The Joy Trip Project

Why does anyone do anything? That's a hard enough question to ask someone who actually works for living. But those of us who make our way through life playing at the fringes of society really have to ask ourselves: What the hell am I doing here? As a professional journalist my answer is pretty simple. My job is to ask that same question, with a little less incredulity, to other people whose work in world of adventure I deeply admire. I get to tell the stories of giants, men and women at the very top of their fields. Whether it s mountaineering, backcountry skiing, paragliding, BASE jumping, or mountain biking I get to shadow the lives of people pushing the envelope of human experience. All I have to do is be fair, honest and accurate. And with the help of new media partners like Venture There.com I get to share these stories with a broad online audience through my blog and podcast series called the Joy Trip Project. The JTP is an aggregate of news and information I collect in reporting on the business, art and culture of what I like to call the sustainable active lifestyle. Exciting people in our modern world push their bodies and minds to engage the wild places of the planet in joyful pursuit of adventure. And I tell their stories.  Venture There.com is an adventure inspired web site operated by USAToday and they've graciously allowed me to occasionally post a few the stories you'll find here to their social media content feed online. But rather than gear reviews, athlete profiles and expedition summaries I'll take a slightly deeper look into the motivation behind the accomplishments of activists as well as explorers. Adventure is not limited to what Everest climber Peter Athans once called in an interview " young kids throwing themselves off cliffs for taco money." In my reporting, at play in the shadow of giants, I look to discover those people out there who dedicate their lives in adventure to not only exploring the unknown but toward the benefit of others.