When Kate was a few months pregnant with West, she wrote this: 

“Should you ever need to regain your sense of direction, Wild Child, do what I do and locate the mother rock. Locate Whetstone. Locate Gothic and walk towards the mountains. That direction is always right or at least it has been for me. 

Nothing is expected of you in this valley and therefore, you should always pursue the unexpected, the intriguing, the unknown. 

Question. Be curious. It is safe here to do that. Here you can find meaning in what you do, but I recommend you spend most of your time doing what you love. 

I hope at least part of what you love is the soil at your feet, the trees that surround, the sound of the birds when it’s all you can hear.”

This sentiment built on a thread that we both picked up separately, a love of the outdoors and traveling to intriguing places. A thread that before we met looked like thousands of miles on trails in the Rocky Mountains for Kate. Her love was the road, but Italy wasn’t too shabby in her books either.

But when we met the pieces fell spectacular together. Together we began to explore the edges of places. Walk into locations only found on maps, not online. 

When we travel we try to avoid heavy tourist destinations and if we do end up in a popular spot, we wander the alleys until we find the cozy restaurant not mentioned in the guidebooks. 

Our travel sparks from curiosity. We spend our days planning the next adventure and the adventure ten years from that. 

Our lists are long so we better keep moving.