What is your background?
I was born and raised in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I hold a B.S. in Technology Management and an MBA Concentrating in Technology Management. These degrees are both from Herzing University. I worked in IT for a decade before pivoting to higher ed and working as faculty for an online university.
I have lived in Wisconsin my entire life except between 2014-2020, when I lived in Austin, TX. I am married to Victoria. We currently reside in Belleville, Wisconsin, with our son Austin and dog Maya.
How do you travel so much, and how is your wife OK with it?
I don't travel as often as people think. I've found ways to maximize my time on the road and cover a lot of ground, so it may appear that I'm constantly on the road when I'm not. Victoria and I have set some ground rules for the frequency of my trips. Generally, I travel every 5-6 weeks. I will usually plan for 1-2 nights away on each trip.
What car(s) do you drive?
My main road trip car is a 2017 Ford Focus. It has a 3-cylinder 1.0L EcoBoost engine in it and gets around 40mpg. It's the perfect road trip car. Prior to that, I had a 2007 Ford Focus that I got 261,000 miles out of. I also own a 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator. I reserve that car for local trips.
How many miles do you put on a year?
Around 25,000. I work from home, so most of these miles come from my trips.
How do you afford to travel?
I have figured out how to travel on the cheap. I can usually make a trip for $100-150. Since I sleep in my car, I've eliminated lodging costs. My main expenses are food and fuel. I minimize food costs by packing a lot of my food and fuel costs by driving a car that gets 40+ mpg. Traveling is very much like any other hobby people have. In many ways, I know I spend less than many other people do on their hobbies.
Why county courthouses?
When I was first looking to visit every county in Texas, I needed a standard focal point to prove I was in each county. The most reliable thing I found was the county courthouse. I have since continued to visit the county courthouse. I will not count a county as visited until I visit its courthouse. I do enjoy the architecture of some courthouses, but I'm not a courthouse enthusiast per se.
What's your favorite county?
Dane County, Wisconsin, where I currently reside. This county is where my ancestors on my dad's side settled from Germany. I love how Dane County has all the city amenities of Madison and its suburbs. But, on the flip side, it has many rural areas. I like living in Belleville, which is a quiet small town, but within a short driving distance from everything.
Why does your site look like it's from 2003?
The funny thing is that's when I learned HTML. That was back in the day when those skills could land you working on the school's webpage.
On a more series note, I'm more focused on my content itself. When I worked in IT, I worked as a Systems Administrator and didn't do any front-end work. Think of green screens of an AS/400 and other server-related stuff.
When I first started blogging, other bloggers told me to focus first on my content. After that, I could then worry about the website design. I'm slowly tweaking things, but I prefer to have my page as simple as possible.
I have converted from WordPress to a simple static site. I want to eliminate all the bells and whistles, including the spy stuff found on modern websites. This will give a clean and quick presentation of my content.
If there's anything else you're wondering about, please feel free to email me at impulsivetravelerguy@gmail.com.