This past month has been filled with lots of travel for the usual mixture of work, play, family visits, and a fun birthday party for my son, Owen, who just turned five-years-old on Monday.

Having recently come back from a trip to Italy where I got a chance to see some good friends in Arco and Trento, and of course, go climbing on some amazing limestone crags, and finally at the end of the trip, I did a multi-media presentation (speaking in Italian) for a cultural event that was organized in conjunction with a museum exhibit in Brescia called, America: The History of Paintings from the New World”. The highlight of the presentation was at the end when my son came up on stage and said with a perfect Italian accent: “Grazie a tutti” (thank you everyone).

A few days after we arrived home, I helped celebrate the opening of a Patagonia store on Pearl Street in Boulder, along with several fellow climbing Ambassadors, associate non-profit organizations, friends, and customers. It’s about time there is a Patagonia store in Boulder! It seems that there really is some kind of collective consciousness that is gaining momentum toward positive change in the world and how we do business! It’s no wonder that the Patagonia store is already a big success!

A few days later, I went to California, where I got a chance to see several more family members (I have seven siblings), including my great nephew, in between a trip to Big Rock and Joshua Tree to film slab climbing on a few classic problems for my up-coming technique video. At the end of this trip, I went to Santa Barbara to attend the wedding of a friend and colleague who works at Patagonia. It was so fun to see so many great people that I’ve known for over twenty-five years, such as Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, Rick and Jennifer Ridgeway, and far too many others to list.

After a brief respite at home, I will be off again tomorrow to participate in the Climb Fest Ogden event in Utah. After this last trip, I will finally have a chance to relax a bit, go climbing, and catch up on all the other projects and constant flow of requests…