A Bit of History: The Early Years

Growing up I always had a fascination with small spaces and spent a great deal of time building and enhancing these spaces. It started with a cardboard box fort after the purchase of the family's first 1980's big screen TV. The fascination then progressed to a clubhouse in the garage rafters, followed by an elaborate multi-story treehouse in the ravine near my childhood house, and then the conversion of my High School Ford Bronco into a highly functional Basecamp for the frequent back country adventures. The Bronco project took advantage of the removable backseat  and replced it with a fold down platform for a full size bed. Under the platform were drawers for climbing gear along with dedicated space for a cooler, camp stove, and cooking supplies, all rounded out with 12 volt lighting to aid in gearing up for early morning summit attempts or after dark dinner preparation. It was truly this teenage boy's dream machine and took young adventurers on many memorable trips. Throughout college my adventures continued and I spent many nights camped out deep in the backcountry in areas like Moab and Yosemite living simply and exploring widely.
Always in search of yet another adventure, I landed a grant and opportunity to spend 5 months on the island of Rarotonga in the South Pacific during my final year at the University of Oregon.  My job was to aid in efforts to control the invaisives species population wrecking havoc on the natural ecosystem and document my experience as a budding photojournalist. As a developing nation, the Cook Islands didnt provide all of the modern conveniences of home and I took this new way of living as a challenge. Water had to be boiled daily for drinking, power from a diesel generator was often shut down, laundry was done by hand, and it was typical for staples like flour and bread to run out until the next ship arrived from New Zealand. I was also very taken with the simplicity of the way of life led by many of the 'substistence' farmers on the island who harvested Taro, Papaya, and Mango for local consumption.