Treking in the Van Down Under

Ausralia

Vanlife

For the last five months we have been traveling around Australia farming, fishing, diving, hiking, climbing, and sailing. Our travels have taken us from the south coast of Tasmania to the Northeast coast of Queensland. We've documented the trip through photos on Instagram @mikeynat though we have neglected the blog.

Climbing Mt. Arapiles

 In July we will be returning to the US, I have picked up a contract with NOLS in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Nat is in the process of applying for nursing jobs, there is a real possibility that I will go into the field not knowing where I will be returning to until I get back out.

Catchin' Sharks

On our travels we have met some amazing people and been recipients of bottomless hospitality. We've come to appreciate the value of a good meal and a welcoming home and look forward to sharing our home and table as we return.

As always, you can contact us through our Facebook, this blog, Instagram, or email. We hope everything is well in your world. Share a laugh, share a meal, and sit on your porch.

Byron Bay Sand Art

Love
Mike y Nat

Cold casa greetings

Hanging at Ma Young's Boarding House until the weather stops chilling out...

From the Mountains to the Furnace

I just rolled in from the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming where I taught a 30 day wilderness backpacking course for the National Outdoor Leadership School. We had a great course and I think the Winds is probably one of the prettiest places I have ever traveled through, with giant granite cliffs, high mountain lakes and wildflowers everywhere. 

The students were great and we ticked off 110 miles of hiking. We summited Wind River peak and Mount Victor, crossed the continental divide at Hailey pass and navigated a variety of lesser peaks, passes, and drainages. We saw a few moose, several deer, a set of bear tracks, and a heck of a lot of trout. We got rained on occasionally, but no snow. 

The mountain lakes were absolutely perfect and we swam in our fare share of them. Most of the lakes were full of trout and our course greatly improved our fly fishing success rate over the course. By the time we got to the last lake we were eating more fish for dinner than the food we brought with us!

I am home with my beautiful wife now, relaxing after a day of diving at Lake Travis. She is getting geared up to be a certified diver so we can take the Great Barrier Reef by storm in a few months. Life is speeding up since we decided to head out on a Great American Roadtrip in October. Stay tuned for a new Rosie ad coming up!

Mike

.onward.

it has been quite a while since our last update. the past year has been intense, but beautiful.  we have moved into the back half of a duplex in ATX with our pup and a wonderful roommate named merrell.  our dear rosie's being primped up to sell and we're moving on.  she is a beautiful part of our family and we're excited to see where this next step takes her and whose life she'll influence

as for the youngsters?  onward.  we have been approved for working holiday visas to the great country of australia beginning in january.  the initial length of visa is one year, with room to reevaluate after that.  nat has courses lined up for scuba certification this summer, so she can join mike in all the radness, as well as applied for her AUS nursing license as an option.

until then?  until then, mike will be headed to wyoming to instruct a backpacking/flyfishing course with the National Outdoor Leadership School during June and July.  he is then hoping to take part in a canoeing seminar to be setup for possible employment with NOLS australia as a guide, once down under.  nat's continuing her work as a nurse with St David's Physical Rehab Hospital, and adoring it, while atlas mostly sleeps.





we'l be keeping news/events/goodness posted here for the viewing, enjoy!

all our love,
the youngsters

L.E. Taylor

i have been most fortunate over the past few years to have the opportunity to meet, know, love and invest in individuals with intensely fertile talent. one such source of talent has been ms. L.E. Taylor of denton, tx. lauren has been a dear friend and subject of my admiration for some time. her voice and unity with instruments brings about peace in her listeners and a strange craving for a cold glass of fresh squeezed lemonade and lush fields of green.

enjoy . . . nry

Road Trip

Natalie and I are winding down a huge 5 week 7000 mile road trip from Austin, Texas through southern California to Seattle, Washington and back home. We visited 5 different national parks, 9 states and over 20 friends along the way. I feel like it happened in the blink of an eye but here we find ourselves on the tail end looking back.
Maybe over the next few days I will try to write up some short posts on highlights of the trip, for now I am just happy to be reunited with Atlas after his adventures with Ma and Pa Young. The poor pup was un-invited from the trip after we realized that most of the national parks prefer that dogs don't go into the backcountry. He is in good spirits and ready to go home tomorrow.
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather.

love
mike y nat

The Statesman loves Rosie

For Those out there on the web who didn't stumble across a facebook link to the Article we were interviewed last month by Nancy Flores with the Austin American Statesman. Nancy wrote a great little article about our home for the life and style section of the paper complete with pictures by Ralph Barrera. The online version can be found here with a photo gallery here.

I get fascinated with the web and how stories spread, but in deference to my wife won't go through and talk about where the story has popped up except to mention that it got picked up by a blogger who appears to be located in Malaysia.

Thank you all for your interest in our life and the kind words of support we have gotten from everyone. The neatest part of the whole experience for me is seeing how many friends in distant places have stumbled upon the story and contacted us. We love you all.

peace love and old buses
m y n