Our Story So Far
We met in New Zealand in 2005 when we were both working for a large IT firm. Michael left for Europe for a few years and it wasn’t until years later when he returned that our relationship took a turn into something special.
In September 2009, we took an opportunity to work in Silicon Valley and left New Zealand with just a couple of suitcases. We worked contracts so ended up traveling and living in California, South Carolina and Calgary, Alberta.
We got married in early 2011 and had Emma later that year. Her arrival also marked the end of our nomadic consultant lives and we settled down in Texas.
When Emma and Junior were tiny toddlers, we made a decision to go fulltime RV living. We packed up our house, sold things, donated things, threw away things and moved into a 30 ft travel trailer for over a year.
It was a wonderful experience that we look back on fondly. Aside from the ability to save up to buy our first home together, we also built many wonderful memories together as a family.
This blog went dormant as we enjoyed living in Austin amassing a collection of animals over the years including goats, dogs, cats and tortoise.
We now live in the mountains of Marshall, North Carolina (right outside Asheville) enjoying the nature, cooler climate and the great outdoors. In the summer of 2023, the family went on our first backpacking trip to Mt Michell State Park and we have become HOOKED.
In the fall of 2023, we decided on a 2024 goal to thru hike the John Muir Trail (220 miles) and revived this blog to document that journey.
Of course, life always throws you curve balls. Yazhi started a new job in the summer of 2024 before the hike and we recalibrated our plans to section hike the AT starting NOBO from Springer Mountain, GA.
Meet Our Family
Michael
Michael was born in Conway, South Carolina and spent most of his youth there until he graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Computer Science. By day, he is a VPE at a tech firm.
Michael was into hiking before everyone and maybe regrets getting the family into this.
Yazhi
Yazhi was born in China and spent her childhood in the Fiji Islands. She went to university in Auckland majoring in Computer Science and settled down there working in software engineering. She is a CIO and also the blogger, navigator, planner and gearhead.
Emma
E loves to eat, loves animals, singing and is a BSA scout. She loves vacations too. She will hike but her social calendar is too full to join backpacking trips that last more than a weekend.
Michael Jr
Junior is a gamer, BSA scout and soccer player. He says he’s too cool for hiking but he is really good at it.