About Zack
Becoming a father for the first time in 2015 completely rocked my world. And I’m not talking about only the “You just helped create another human being” jaw-dropping moment; I’m talking about how it altered my travel-centric lifestyle.
I was a traveler. I’ve always been a traveler. Family vacations, weekend trips, and afternoon excursions, it didn’t matter. I was kind of like a dog, I just wanted to go, not worrying as much about the destination, but enjoying the journey itself.
When I found myself elbow deep in diapers and pureed carrots, I knew my life was changing. And changing fast. As a good friend of mine commented, “Just a few months ago it was dinner in Italy for you, and now it looks like your Friday night is Dinner for Schmucks.” No, my lifelong bachelor friend was not referring to me as a schmuck because of the kid (well maybe he was a little), but that a “fun activity” was now watching such a film on a weekend night.
After lamenting the fact that there would be no more travel. I paused for long introspection. What shall I do with my time? Maybe I’ll start to enjoy Sudoku? Maybe I’ll learn how to shingle the storage shed? Maybe I’ll start cross stitching?
Luckily, my son was able to adapt to my lifestyle as much as possible, with nature walks, breweries, adventures, but let’s be realistic, far-flung destinations were out of the picture. Oh yeah, and working around naps was a must.
Hence this is why Backyard Road Trips was born. My idea was that I didn’t have to drive to Alaska to find adventure. There was plenty of exploration at a local nature preserve. Where at an earlier time in life I could bang out a few of these types of trips in one day, now each trip has become a destination in itself. But a destination that I look forward to going to as a family as I would a trip overseas (well maybe that’s exaggerating a little). I’ve learned to take time to enjoy what is in my own backyard and I hope that this website gives you ideas for backyard road trips of your own.
*Zack is the editor, main contributor and podcast co-host of Backyard Road Trips
About Jim
Jim considers himself to be a professional amateur. He has interests in hiking, photography, woodworking, homebrewing, music and whiskey. All of which now take a backseat to his latest passion of bonding with his first child, Theodore. Jim has been backyard road tripping with Zack since high school, and now continues these micro-adventures with his lovely wife, Katie. By day, Jim works at the University of Connecticut as a technology manager.
