When

March 16, 2020

Where

Enchanted Rock

Routes

Mark of the Beast – 5.8

After a break from writing, it’s time to record my latest outdoor climb. Actually, this was my last time climbing anything. This was before all the quarantines, so we didn’t think too hard about whether it was a great idea. When we got to the park we were very surprised at how busy it was. It was a cloudy, misty, and slightly wet morning and we thought that would keep people away, but we didn’t consider that it was spring break week and many people probably already had plans, which is only fair since we picked this date a few weeks prior. After we got to the back side of the park we were by ourselves for a few hours, which was both peaceful and comforting. In hindsight, this was a poor example of social distancing and I feel a bit guilty. But it was also my first experience with multi-pitch climbing ¹ and it was an awesome experience while I was there.

Enchanted Rock is a big granite dome. In order to get to the wall, we had to scramble around some trails and over some boulders. I thought it was great as an adult; I can’t wait to bring my kids there to run around. I was anxious about climbing for most of the morning. One of the other climbers had been telling me about his experience climbing granite and, when you hear it, it really does sound rough. The typical experience with granite is countertops, and that’s not exactly comforting to think about climbing. Compared to the other things I’ve climbed, this wall could almost be considered flat. There aren’t big sections of rock jutting out to hold on to, you have to crimp your fingers on any bumps or bulges you can find. So yeah, that sounds pretty hard. In practice, it went really well. The wall is very textured, so while the holds are small, your fingers can find something to hold on to and the rubber on your shoes have a ton of grip. This route wasn’t quite vertical, more like 60 degrees or so, which adds a bit to the traction. It was scary to start, but it quickly became fun. It took our group of four about two and a half hours to climb, which was probably on the slow side since some of us were learning how to multi-pitch. After finishing, we got to hike down from the peak of the dome, which was really neat too. The only bad part of the day is that we finished too late to get BBQ on our way home. I guess that gives me a reason to go back.

When

March 1, 2020

Where

Reimers Ranch

Routes

Cursed Ascent – 5.7

PLD – 5.9

Champaign and Strawberries - 5.10

What a Load - 5.10

I went climbing on some acutal rock for the first time this year. My friend Ben read about a “pyramid” training approach to climbing; you should have a few hard climbs, a healthy amount of moderate climbs, and a lot of easy climbs that you can finish on the first go. He recently sent a 5.12, so he wanted some more 5.11 and 5.10 climbs to fill out his pyramid. I still don’t have a ton of experience outdoors, so that seemed like a good level for me to jump in.

The hardest part about climbing outdoors is the amount of time it takes. It’s amazing to have a place like Reimers only 30 minutes away from my house. But with getting gear ready, and a 15 minute hike to the wall, it starts to add up. I was gone for three hours and climbed four routes. That’s fine from my perspective, less so for my wife who’s watching two toddlers while I get to play outside. I have to be pretty selective with when I climb outside. At least the greenbelt isn’t quite so far.

Climbing outdoors is quite different than the gym; there are no colored holds to know exactly where your hand goes! My outdoor grades are surely less than what I can climb in the gym. I remember climbing this strech of wall roughly a year ago, one of my first attempts ever outside. I can’t remember exactly which routes I climbed, but I remember struggling a bit. I did much better this time. I finished all four of the routes I climbed on the first try. It’s nice to see progress on some outdoor routes, especially when so much of my climbing is done at the gym.

February had a very different feeling between the first and last day. Picking up right where January left off, there were a lot of personal matters to attend to:

• My wife and I started looking for a new preschool for our boys. It takes a lot of time away from work to go tour all of the schools. We have some we like, but the waiting lists are long, so that could be drawn out for a while before we have a resolution.
• I spent a few nights and weekends working on taxes. We have some investment accounts, which have bitten us in the past on taxes, so it takes a lot of time to make sure those are just right. And when we owe money on top of that, well… I’m glad it’s another 12 months before we need to file taxes again.
• After much discussion, my wife left her job to go back to school to become a nutritional coach. Her last day at work came and went without a ton of fanfare, but changing jobs is such a big life event that this was heavy on our minds for most of the month. My wife also took two trips related to this, which I’ll talk more about below.
• Oh and because that wasn’t enough, we decided to refinance our house since rates are so low (and while my wife still had valid pay stubs 😐). A bit of extra homework for us after the kids are in bed.

All of that was mostly wrapped up by the end of the month, so the last few days were quite a bit more relaxed. Things are feeling a bit more back to normal. Though, with two toddlers, and my wife just starting a career change, I’m not sure I know what normal is anymore.

Travel

I didn’t travel this month but, as mentioned above, my wife went on two trips. That left me in charge of the kids for a few days at a time. The most notable thing about these single-parent adventures is that they weren’t all that notable. It’s far from easy, but I find it much more manageable as our youngest gets even a little older.

I don’t have any upcoming travel planned for the next few months. But there are enough places I’d like to go over summer that I’ll need to make some decisions about how to spend my vacation time.

Climbing

I climbed a consistent three times a week for 12 total, all at the gym. Some of those climbs were part of the Crux Boulder League, a multi-week climbing competition. It’s far more casual than competitive, so I’m mostly pushing myself to do well for personal reasons.

Crux holds this same competition twice a year or so, and I’ve participated before. There are four divisions: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and open. Last time I participated in the advanced division and did really well. I was planning on pushing myself this season and entering the open division. But, instead of picking a division, the first week was for qualifying to put people into the proper division. The qualifying was pretty difficult and got me a bit discouraged since I had high expectations. I got placed into the advanced division again, but I think it was a healthy reality check, since that’s right in line with my skill level. It also means I’ll be able to finish more problems and likely have more fun overall.

After qualifying, the first two weeks of the competition were in February. I finished four out of my five problems the first week. I would have finished the last problem too but the start was a bit tricky, and there was a long line so I didn’t get many attempts. One of the routes I did send was labeled a v7, which I haven’t done many of, and that felt really good. For the second week of the competition, I finished all of my problems, including another v7, so that was a great night. The scores right now are just kept per team, but on the last night of the competition there are individual results as well, so I’m interested to see how that turns out. Two more weeks to go.

