As a Christian, I don’t feel like I spend enough time with God’s creation, or enough time just appreciating it. When was the last time you looked up at the stars? For that matter, are you able to even see the stars where you live?

The writer of Psalm 19 exclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” And in Psalm 97:6, “The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory.” When we stand outside on a dark and starry night and look up into the heavens, we are able to say, “How glorious is God—how magnificent is He!”

I feel Christians, especially Christian men, need to take time to get back to the wilderness. A quick look in Genesis will reveal that Adam was first created in the Wilderness then placed in the Garden to tend to it. The Wilderness is a part of every man. I have felt most at peace and close to God when I took time to enjoy and be in the creation.

That’s why my wife and I have decided to add more of it to our lives. We’re planning to take an epic cross-country tour of the West and hit up some of the major national parks. I’m also hoping that this time will be used to strengthen our marriage, our abilities to work together and communicate, and our connection with God and each other.

So now that you’ve got a little background on the reason for the trip, here are the details.

Our Destination Plans

• Grove, OK < Visit some family
• Rapid City, SD (Black Hills, Keystone, Mt Rushmore) < attending a friends wedding, doing some exploring
• Devils Tower, WY < Half a day spent here, great climbing though.
• Grand Tetons National Park, WY
• Yellowstone National Park, WY
• Glacier National Park, MT
• Yosemite National Park, CA
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Colorado Springs < We might be moving here after the trip, so we thought we’d check it out. If you know a good micro-brewery-restaurants here, tell me!

At this time I haven’t determined the amount of time to be spent at each of the major parks. I know we’ll probably do all the touristy stuff at Yellowstone and Yosemite. Maybe try some back country backpacking in the Grand Tetons. I’d like to rent a romantic cabin for two nights in Glacier National park, and maybe do a 2 day hike while in Glacier. I know my wife has her sights set on horseback riding, so that’s something else I’ve got to figure into this plan. Perhaps at the Grand Canyon?

Lot’s of things to see and do on this trip. And I plan on keeping an active blog of all our travels during this trip.

Our time frame is looking to be in June, and we expect to be gone 30-45 days. (And for anyone planning to rob us, you’ll be out of luck as we are planning to move to another state after this trip, and have decided to sell everything, and put the rest in an undisclosed location.)

Naturally, a trip this size requires a lot of planning and preparation.

It does not however require as much money as some think. I know some of you reading this might think that “You can’t do something like this without tons of cash, or until your retire!” But I have a question for you, what mountain are you going to hike at age 70? Seriously? The time to do this stuff is now, while you are young, and if you’re in your 30′s and you haven’t done this, you should be doing it.

… But wait, you say you have children, and traveling or adventuring with them is much more difficult. Well, here is a website for you: http://www.adventureparents.com Clearly these awesome parents figured out how it can be done! Come time for us to have children, we’ll be doing it as well!

I challenge you, if this is on your heart, make it happen in your life. Your life will be greatly enriched.

So here are my tips for adventure travel with low income.

1. The first rule is don’t travel like tourists! No Hotels. No eating every meal at restaurants. No loading up on snacks and soda at every pit stop. This tip alone will save you tons of cash.
2. Camp and couch surf. Sleep at rest stops. Shop for food at WalMart, and use Mennonite Your Way (We’re not mennonites, but these wonderful people are willing to let you sleep on their floor or couch.) There are dozens of alternative ideas instead of spending $80-100 dollars a night.
3. Get a Cash Back Rewards Card, especially for the gas pump!
4. Spend $80 for the National Parks pass and avoid entrance fees, rather than paying $20 per park, $80 gets you into all the national parks.
5. PLAN AHEAD, good planning can save money!

That is what we are doing, and it can be done.

Expect more updates to follow!

And Boy oh Boy! What an amazing adventure it’s been getting to the New Year.

Seems like I traveled all over the great USA. I spent time ministering to kids with Live Offensively For God Ministries. Went rock climbing and sleep outside in a desert under the stars in just my sleeping bag for the first time ever. All along the way making new friends and trying new things that pushed me outside of my comfort zone.

This is the year that my the vision for my life grew. I started dreaming bigger than before.

This is the year that I got married!

It’s also the first year I lived completely debt free, and above my means. I didn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck.

So let me take you on a little photo tour of my year:

A Year of Travel

I traveled all over the USA this year. Some of my favorite places where out west: Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
This was the first time I ever saw the Pacific ocean from the Oregon Coast. It was beautiful.

I visited Devils Tower and had a crazy adventure during the night. We got stuck on the side of the tower during a rain storm, and it was pitch black out. Our only illumination as we climbed down came from the spectacular lightning show. Our adrenalin pumping adventure was capped off with a fast run through thick mud and underbrush to the safety of our vehicle.

I went Kayaking at Devils Lake in Wisconsin.

I saw Crater Lake for the first time. It was beautiful.

I even saw Mt Rushmore, which isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. What was exciting are the Black Hills behind Mt Rushmore. Awesome climbing and beautiful hiking!

A Year of Rock Climbing

I did a lot of Rock Climbing this year. It was something I wanted to get into more. I was blessed to have the opportunity to do it often. This is mostly in part to my good buddy, Joe Baker, for taking me.

I got to climb in one of the best climbing spots in America, Smith Rock in Oregon.

More of the beautiful Smith Rock.

A Year of Alpine Adventure

I traveled to the Wind Rivers Range in Wyoming this August to go alpine climbing and backpacking. It was an amazing experience! I spent a total of eight days in the wilderness. Not a campground, a WILDERNESS. It’s a place that if you were injured you might just end up dead.

This place was just awe inspiring on every single level. The sheer size of the mountains, is just indescribable.

And yes I did hike in the same two pairs of pants and two pairs of shirts for 8 days.

A Year of Brothers

This was a year that I formed a real band of brothers with some close guy friends for the first time.

My Live Offensively Band of Brothers (and sister!)

The year I got Married!

The very best, and I mean best day of my life took place this year in 2009. This is the year that I meet and fell in love with my wife. It didn’t take long for us to get married after meeting. It was a match made in heaven, and she is an amazing woman.

The Best Day of my Life was August 29th, 2009.

A Year of Lifestyle

For me, 2009 was really a year all about lifestyle and dream building: How I want to live and how I will live.  Both me and my wife have BIG DREAMS.

Enjoying the finer points of financial freedom.

Taking my wife on a shopping spree, because every women should be pampered!

My Audi

A little gift to myself, for an awesome year.

What did you do this year?

Was it spent trapped inside a cubical?

I certainly hope not, and if it was, I hope 2010 is the year you break free and achieve your dreams.

YOU CAN SEE THE ENTIRE SET OF PHOTOS NOT FEATURED IN THIS POST ON My FLICKR HERE