Tenderfoot Diaries

I have to confess I’ve wanted an outdoor blog of my own for quite some time now.  Over the past three years I’ve written a lot of posts on outdoor subjects, written for two outdoor blogs and never had the chance to say what I really thought unfettered by concerns about my opinions reflecting negatively on a company or an organization.  Speaking or writing on behalf of someone or something else is harder than it looks and there are occasions when all you can do is bite your tongue and avoid a subject that is just too controversial.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about the outdoor writing that I’ve done in the past.  Had it not been for my corporate outdoor writing job I probably never would have started writing about the outdoors at all.  That job also led to my meeting the people who eventually helped found the Outdoor Bloggers Summit.  Writing for, and running, that organization has been a privilege and a pleasure, but it has had its constraints.  When I write for that blog, I’m writing as the head of the organization, not as myself.  What I say there can have an impact on a lot more than just me.

In the end, I realized I needed a place where the only one I spoke for was myself, and the Tenderfoot Diaries was born.

Those of you who have read my writing in the past probably think you know what you can expect here and, in part, you’re probably right.  I will encourage outdoor blogging and seek to educate outdoor bloggers, just as I do on the OBS blog.  I may resurrect Safety Friday, which began on the corporate blog I wrote.   Hopefully I’ll keep to the standard of writing that you’ve come to expect from me.  I certainly intend to try.

The part that will be new, and which you may not have seen before, is my opinions.  I have a lot of them, and some of them may surprise some of you.  I’ll also be telling you about my outdoor adventures, both the triumphs and the screw-ups.  There may even, if I get over my camera phobia, be pictures. The main thing I promise is that I will always tell you the truth, and I’ll always strive to be honest and fair in what I write.

Right now, I’m not exactly sure what this blog will turn out to be, and I’m finding that rather exciting.  For the first time I have an outlet for writing about the outdoors that has no other purpose than what I want it to have.  That’s quite an exhilarating prospect.

I can’t wait to see what comes next.