Video games

As things settled down I had a bit more time to play video games. I ended up abandoning Divinity: Original Sin 2, which I’m a little disappointed with. Maybe it had something to do with taking almost a month off of video games, but I’m not sure exactly why I stopped playing. In general I liked the game and had fun playing it. I’ll try to write a post about this, mostly because I think it would help me identify what I didn’t like, so that I won’t try to keep picking games like this.

As for what I did play, I dusted off the Switch and started playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I really like tactical strategy games, though I was a little on the fence about the professor parts of the game. I’m only a little ways in, but so far I’m really enjoying it.

What’s next

As I sit down to write this, I’m looking over my previous entry from January. One month is not a long time, but with the daily adventure of raising two children, it’s easy to forget some of the little things that happened. It’s great to have some record of that, but even more important than capturing the moments is capturing the feelings that go with them. I hope I can maintain a regular cadence for posting here, but even if I don’t, I can see the benefits of journaling somewhere.

Along with personal journaling, I’m trying to do the same for my work as well. Every Friday, I’m writing down a recap of the week. I haven’t looked back on previous weeks that much yet, but I know it will be invaluable when it’s time for annual reviews. And with work I’m trying to go a step further. On Monday mornings, I’ve been writing down my focus areas for the week. It’s been a good way to get into a work mindset for the week. And, if I find myself distracted during the week, I can get a quick reminder of where I should be spending my time. It’s been more helpful on some weeks than others, but it’s still got a low cost-to-benefit ratio, so I’ll keep at it for a while.

It’s not uncommon for the last few weeks of the year to go by in a hurry. But that feeling stayed with me all the way through January. Lots of personal stuff, combined with a week long trip, left very little time to even think of relaxing. When there’s always something important to do at night after the kids go to bed, it’s hard to feel a sense of progress. There’s always the next thing to look forward to (or dread), so it’s a little hard to take note of the present moment.

Travel

As I’ve already posted about, we took a family trip to Disney World for a week. It was enjoyable, and it was travel, but it’s a little hard to call it a vacation.

Video games

I’m not sure I turned on the PS4 or Switch all month. Though I did still get some gaming in. I knew I’d be bringing the iPad on our trip to Disney, so I started a free trial for Apple Arcade. I’d read a few blogs mention the game Grindstone, a sort of strategy game. That seemed like it would be a good fit so I gave it a shot. It might be too good of a fit. It’s fun, challenging, and can be played in quick sessions. But those quick sessions mean I try to cram in a few minutes here and there and it feels a bit addictive for me. I think I’m better off with a Switch game where I know I’ll be spending at least 30 minutes with it at a time. Even if I’m spending the same amount of time playing games, it’s a more intentional choice of how I want to spend my time, and it makes me feel less guilty. So, Grindstone is recommended, but I probably won’t be playing much longer.

Climbing

I’ve started keeping track of my climbing using the DayOne app. I’m keeping a journal just for climbing, and already I love it. I can see my workouts at a glance, but also get some history about when I hit certain accomplishments. There were a few nice weekend days outside here in Texas, but I only made it to the gym in January. I made it 9 times, which is on the low side but I was out for a full week. I spent most of my time bouldering, only a little on ropes. There’s a multi-week bouldering competition starting in February, so I wanted to practice for that. It’s a little hard to gauge progress, because the new routes can be a bit hard or soft compared to the grade they’re given, but I think I’m doing well. I’d say I’m able to climb at least 80% of the routes at my current grade (v5-v6), and that’s noticeably more than a few months ago.

What’s next

For February I’m going to try to slow things down a bit. Most of the personal items from January have been taken care of, so there shouldn’t be as much that I have to get done (at least until all my tax statements are available, that will take at least a few nights). It will generally be business as usual, but I will have the kids on my own for a few days, and that’s always an adventure. I’m trying a new practice at work for tracking and organizing my time. I’m encouraged by it in the early stages, but I’ll spend a few more weeks smoothing the rough edges before I write about it.

Details

Length

Six nights

Traveled with

Family, wife’s parents

Lodging

Disney’s Old Key West Resort

The trip

The family and I took a trip to Walt Disney World for a full week. January typically has some pretty low crowds and usually has cooler weather, so it’s a nice time to visit. The crowd levels were pretty good for us Monday through Friday. We went to Epcot on Wednesday afternoon and it was probably the least busy I’ve ever seen it. Epcot has a few special festivals each year, which bring some different scenery and some expanded food options. The arts festival started on Friday of that week, so we figured people were waiting to visit until then. We went back on Saturday before our flight, and we guessed right — it was extremely busy. Disney has magnets they give to annual pass holders at certain times of the year, and this festival is one of those times. We already have some magnets so we figured we should get some more. After waiting 30 minutes for bag check to get into the park, we waited another 10 just to get a magnet. We thought we’d grab some lunch and ride a few things before heading to the airport, but there were so many people that we walked around for a bit and left without riding anything. That was our sixth day at the parks, and everybody was a little tired, so we felt okay to take it a bit easy.

The other parts of the week went pretty well. Traveling with kids is always a little unpredictable, and we learned a lot about what did and didn’t work. It had been a year since our last trip, and we thought our oldest son, now three and a half, would like a new set of rides. We were almost right. He is now old enough to be scared of things he doesn’t like, and for now that includes dark rides, loud rides, and rides that go fast. We tried the Seven Dwarves Mine Train roller coaster, and that was a “big yikes”. We probably pushed him a little too far in the beginning, and we really dialed it down by the end of the week to make sure he was having fun on every ride, even if that was a limited selection. We had all of our FastPass selections picked at the beginning of the week, but by Wednesday I’d say almost half of our rides were different from what we expected. I think we did pretty well as we learned to go with the flow rather than stick to a strict schedule, which is what we’ve typically done at Disney.

