogs continue their belchy song from last night, and the sun shines warmly through our tent. Tyler i...

That Damned Squeak

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I love waking up to the sound of the ocean. Even more than that, I love waking up to sunny weather. This morning, I got both. When things go well out here, it really is almost more fun than I can bear! When we're in the middle of Siberia covere...

Athens General Strike

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I had trouble getting to sleep last night. As rest eluded me, I lay awake for what seemed like hours, staring at the ceiling with anticipation. It was late when I finally drifted off, and quite early when I awoke. If I was tired, I didn't notice...

Greek Economic Crisis

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Signs of the economic crisis occurring Greece are easy to find in Athens. We frequently pass police in full riot gear, we've seen several protests during our short time here, and taxes have risen (on some goods, to astronomical levels!). I won't ...

The Little Things

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

In our "normal" lives, both Tyler and I are known for our easy-going demeanor. Our friends have even jokingly referred to us as "zen masters" on more than one occasion. While it is fine and dandy to be even-keeled at home, the day to day life of ...

Control

Friday, January 1st, 2010

I am by nature, a planner. This at times clashes with the fact that there are ceaselessly a multitude of "loose ends" and unknowns before us as we travel. Improving my ability to relinquish control is something that I've had to work very hard on ...

The Dark Side

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

We've been enjoying Tunisia more than ever for the past few weeks. The trick for us, sadly, has been turning a blind eye to a lot of crappy behavior. I suppose we all do this every day on some level; there are injustices great and small everywher...

Eid al-Adh: Festival of Sacrifice

Friday, November 27th, 2009

The first thing we noticed about Monastir when we rolled in this morning were the numerous soccer games being played by all the local boys. As Tyler found out when he joined in on one of them, they are all on vacation from school because of the up...

Tuscan Thunder

Monday, September 14th, 2009

The morning began with a series of short but brutal hills; a not-so-gentle reminder that the Po River Valley is well behind us. The moment we reached the top of our first 200 meter climb the Tuscan sky opened up, ruthlessly hurling down heavy shee...

Love/Hate Relationship

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Pascale drove us to Dijon this morning so we could get some errands done in a big city without having to bike in it. She had meetings with clients there all day so it worked out perfectly. During the hour-long car ride, she pointed out numerous w...

Holy Island & Drama at Newton-by-the-Sea

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

We woke up on the beach to a stunning sunrise, packed up, and headed towards Lindisfarne, or Holy Island. To reach the island we cycled along the damp, seaweed-covered causeway that is only accessible during low tide. Upon arrival, we ...