Farther Beyond

My name is David. In my life, I have been a jack of many trades, and probably a master of none. I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. I graduated from Firebaugh High School a couple of decades before its best-known alum, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. I played football and basketball, and I swam. I tried swimming in college, too, but I really wasn’t fast enough to be competitive. I went to college to be a high school social studies teacher and coach. I have always loved history and geography. I was such a nerd about it as a child. One of my favorite gifts was this set of cards you put in a plastic tray with a glossy picture on the front and a one-page summary of some historical event on the back. Instead of having posters on my walls as an elementary and junior high kid, I covered them with maps. I gazed at them, and dreamed of exotic places around the world. I never lost that hunger for knowledge, and my travel experiences tend to be built around destinations of historical or geographic importance.

I taught briefly at a Christian school in Amarillo, but the highlight of that stop was meeting my wife, Stephanie, who has been along on my life’s journey ever since. The Christian school seemed happy enough to have me work there, but couldn’t figure out how to actually pay me for it. So I went to USAF Officer Training School and eventually became a B-1 navigator (after getting a private pilot’s certificate and buying a plane). I wasn’t one of those kids who always dreamed of flight. However, in a lifetime of hobbies that have come and gone, aviation has been a persistent passion. I have owned a handful of planes, but only made peace with airplane ownership in my forties and beyond, when my personal finances were ready for it. My travel often has to do with aviation. Either the destination (i.e. Oshkosh) or the journey (Alaska) were aviation related.

During my Air Force career, I completed two Master’s degrees – a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from Abilene Christian University, and a Master of Arts in History from the University of New Mexico. I became so enamored of my graduate study that I left my Air Force career to complete a PhD in history at New Mexico, where I specialized in the American West and U.S. Military History. I served briefly as an adjunct instructor at a couple of different schools, where I taught both U.S. and World History. As I lifelong learner, I have diverse interests and have read up on British History, the World Wars, Ancient Rome and Egypt, and many other topics. Some of my travels have been to archives for historical research, or to sites associated with my research interests. I continue to visit many other historical sites just because I find them fascinating.

I have always believed that all Christians are called to a lifetime of ministry, whether as a paid professional, or serving as a volunteer. Since I have training in preaching and teaching, I have served as either a bi-vocational preaching minister or as a volunteer for about 13 years, total. Some of my travels involve visiting mission fields. I always seek out Churches of Christ to visit when traveling on Sundays, and you will see evidence of that in my experiences here as well.

Finally, Stephanie and I have six children, some of whom have grown up and married now. We have also hosted foreign exchange students from Denmark, Thailand, and the Netherlands. Having such a large family has greatly impacted many of our family travel decisions. When our household numbered eight or nine, flying somewhere in a Mooney M20 or a Grumman Tiger was simply not an option. For economic reasons, our family trips during that era did not involve commercial air travel, either. Think about it, to drive a large SUV to Edmonton, Alberta from Dos Palos, California requires burning the same amount of fuel whether our vehicle has one occupant or eight. On the other hand purchasing commercial tickets for a party of eight is – well – eight times the cost! It seems that the vast majority of content creators are either solo travelers offering advice on how to see the world on a budget, or perhaps young couples traveling with no children. Stephanie and I occasionally travel without the children, and sometimes I even go alone. But often here you will observe our large family figuring out ways to see the world and share those experiences with our children. This kind of travel necessarily differs substantially from the solo backpackers and lightly burdened digital nomad couples.

On a related note, family has always been quite important to us. Stephanie and I have been blessed by the longevity of our grandparents, nearly all of whom lived into their 90s. I also have an interest in genealogy. Some of our travel involves either visiting older relatives, attending family reunions, or helping aging relatives share in those experiences. I will keep those personal family experiences to a minimum, but you will find helpful information here regarding multi-generational travel, which definitely has its own share of special challenges and rewards.

In case you were wondering, I never found tenure-track employment in the world of post secondary academia. Since 2013, I have made my living farming. I primarily grow extra long staple cotton, though I have also produced upland cotton, wheat, cantaloupes, almonds, barley, and sorghum. We also have some pre-production pistachios. That is how I fund this madness. It is my hope that this website will help the reader share the joy of my experiences and also offer advice in a few special niche kinds of travel: 1) learning history and geography, 2) aviation related travel, 3) traveling with families.