With my wife’s parents along with us, my wife and I were able to visit Hollywood Studios by ourselves one morning to check out the new Star Wars rides. The park opened at 7 that day, and we wanted to be there, in line, ready to go. We got up at 5:30 and left a bit after 6:00. We got through the entrance gates by 6:30 and waited for the full park to open. The new Rise of the Resistance ride has a virtual queue that fills up pretty quickly right at park open. We did pretty good and got in boarding group 18 (out of 109 for the day). Now it was time for a ride. We followed the herd of people that looped around every nook and cranny like a real life snake game. At 7:30 we got a notification that our boarding group was ready; we could ride any time within the next two hours. At 8, we finally made it onto Smuggler’s Run.

My wife and I were both pilots; she could move left or right, and I could move up or down. There were obstacles to move around, but I found it difficult to know whether the ride wanted me to go above or below; there was a correct answer for each one, but half the time I chose wrong. One of the other riders had been on before, and she kept making comments about how the pilots weren’t doing great. It made for a pretty poor experience. I get that Disney was going for a unique experience, and I do think the story was good, but the interactive parts made me feel like I was riding it “wrong”. The other positions on the ride are all about pressing buttons when they light up. To me, that’s better because it’s binary; you either hit the button or not. There’s no guessing whether you need to fly just a little higher or lower, you get immediate feedback. I’m sure I’ll ride it again in the future, but it’s not something I want to wait in line for.

After that, we went right to Rise of the Resistance, with about a 30 minute line. Without trying to spoil too much, the experience is meant to feel like you’re part of a movie. The “ride” is split into multiple parts, and the first section involves walking. There are two parts in particular where you have a few moments to yourself when something is happening. Disney literally built in sections of the attraction for you to take pictures. They don’t even need to run their own advertisements for this, social media will take care of it. Anyway, the rest of the ride is fantastic. A few years ago I rode Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios. For me, that set the bar for best overall attraction experience, more than anything Disney had done. Even after that opened, Disney created the Avatar rides, but those didn’t match the bar. I know Universal has a new Harry Potter ride that I’ve yet to experience, so maybe that’s better still, but with this experience Disney has finally taken the crown, at least in my eyes.

Traveling

A few quick notes on the actual travel logistics. I planned both of our flight times to be around nap time to make flights easier. Unfortunately our oldest is starting to transition away from naps altogether, and our youngest would rather scream than sleep. So, iPads for both of them, which can keep their attention right around the 2.5 hours of flying time we had. The flight back was at 7:15 pm and we were a little worried about naps during the day since we would be checked out of our resort by then. The good news is that naps weren’t an issue, but we still would have been better off with an early flight. Epcot was packed, and after five full days, we were all tired and ready to go home. The grandparents were staying an extra night, and luckily their room was ready early so we went to their resort to play for the afternoon.

Our room had two bedrooms and a kitchen, which is so helpful when traveling with the kids. One room had two queen beds, the other had a king bed. We chose the king bedroom because it was easier to get into the bathroom at the end of the day to take a shower after the kids were asleep. But that meant sharing a bed with our oldest, which we never do. Even with a king bed that was the wrong choice. The first night was rough and I ended up leaving to sleep on the couch. The rest of the week I slept on the pull out bed in the living room, which made it better for everybody. Our youngest’s sleep schedule was thrown way off, which is extra hard when sharing a room with his big brother and mom. I think we managed okay but we all could have used a bit more sleep all week. Every trip with the kids will be different so I don’t know how much of this will still be true next time.

Trips to Disney are quite different than my normal travel plan of “pack light”. We pack what we need to travel comfortably with the kids. We flew on Southwest, so we checked two bags for free. We needed two car seats for our rental car. We brought one on the plane for our youngest to sit in, which works well. We have a carrier with wheels that acts a bit like a stroller while going through the airport, so we don’t have to carry a kid all over. We planned on bringing another car seat to check, but we decided to avoid the hassle at the airport and pay for one at the car rental place. It’s stupid expensive and I don’t want to do it again, but it did make life easier at the airport. Our next flight should have our oldest in a booster seat, so that should be easier to get through the airport.

Packing

Our last January trip to Disney was cold and rainy. This was sunny and hot; near record high temps for most of the week at 85°. But the mornings were still a bit cool, and we like to be at the park early, so we didn’t want to just pack shorts and t-shirts. My plan was to wear mostly pants, with one pair of shorts in case, and either a lightweight long sleeve shirt or a short sleeve plus a layer to take off in the afternoon. It ended up being more warm than cool, but the clothes I packed handled everything pretty well. We were already checking luggage, so I could have brought more, but I still tried to pack pretty light. Here’s a list

• Outlier merino T
• Lightweight Disney cotton T
• Short sleeve polo
• Patagonia lightweight long sleeve
• Smartwool lightweight long sleeve merino
• Outlier hard shirt
• Proof nomad pants
• Outlier slim dungarees
• Outlier free ways shorts
• Swim suit
• Brooks running shoes
• Astral loyak shoes

I run on the cold side, so I mostly stuck to long sleeves and pants in the morning. It got a bit warm towards the middle of the day, but it was still pretty comfortable, and we usually left the park around 1:00 to go back to the room. Even with the warm afternoons and a chance to change, I think I only wore the shorts twice all week. I burn easily, so I also like long sleeves or collars to keep the sun off me and avoid having to put on sunscreen, so I did long sleeves on some of the afternoons too. On one of the slightly cooler days, I went all Outlier: slim dungarees, merino shirt, and hard shirt on top. It was incredibly comfortable. It warmed up as the sun came out, but there was a good breeze that went through the hard shirt and felt great. I also used the hard shirt on both travel days, to go between warm weather, hot airport, cold plane, cold windy weather. It will definitely be a travel staple.

The Proof pants are more lightweight than the Outlier ones, but they got a bit hotter; they are very stretchy so I don’t think they breathe quite as well. Still, they’re nice for plane travel and at Disney where I’m running around with the kids and squeezing into rides. I didn’t end up using the swim trunks. We planned on going swimming at least once since it was hot, but it just didn’t work out that way. I’m sure we’ll go swimming at least twice next time, so I’ll probably bring my swim suit again. But this could have been a good excuse to use the Outlier shorts for swimming so I didn’t have to pack more clothes.

