it's been a while...

Friends, it's good to be writing to you today.

Yes, it has been over a year since our trip to South America.  I am amazed by the whole lightning-fast-passage-of-time thing.  It just doesn't seem that long ago.  But since that trip, much has happened in our lives, much has changed, all is good.  I hope the same is true for each of you!

I want to take a moment to give you an outline of what you can expect in the near future on "Life of Zach and Court":

1) In the next two posts, I am going to briefly finish the saga of our back-packing trip in Chile.  I won't drag out the process with lengthy stories and tales, like I did for the first couple of days of the trip.  Instead, I am giving you my personal journal entries from the end of each day on the trail (possibly and most likely with a few amendments, add-ons, and/or deletions).

2) In the posts to come, I am going to fill you in on the happenings of our lives here in New Zealand (did I mention we live here now?!).  You will read stories of adventure.  You will read stories of our jobs we recently acquired and the house we just moved into.  You will read stories of climbing and biking, beauty and pain, accomplishments and frustrations, community and those times we just can't seem to find it, and God's presence in all of it.

3) Over the past months, I have been working on a series of essays, and even some short books, designed to help anyone - maybe you? - pursue adventure through travel, and I am hoping to start sharing these musings soon.  These writings are the compilation of much brainstorming, trial and error learning, many early mornings and late nights, failure, success, mistakes, and a whole lot of excitement.  Court and I have learned so much in these few months spent on the road and the years leading up to where we are now.  We now have a bit of knowledge in van-living, cheap existence, simplicity, camp-stove cooking, and finding free campsites.  We know what it's like to dream of adventure and travel.  We know what it's like to create a tight budget, save money, and then take the plunge and say yes to extended world-travel.  We are still in the thick of it now.  And we are passionate about helping others give themselves permission to say yes.

Stay tuned for a crash-course in adventuring with purpose.

I hope you enjoy the final stories from South America.  I apologize for not having any pictures.  All of the photos, I just realized, are on my laptop which is in the United States.  And I am no where near there...