I’m going to go out on a limb and show some vulnerability. I spent the first 40 years of my life co-dependent. Though I am still a very considerate person and live my life as a conscientious citizen of the planet, and I still often put other’s needs first, I am satisfied sharing that I no longer feed the needs of others at my own expense.

Masculinity is often measured more so by brawn than brains. I was taught that working hard was the path to success. It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I came to understand that working smarter could equate to spending less time working hard and in doing so, could garner the same–or even better–results.

I am no stranger to working hard. I have spent a great deal of my life slave-driving myself to execute on both mentally and physically laborious projects. I’ve often centered my efforts on expressing myself creatively with a focus on bringing something of value to humanity. In other words, I’ve been driven to create things that primarily benefit others.

Before 2003, I primarily spent my free time camping, hiking, and biking in local regions within a short proximity to my home at the time in Arizona. I had never ventured beyond the United States border other than to cross into a few border towns of Western Canada and Mexico.

That all changed after 2002. I had found myself married at the very young age of 20. (I even got carded at my own wedding.) Looking back, I was just a child. My son is now the same age I was when I first married and I couldn’t even imagine him married now. So, I spent my 20’s married and at age 31, I came to the decision that it was time to make a change.

As I’ve written in my book, Rediscovering Your Divine Music (Token Rock Publishing), I had experienced a major life event in 1998 that started me on a path to reassess my life. My father had passed at the young age of 56. It took me almost five years after his passing before I could muster the energy and guts to end my 13-year relationship.

Finding myself free to choose any path was very foreign to me. It offered a level of freedom I had not ever given myself.  In my early 30’s, I had developed a longing to explore…to venture out further from my local surroundings. In 2004, I embarked on a great international adventure to the remote, tropical islands off the coast of Belize. The experience opened my eyes to countless possibilities. In 2005, I booked a trip to Brazil and spent time in Rio de Janeiro, the northeastern coastal town of Recife, the ancient and culturally rich slave trade port of Salvador in the state of Bahia, and deep into the heart of the Amazon Basin to the river town of Altar do chao. Here I skiffed with my backpack on my back more than 100 miles up the Amazon River to a remote native village.

As I became a seasoned international traveler, I found myself on great adventures to other remote destinations including Guatemala, Uruguay, Paraguay, the Dolomites of Northern Italy, the French speaking Province of Quebec, Canada, Costa Rica, and return trips to Belize.

I became an adventurer and along the way had started to grow up.

I entered another committed relationship in 2005 and married again in 2007. That lasted only until 2010. I spent a great deal of my time in that relationship striving to please my partner which proved to be much more effort than a loving relationship should be. That relationship taught me a laundry list of valuable lessons.

Since that time, I have continued to evolve my perspectives on life, on adventure, and on self-love. I have opened myself up in ways I had never thought I could while holding onto my personal power and establishing reasonable, healthy boundaries.

In 2018, my son, Collin, graduated from high school and embarked on his great journey to adulthood and responsibility. For the first time in my adult life, I found myself with significant opportunity to choose a path. Never had I allowed myself to decide entirely for myself what direction to walk.

Over the next two years I dabbled with ideas on what I thought I wanted. I tried things. I embraced some and let others go. As the dust settled, I found a long-suppressed desire to fully submerse myself in nature. I had spent a great deal of time in wilderness but had not given myself the opportunity to live in a peaceful forest environment full-time.

I set out to find a home that I could call my own. A place I could plant roots and nurture myself in nature. To build a home. To make meaningful connections with like-minded, down-to-earth people.

To live on my own terms.

Nearly everything I am doing today is in support of fulfilling my personal dreams. I love people. I love nature. I love wildlife. I love my family. But most of all, I love myself. This is where true happiness radiates.

What I found is that life evolves around the energy you exude. You attract people, experiences, and things to support your personal expression.

For me, I believe I have unlocked the door to realizing my dreams of how I want to live, whom I seek in love, and how I want to spend my valuable time.

I have evolved 4XPEDITION into an adventure organization that centers on the “3-G’s” Gear, Guidance, and, the most important, Gratitude. I shape the business how I desire and attract individuals who share common ideals. I launched TEAM 4X to bring like minds together and to give you an opportunity to engage with others who’ve found meaning in the movement. I listen to ideas on how to improve the program and will continue its evolution. Yet, I maintain that I am no longer co-dependent. I stand free of molding myself into anyone’s vision of who they think I should be. I also encourage and support the free will to choose.

Because so, if you are here, I am truly grateful. We shall walk a path together for as long as we both find meaning in doing so. If our paths lead apart, know that I will be forever grateful for the time we spent. Know, too, that I support and honor your freedom to choose.