I wore my running shoes almost all week. Last year it rained so much that we needed to switch to a dry pair every day, so I brought another pair just in case. It didn’t rain, so I didn’t truly need them. On the day we went to the Star Wars rides, I felt like I should get some use out of them since I brought them, so that’s what I wore. They are a more minimalist shoe, and after standing in lines for almost 3 hours my lower back was starting to get sore. It was better by the next day, but I think I need some more break in time if I want to go towards full minimalist shoes.

After that I started thinking about getting some new shoes. My Brooks are a few years old, and I really only wear them for working out. As I try to trim down the number of shoes I have, it would be nice to have shoes that work for Disney, but also look nice enough to wear to the office. I did a lot of research while at Disney and narrowed my first search down to another pair of Brooks, or some shoes from On. They are both lightweight, have a fairly minimal heel-to-toe drop, and aren’t super flashy. Two days after I got back, I went to try the On shoes, and ended up buying them. They’re very comfortable, and my wife gave me the thumbs up that they’d look fine in the office. I was interested in the navy color, but they didn’t have that available. I went with black to be versatile. I’m excited to try them out, and I’ll post some more after I get some use out of them.

About two years ago I became interested in finding ways to travel more efficiently. I tended to overpack, and didn’t even consider trying to travel without checking a bag. It wasn’t the result of a single event that made me want to change, but I recognized that I was packing too much and thought I could do better. I started by doing a lot of reading on how to pack light. As a good overview, this article by James Clear puts it pretty well:

1. Carry less stuff
2. Reduce weight, not usefulness
3. Optimize for comfort and design

The most obvious thing for me to do was just take less stuff. But, as I removed things from my pack, I wanted to make sure that what was left were the right items. Most of the articles I saw referenced some similar items, so I figured that’s what I needed. I had enough disposable that I could buy the right pieces and go straight from over-packer to minimalist traveler. I dove right in.

I bought lots of wool shirts, some expensive pants, new shoes, new bags. I gave Outlier a lot of my money. Over the last two years I replaced most of the clothes in my closet. Finally all of my travel problems were solved.

Not quite.

For the first year, I hardly wore any of my new clothes. They were so expensive that I didn’t want to wear them on any “normal” day. What if they got ripped, or dirty? I will agree that merino wool is a great fabric: it’s naturally insulating, naturally cooling by wicking sweat, and naturally odor resistant. Unfortunately, it also naturally shrinks if you forget it’s in the laundry and throw it in the dryer. When I packed for France, I figured that my fancy heavyweight wool shirt would provide enough insulation, so I neglected to bring my vest or proper coat. Rainy and 50 degrees is pretty chilly for a shirt and rain jacket, even expensive ones.

Now, clearly all of those things are my fault. But I have learned a lot since I started traveling this way. First, throwing money at the problem isn’t going to magically fix everything; it’s okay to travel with jeans and some cotton shirts. However, context is important. Traveling for work for a few days is different than vacation with kids, which is different than traveling alone around a new country for weeks at a time. I didn’t consider that most of the articles I read were from people that travel far more than I do and need the benefits that merino wool provides. I’ve learned that I prefer to take one or two extra shirts and not have to wash my clothes in the hotel sink. Toddlers are pretty rough on my clothes, so Disney isn’t the right place to bring my fancy stuff. On the positive side, I have started wearing my wool shirts in a more regular rotation, and I do get some benefits from that like not needing to do laundry quite as often, and they’re just plain comfortable. But when it’s time to replace them, I’ll likely look at some alternatives that are cheaper and not quite as fragile.

I’ve got a great collection of clothes, a lot of which I like, but some that I won’t re-buy when they wear out. I’m going to purchase fewer items from here on out, ideally only buying something that really fills a need. With all that said, here are some thoughts about what works well for me, and what I might do differently in hindsight.

Outlier

As I mentioned above, I’ve purchased a few things from Outlier.

• Runweight Merino T
• Ultrafine Merino T
• Dreamweight Merino T
• Gostwyck Merino T
• 2 Cottonweight Long sleeve T
• NyCo oxford
• Ramielight Pivot
• F. Cloth Hard Shirt
• Doublefine Hoodie
• 2 New Way Shorts
• OG Free Ways shorts
• 2 Slim Dungarees
• 3 Futureworks
• 2 OG Classics
• Strong Dungarees
• Socks

When I put it into a list like that, it certainly looks like a little much. But I have gotten a lot of use out of these clothes. The runweight, dreamweight, and ramielight shirts are all nice for Austin summers. The cottonweight shirts are comfortable and look great. The Gostwyck is an amazing fabric; I’m a little sad that it’s probably overkill for me. For those that do want or need the benefits of merino wool, though, Outlier does make some top notch shirts.

For me, the real star of the show is the collection of shorts and pants. I’ve gotten rid of nearly all my other pants and wear these almost exclusively. They are highly functional, but instead of looking technical they just look like really nice pants. If I lost all my clothes, the first pants I’d buy would be a pair of Slim Dungarees, some Futureworks, and some New Way Shorts. I love these things.

I also want to talk about the F. Cloth Hard Shirt. I just got it recently so I don’t have a ton of time with it yet, but it’s already a favorite. I like to have something to throw over a shirt when I’m traveling, especially on planes where it can go from hot to cold pretty quickly. It doesn’t have the bulk of a hoodie, and it also looks a lot nicer. It’s on the lighter side, so it works well from cool to warm temperatures, which is exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up. It’s nylon, so I’m not worried about babying it, and it’s got a little water resistance just for fun. I’ll probably bring this on every trip I take from here on out.

Clothes

The number of technical or travel clothes that I’ve purchased from other brands is probably less combined than all my Outlier clothes. I won’t list everything here, but I’ll call out a few things that I’ve been really happy with.

Pistol Lake One-Bag Henley

It might not be surprising that my first attempt at a long sleeve shirt was from Outlier. But it didn’t fit me right, so I returned it. I had read some good reviews of this and picked one up. It’s really nice. It’s soft and comfy, wicks sweat, and it looks like a regular shirt. When it’s time to replace my merino shirts, I’ll probably look at picking up a few T’s from Pistol Lake in this fabric.

