Who are we?
I have had this post in the back of my mind since we started Midwest Journeys. However, I struggled with what to share, and if anyone would even care. Then there is that line of what to put out there for the entire world, and what to keep to ourselves. We initially wanted to build this community around outdoor activities, although there are many other “journeys” in everyone’s lives. All of that being said, we are going to work on opening ourselves up a bit more to our Midwest Journeys family. Hopefully, some of our other “journeys” can help inspire, or possibly even just spark a thought or conversation. So, here we go…
We are Chris and Tammy. I (Chris), currently work as a supply chain professional for a telecom company. Tammy is an LPN and works in home health. We live in the greater Kansas City area, and have lived in the surrounding area for the majority of our lives. I believe we have pretty much covered our love for camping and the outdoors through our posts and videos, so I’m not going to go into that here. Instead, I’m going expand on the other “journeys” in our life:
Family
We have two grown children, and five grandchildren. They live in the general vicinity, and we try to see them as much as possible. Most of our extended family is also in this general area, with the exception of my dad and Tammy’s dad, who are both out of state. We are looking forward to COVID being over, so that we can get back to seeing family like we could before all of this started.
Health
Over the years, like many, we have had our struggles with staying as healthy as we would like. The predominant issue that is within our control is our weight. This has been a struggle for quite some time as we have bounced up and down, with a gradual trend upward. We are now in a very focused effort to get the weight off. That way, we can be healthier, and continue to pursue the activities that we enjoy for many years to come.
Church
We love our church family. We try to be as active as we can with the church, although we are often out of town when things are going on. So, our struggle is finding that balance. One positive thing about COVID is that is has made the online services more readily available, so we can still catch those when we are gone. However, we do still miss seeing everyone in person.
School
About 3 years ago, I got the bright idea that I was going to go back to school to pursue a MBA. This has been rough, as I don’t particularly enjoy school. Luckily, I should be finished with the program later this year. I know there are still a few rough months ahead, but I’m going to be thrilled when it is over.
Photography / video
Tammy got our first DSLR early in 2018. From that point in time, we jumped in head first. We have learned as much as possible, and continue to learn. After getting a general understanding of how the cameras worked for photos, we jumped into video, and started the YouTube channel. We also attend a monthly local photography forum, to help motivate us to learn new techniques. Matti Haapoja has a saying “Learn, Make, Repeat”, which we try to follow in our creative efforts. Therefore, we know that there may be flaws in the work that we create, but we are learning from it, and try to improve the next time.
Minimalism / mindfulness?
So, this has been relatively new for us, and has really created somewhat of an identity crisis, at least for me. We have seen that there is a benefit to only having the things that you need, and are consciously trying to limit out belongings. We also understand that there is an advantage to being mindful of social media usage, and not being consumed by screen time. So, how does that work for those of us who receive some (very little) affiliate income, and have a social media brand?!?!? I’m sure there is a balance in there, but we are still working to find it.
So, going forward, we are going to make more of an effort to be a bit more “real” with our content. We are sure that the “journeys” that we are going through are not unique to us, and we want to interact with others who may be going through the same thing. On the other hand, don’t worry, because we will also still have our outdoor content. Tammy has been busy planning our trips for this year, and we’re looking forward to getting back out there. Thank you so much for coming along with us, and we look forward to sharing this journey with you.