Smart Wool 250gsm Long Sleeve T

This is just a nice mid weight crew neck shirt. I’ve got a 300gsm shirt from another company, which should be warmer since it’s thicker. But this T seems more comfy every time I wear it. This one has some nylon content, which makes it stand up to laundry a bit better, and that gives me one less reason to be concerned about wearing it out. This is one piece where I do get some benefits from the wool. I have worn this a bunch walking with the kids around the neighborhood on cool days. It keeps me warm, but not clammy, and I can wear it a few times before it needs to be washed.

Patagonia Men’s Long-Sleeved Capilene Cool Daily Shirt

This is a nice lightweight shirt to keep the sun off my arms. I haven’t really tested the supposed odor resistance, but it’s comfy and keeps me reasonably cool in the summer. Add in that it’s from partially recycled materials and not terribly expensive and you’ve got a nice shirt.

Socks

I might be questionable on wool for shirts, but I’m all in on wool socks. I’ve got a few pairs in different colors and it’s all I wear anymore. From skiing in Colorado’s freezing temps to walking around during Austin’s summers, they are always comfortable. I wear Darn Tough socks, but there are a number of brands that should be just as good.

Coats

For the most part I wear one of these four coats. I do have a pea coat and an insulated coat for skiing, but I don’t wear those often.

Patagonia Nano Puff Vest

This was one of the first pieces of technical clothing I purchased. I didn’t wear it all that much at first, but I’ve found it hits a sweet spot that the other coats don’t. It’s great around 50 to 70 degrees to help stay nice and warm. It’s not bulky so it can be worn under a rain coat (or my ski coat) easily, and it takes up very little room when packing.

Marmot PreCip Rain Jacket

I did some research on rain jackets and this was one of the budget picks. I found one on sale for half price, so I figured I had to pick it up. It packs well and keeps me dry, and I’ve gotten some good use out of it. But it is pretty bare bones and not terribly stylish. I wouldn’t be all that upset if it got ruined and I had to look for a new rain coat.

Myles Apparel Elements Jacket

I bought this shortly after my other rain jacket. I was intrigued by the Polartec NeoShell fabric; it’s supposed to be waterproof but highly breathable. Normally jackets that use it are hundreds of dollars. This was a final sale for $100. I read a good review of it, I liked that it looked more fitted, and the blue color was nice, so I bought one. I’m very happy with it. I would consider this my only rain jacket if not for two things: it doesn’t have hand pockets and it doesn’t have a hood. Even with those downsides I prefer to take this coat for rain unless I know I’ll need the hood.

Arc’teryx Atom LT

Reading through reddit I kept seeing people recommend this coat. I didn’t have a light or mid weight insulated jacket, so I picked one up. In short, it lives up to the hype. It’s lightweight and quite warm, and I love the fit. Between this, the vest, and a rain jacket, I have layering options for most any weather.

Bags

Tom Bihn Aeronaut 30

This was my first bag purchase with the intent of carry on travel, and I started with a winner. I love the organization on this bag, with a few big pockets instead of a single unstructured blob. It can carry as a shoulder bag or as a backpack, both of which are useful. It’s durable but not too heavy. This would be my only travel bag if not for one known limitation: there is no place for a laptop. When traveling for vacation, I reach for this bag with no hesitation. But for work travel, I always had to make a decision about which bags to bring. After a few trips of thinking I made the wrong choice, I ended up buying a new bag.

Tom Bihn Synik 30

I thought about backpacks for months before buying this. I wanted the “perfect” backpack but there was always something wrong. I looked at this when it first came out, but was put off a bit by the price, surprised that it was heaver than the Synapse 25 that it shared so much with, and unsure if it would be too big for what I wanted. After some more thought I concluded that it still weighed less than other similar backpacks, and some recent travel made me think that 30 liters was probably the right volume for how I pack. I certainly wish it was cheaper, but since it checked all my boxes and it solved a specific need for me, I picked one up. I just got it recently and haven’t had a chance to travel with it yet, but from seeing the bag in person I think I’ll be very happy.

Tom Bihn Co-Pilot

I got this with a pretty specific purpose in mind: traveling with kids. This bag is just the right size to carry the kids’ iPads, a water, and some snacks on the plane. And it’s not so big to take up a bunch of space at my feet. I haven’t used it a ton outside of that, so maybe I could get by with a different bag, but in that use case it does a great job.

Aer Day Sling 2

This was a pretty recent purchase that I’ve used only in France so far. I had been on a few other trips where I’d done a day hike and didn’t feel like I had the right bag. I didn’t want a big backpack, and the co-pilot was more of a shoulder bag that wouldn’t be great for a lot of walking. From using it one time, I like it. It fits close to the body so it doesn’t wobble around. It can hold a phone, keys, passport, wallet, and, importantly, a bottle of water. It’s small enough to pack into another bag, or works pretty well as another airplane bag.

Shoes

I fall somewhere in the middle on shoes: I don’t need a ton of them, but I also want some choice. I don’t think I’ve found my ideal set of shoes yet, but partially because they take so long to wear out and try something new. I donated a couple of shoes that I don’t wear much so I could focus on a small number of shoes that could handle everything.

Brown leather boots

I don’t remember wearing boots much before the last two years, but they are probably my preferred shoe now. They’re so functional and they look good with most of my clothes. I have a pair of Clarks Varby. They are fairly plain looking, and the sole is not too dressy and not too much like hiking boots. I wore these for 20 hours when flying to Sydney and then went straight to work for another 8 hours. They’re very comfortable.

I also have a pair of Astorflex Greenflex suede chukka boots. These look great and get a lot of wear, but they aren’t quite as functional because they don’t handle the weather as well.

When these wear out, I’ll probably look at getting a pair of Blundstones. Reviews point to them being comfortable and handling the elements, but still looking halfway decent. For a more dressy pair I’d look at something like Thursday boots. I’d be more worried about keeping those looking nice, so I might not travel with them as much. But given how much I wear my boots now, I would probably be okay with both of those pairs of boots for home.

Quoddy Bluchers

I saw somebody speak very highly of these, so I went to take a look. A durable leather shoe that looks great, has a grippy sole, and is hand made in the US? Sold. There is a bit of overlap between these and my boots in the fall and spring, so I’ll rotate through all of them. But these are so nice for the warm days in Austin. These are less than a year old and still in good condition, so I tend to baby them. I’m a little excited for when they start getting more worn so I don’t have to worry about wearing them around the dirt or rain. For warm weather this should be an ideal travel shoe.

Astral Loyak

I’ve had these for a little while, and the more I wear them the more I like them. Super lightweight and a sort of minimalist shoe. These feel great when I’m wearing them. They’re comfortable without socks, and they handle water well, so they’re a good choice for a rainy summer day. I got these in blue, which I still like, but if I bought them again I’d probably go with the black color.

Allbirds Wool Runners

My wife got a pair of Allbirds and loved them (she now has four pairs), and got me some for a gift. I like them but I don’t love them. They are incredibly comfortable on my feet, and they look great for a casual sneaker. But, for me, they aren’t great walking shoes. When I cut down on the number of shoes I was wearing, I put aside my running shoes since I have these. I went for a few walks around the neighborhood, and they were fine. Then, for the next walk, I put on my running shoes again — much more comfortable, enough to keep my running shoes around. The other negative is when running around at the park with my kids, the soles aren’t very grippy, and have actually been a little slippery sometimes. The shoes are pretty good for daily use, but they aren’t a great travel shoe for me.

Arc’teryx Acrux SL

These were another case of having a pretty specific use case in mind, plus a sale, so I bought them. They are built as a rock climbing approach shoe (what you wear on the way to the main climb), but I don’t use them like that. For me it’s primarily a combination of three things: they’re waterproof, they are very grippy, but they don’t look like hiking shoes (to me, at least). They worked great on my trip to France — the rain wasn’t a problem, and when others were commenting on how slippery the sidewalks were, I didn’t notice. These do have a limited use case and are definitely a splurge. I’m not sure I’ll replace them but I’m going to enjoy them while I’ve got them.

Others

Above is what I wear most of the time, but I also have a few others. Merrell Moab hiking shoes, which are nice but pretty specific. They look very much like hiking shoes, so I don’t wear them much other than that. It is nice, though, to have a pair of shoes that I don’t care, and even expect, when they get muddy and dirty. I also have a pair of Brooks running shoes that I’ve had for a while. I don’t run very often anymore, but I use them a few times a week for walking around the neighborhood. They’re also the main shoes I wear at Disney, so they get plenty of use there too.

2015

August

Cruise around Europe, with my wife and parents. Left from Barcelona and visited: the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Rome, Pisa, Florence, Nice, Monaco, Palma de Mallorca. Stayed two more nights in Barcelona. This was a good “introductory” trip to Europe.

December

Sydney for work. Stayed for three weeks in a hotel room. I packed terribly for this trip, probably a big inspiration for packing more efficiently.

2017

March

Sydney for work. Two weeks, one for a company conference and one working with the team. With some tips from coworkers, I managed jet lag much better this time. The 17 hour flight from Dallas lands in Sydney at 6 am. Last trip I arrived on Sunday to acclimate before work, but I ended up bored and tired and feel asleep too early. For this trip I arrived on Monday and went straight to work. I went for a walk in the middle of the day to refresh. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but I slept well and mostly reset my internal clock.

Scottsdale for a guys weekend. I remembered this trip, but I had forgotten until right now that it was only a week after getting back from Sydney. Yikes.

May

Barcelona, traveling with my wife on her work trip. We had a great time in Barcelona previously, and this extended time was even better. While my wife was at a conference one day, I took a train to see Montserrat. It was pretty amazing to see the sanctuary and hike around the mountains as the clouds rolled in. I still have some very fond memories of that day.

July

Branson for the 4th of July. Also went to a wedding for my wife’s friend.

September

Disney World.

2018

This is when I started keeping a real log of my travel.

May

Minneapolis for a guys weekend.

June

Disney World, with my entire family; eight adults and six children. A bit stressful at times to manage such a large group, but overall it went really well.

July

Branson for the 4th of July.

November

Branson for Thanksgiving.

December

San Francisco for work.

Breckenridge with my family over Christmas. We rented a nice house and the kids got to play in the snow for the first time. I got to go skiing for the first time in a while.

2019

January

Disney World. At 2.5 years old, our son actually showed some interest in being at Disney World. That seems like a good youngest age that I’d recommend normal people taking their kids to Disney.

February

Sydney for work. With two kids at home, I only stayed for a week. I would not recommend doing 17 hour flights a week apart from each other. By this point, I had invested into some travel-friendly clothes and gear. I didn’t check a bag, and it was wonderful to speed through the airport and not worry about a huge bag while riding the train to my hotel.

April

Iowa for Easter, just me and my son. When we landed in Dallas for our layover, I saw that our next flight was cancelled. That’s not what you want to hear traveling with a three year old. He managed pretty well while I talked to customer service. I ended up changing my destination and having my family pick my up somewhere else, which got me home at about the same time but avoided a longer layover. Since it was just for a long weekend, I was traveling with a single bag and didn’t have to worry about any checked luggage being re-routed.

June

Branson for a week in the summer. The kids are almost getting old enough to enjoy some of the tourist spots in Branson.

August

San Antonio for a quick vacation. The River Walk is nice, but our kids are wild and there are no railings. Also one of the first times our whole family stayed in the same hotel room. The kids slept so terribly the first night that we considered leaving early so we didn’t have to spend another night. We ended up staying and it was better, but decided we could do without hotel rooms for a while.

September

Trip to Washington DC to visit friends. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid, so it was great to see the National Mall and some of the museums. The DC Metro system is really nice.

October

France with my wife, my sister, and her husband; no kids. Two nights in Paris, two in Strasbourg, two more in Paris. Always nice to get away for vacation without the kids. We had an awesome time, but we were always going. In hindsight I wish we could have relaxed for a day, but I’m not sure what I would have given up. I guess I just need to have longer vacations. The Paris Metro system is amazing. We never waited more than 3 minutes for a train, which is still pretty incredible to me. It was a little rainy and cold while we were there. I got in my own head while packing, trying to be fashionable for Paris. My rain coat wasn’t quite warm enough and I decided not to pack my warm vest at the last moment. I definitely could have planned a bit better on my clothing.

November

Iowa for Thanksgiving.

December

San Francisco for work, a quick 3 day trip. Despite only being 3 days, I ended up packing two bags for this trip (still carry on, not checked). I probably could have packed less, but I didn’t have a single bag to hold my laptop that still fit my stuff. For my laptop bag, I used my messenger bag that I take to work every day, and that was a poor choice. On the day I was planning on going to the gym after work, my bag didn’t have enough room for my gym clothes and work stuff, so I had to make an extra hotel trip. On the night we went to dinner after work, I had to carry a heavy laptop bag around on one shoulder while walking around the city. When I got home I did a bit of research and decided to purchase a bag that would have served me well for this trip, and all of my work trips. I’ll write more about that soon.

Since leaving college, the first time I made exercise part of my routine was about 6-7 years ago, when I started CrossFit. I went 2-3 times a week for about 2 years. I liked it well enough. The daily workout wasn’t really my thing; maybe I didn’t train enough, but I didn’t seem to have the right combination of strength and endurance. But the first half of class was training with Olympic-style lifting, and I loved that. Now, I’m not a big guy, so I wasn’t on the top of the charts, even locally at the gym. But I could see progress on my lifting, in raw numbers. My developer brain loved that, and made me want to keep going to see how high the numbers could go.

After moving to Texas I found a decent gym, but the only class time that fit my schedule was first thing in the morning. After a few months I found out I don’t love early morning workouts and stopped going.

A little while later, I had a kid. Sleepless nights didn’t feel great for energy or motivation. It took me a long time for me to start any exercise again, and even then it wasn’t often. Then it was kid number 2 and more sleepless nights. This time, though, I made it a point to start working out earlier than I thought I was ready. I went to the gym at my office, went for a run when I could, and tried to stay active. This is when I found out that even without a full nights sleep, working out doesn’t make me tired - it makes me feel great!

About a year and a half ago, on a slow Friday afternoon at work, my boss asked me if I wanted to leave early and go to the climbing gym. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I didn’t feel like working so I said sure.

I didn’t really have any prior climbing experience. I was a Boy Scout and went up one or two short walls with lots of help, but that was about it. I enjoy skiing, but wouldn’t call myself any sort of adventure seeker. The main things I’ve got going for me are that I’ve got good strength for my size, and I’m basically a large child; I like to run, jump, and play. Sometimes it takes effort to let my kids go first on the playground.

Even the first session was fun, but it was a while before I came back. I did a few day passes here and there. After a month or two, I got a three month membership during a sale, and that’s when it really started.

Just like with lifting, climbing fit my brain perfectly. I could measure myself, and see progress. But now, instead of the same lift over and over, I could climb any number of different routes at a certain level. Every now and again, I could climb once at a harder level. Then a few more routes, and again. Now I just consider myself at that level, and it repeats. Currently, at the gym, I boulder around a v5-v6 grade, and lead around a 5.11 grade. Here’s a bit more info about climbing grades.

When I started I spent a lot of my time on ropes, though it took me a while before I got belay and lead certified. Somewhere around leading at a 5.10 level (gym grade, anyway), I started doing a bit more bouldering, and have slowly transitioned into preferring bouldering. I’ve always been more of a sprinter than endurance runner, so bouldering fits me pretty well. Last fall, I competed in a multi-week bouldering competition at the gym. It was very casual, and I missed the last week due to traveling, so I don’t know where I ended up. But I was climbing in the second level from the top and finishing almost all of the hardest problems. I plan on entering this year as well, in the hardest level.

I’ve only climbed outdoors a handful of times, but the people I climb with are trying to make it more of a habit. I haven’t done any bouldering outdoors yet. On lead, I think I’ve only sent a 5.9 as my max. I’ve done 1-2 5.10 routes with 1 take, a 5.11 with a few takes, and gone bolt to bolt on a 5.12. I’m looking to really increase my numbers outdoors this year.

At the gym, after you scan your membership card, there’s an iPad to enter your phone number to track points for discounts. To my knowledge I’ve entered my number every time I’ve gone. That means I’ve climbed at the gym 125 times. Roughly 15 times outside (it’s probably less than that), and I’m at 140. I’ll estimate an hour for each session. That’s truly wild to me to think about the progress I’ve made over that small amount of climbing. Now that I’m doing a bit of actual training to improve, and adding some outdoor climbs, I’m really excited to see how far I can push myself this year.

I’m going to write about each game that I finish. But I’ve been keeping a running list of what I’m playing for at least the last 5 years. I’ve had an interesting mix of consoles: Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, iPad, and PlayStation 4. Shortly after it launched, about 3 years ago, I got a Nintendo Switch and have done the majority of my gaming there. Here’s almost a complete list of what I’ve played since then.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Much has been said about this game, and it’s deserving of all the praise. I put a lot of time into this game, but still finished with quite a few things left to complete.

Divinity: Original Sin

Played on PS4. After the more open nature of Zelda, I wanted a more strict RPG. I liked what I played of this, but didn’t make it terribly far. I was too tempted by the other eagerly awaited Nintendo game in 2017.

Super Mario Odyssey

I never played the early 3D Mario games, so I was excited to finally see what I was missing. This game is exactly what I was looking for. Easy to pick up, but it scaled up to a good challenge. I completed nearly everything.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Another RPG, but back to the Switch. I really enjoyed this one. Lots to explore, fun combat mechanics, and the progression was a bit addictive. I finished with max level characters.

Shovel Knight

Moving to a bit lighter game. Played all 3 available campaigns. King of Cards is out now, but I’m guessing the other games in my backlog will come first.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I didn’t have another game I was dying to get into, and my play time told me I spent more time in Mario than Zelda, so I figured I should jump back in. This is pretty rare for me to repeat a game, but I found it even more enjoyable the second time through. Partly because of real life obligations, and partly because I’d already finished it once and didn’t have anything pushing me, I took a break about halfway through the game.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

I had seen nothing but praise for this game, and it was on sale (including DLC) for $20, so it seemed like the right time to jump in. This is where I learned that even if a game is one of the highest rated of the year, it might be in a genre I don’t love. I can certainly see the appeal of the game, but open world and quick reflexes just aren’t what I want in my games right now.

Hollow Knight

As much as Horizon wasn’t for me, Hollow Knight was right up my alley. I’ve replayed Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in the past few years; this genre fits my play style. Great platforming, combat that takes some effort, and enough leveling/progression elements. I really liked this game. When I finished, I think my completion percentage was around 87%.

Celeste

There were a number of interesting indie games out for the Switch, and this one was getting great reviews, so I jumped in. I enjoyed this game and completed it, but I definitely didn’t take advantage of everything it had to offer. A quick look at some speed runs for this game shows you what’s really possible. I didn’t even scratch the surface.

Dead Cells

I don’t remember exactly why I picked this one up. On the surface, it doesn’t seem exactly like my style of game. Some games feel like a bit of an addiction, tapping right into my brain’s reward system; this was one of them. Great controls, easy to pick up for either a short session or “just one more run,” and progression that gives you just a bit more each time. I spent a lot of time with this.

Into the Breach

Oh, my. This is high up on my list of favorite games I’ve ever played. It was perfect for me. Great strategy, pretty quick to get through a single game, but lots of replay value with different units and difficulty. There are a few squads I still haven’t beaten on Hard mode, but other than that I’ve done everything else in this game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It was time to get back to my second play through. I tried to do as much as I could. I finally downloaded played through the DLC (except for completing the master quest, sadly). I found almost all of the shrines. I still didn’t cook very much. This session would be the most time I spent with the game in one go, and will likely keep Zelda at the top of my play time on Switch — as it should be.

Final Fantasy XII

I played, but never completed, this almost 10 years ago on PlayStation 2. I liked it, but I got stuck somewhere and my interest waned. Now, again after playing Zelda, I wanted more of a full RPG experience, and the remastered version for Switch seemed just right. This is where I’ll say that I have a bit of a problem with some RPGs, specifically Final Fantasy games. I have such a fear of missing out on certain weapons or equipment that I feel the need to follow a walkthrough. Even before playing, I overanalyzed the characters and roles to make sure I could find the “optimal” combination. It certainly makes for a different experience while playing the game, but I also enjoy the time spent outside of the game learning about the mechanics and strategies. I don’t think it takes too much away from the game, and I still really enjoyed the gameplay and story.

After taking a bit of a break and spending a bit more time with Mario and Into the Breach, I’m now in the middle of Divinity: Original Sin 2 on PS4. My Switch backlog is growing and I’m a bit tempted to jump ship again (portable play is so convenient!), but I’m a lot more invested in this one than the first and I really like it. I’m hoping to complete it at some point. After that, my next game will probably be one of these: Civ 6, Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Dragon Quest, Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion. Since I’ve got a limited amount of time to play, and these games tend toward the long side, I’ll be happy to finish 3-4 games this year.

Finally, here’s my play time on Switch for the longer games:

• Zelda, 145 hours
• Xenoblade, 105 hours
• Into the breach, 75 hours
• Dead Cells, 70 hours
• FF XII, 70 hours
• Mario, 50 hours
• Hollow Knight, 35 hours

I decided to start a blog. It happens to be New Year’s Day, but this isn’t part of any resolution; I just sort of decided I want to get better at writing. As a developer, of course I started backwards — figure out where and how to publish, and worry about the writing later. Well, step one is done, now it’s time for some words.

My intended audience for this is primarily myself. I suppose my wife, family, and friends will read a few posts here and there. With any luck, in about 20 years maybe my kids will be interested in what I have to say today.

I’m going to start simple and treat this as an actual “blog” - a web log. I’ve got a few ideas about what that might include.

Video games

Gaming is my preferred form of media, relaxation, etc. After I finish a game, I’ll write about it. Not quite a review, but I’ll probably mention the things I liked and disliked. For the past few years I’ve kept a list of each game I played. Now I’ve got a place to add some thoughts about each one. I’m really excited to log my games, but it might not happen very often; with two young children (and a preference for long games), I don’t finish as many games as I’d like each year.

Travel

I got to travel a lot with my family when I was younger, so it’s a normal part of my life, and something I always look forward to. Just like with gaming, whenever I take a trip, I’ll write about it. Just like with gaming, two young children means I don’t travel as much as I’d like. But I think it will be really nice to have some actual written thoughts along with all the memories. I’m sure I’ll write a bit about the destination, but I’m also interested in capturing the technical details as well. In the past few years I’ve become mildly (my wife might say otherwise) obsessed with travel gear, including clothing. I’ll talk about specific pieces in each travel log, but I might write about the gear at other times too.

Rock climbing

I started climbing about a year and a half ago. I got hooked immediately. I go to the gym two or three times a week, and outdoors a handful of times each month (depending on the season). That seems like the perfect thing to log. But this feels like the opposite problem of travel and gaming — too much data. I’m sure I’ll have to mess with the format a bit, but I’ll probably start by posting a digest of sorts. Maybe weekly, monthly? It’s too much to log each route at the gym, but I’m interested in tracking my progress by difficulty, and likely whatever training (if any) I’m doing at the time. Outdoor climbing will be much easier to track — all the routes are named and, so far at least, there hasn’t been a huge volume.

There might be a few random posts here and there, but I’ll focus on those above topics until I get a better feel for my writing. Maybe one day I’ll write about some things that have a bit more broad appeal. In the next few weeks I’ll write a few posts about my baseline for each of those areas, and then we’ll see where this thing takes me.