Quick Summary: On 22 February I with 14 friends – Friends of Bob – along with our two fearless leaders gathered in Puerto Varas, Chile to begin our Patagonian adventure. Initially we spent 6 days hiking and enjoying ourselves in and around Puerto Varas and Ensenada, two nice small town tourist destinations on Lake Llanquihue…
SUMMARY: In January, I joined 12 old men (Super Masters) in a 4 day 3 night cycling camp in Borrego Springs California. We did some hard biking in the mountains and enjoyed each other’s company – a “boys- away-from-home-and-family” adventure. I’m a member of Padyak Racing Team (PRT) bike club, and though I don’t do…
What. I and 11 of my friends hiked in Iceland from 10-17 July 2025 as part of a NOLS alumni hike. We gathered in Reykjavik then headed to the mountains for a 7 day, 6 night hike. (below photos used with permission) Why Iceland? Iceland popped up in my awareness when my son and his…
WHAT: I recently (September 2024) made my third trip to northern Italy to hike in the Dolomites with a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) alumni expedition. WHY: My first trip to the Dolomites was part of a NOLS alumni trip in 2019, when we hiked the Alta Via 1 trail, which was the most spectacular…
WHAT DID WE DO? We met in Scotland and rode bikes around several of the Inner Hebridean islands on a supported bike tour, visited some great places, reconnected with some old friends. WHY DID WE DO THIS? Most of the initiative was my son Brad’s. We had great memories of living in Scotland 35 years…
Why Portugal. I’ve been hearing for years how special and wonderful Portugal is. I’d never been to Portugal, and when I saw that the National Outdoor Leadership School offered an alumni hike on the Fisherman’s trail along the SW coastline of Portugal, I saw this as a great opportunity to see for myself. (picture of…
Though I usually find fiction most enjoyable and inspiring, these four books – all non-fiction – gave me insights that have changed the way I think and perceive, and I have spoken a lot about each of them to my friends. So below, I share with you a little bit about each of them, why…
WHY GO TO ALASKA? What a great state! I have visited Alaska twice briefly – once on a military exercise on Kodiak Island in 1979, and once on a cruise ship, up the SE Panhandle. I’ve read quite a number of books about Alaska and when I saw that Ends of the Earth Cycling with…
WHAT IS A RAGBRAI? It was started by the Des Moines Register, and stands for Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. It has been variously described as “A Celebration of Americana,” “A Rolling Party,” “An Eating Adventure for People with a Cycling Disorder,” “A Crazy Party for Cycopaths.” This year was the 49th running…
I traveled to Scotland 20 May – 1 June to join a National Outdoor Leadership School alumni hike in the Northeast of Scotland. This post is a my version of “what I did on my summer vacation” – what I got out of it, and some of what I thought others might find interesting, or…
A couple of weeks ago, I joined my friend Chuck for a week during his thru-hiking of the Appalachian Trail (AT) , from Georgia to Maine. He was about 375 miles into his 2200 mile hike when I joined him near Johnson City, Tennessee and we hiked together for a week through the mountains of…
The title of this short piece is a tip of the hat to Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale’s Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot, a book with which some of you may be familiar. Vadm Jim Stockdale was a career Naval Aviator who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage and leadership as a…
PREAMBLE: I have been doing and co-leading Executive and All American Leadership expeditions for the National Outdoor Leadership (NOLS) for a decade. This year, several alums from these expeditions over the years decided to do a reunion expedition, and though many had been on different expeditions in different years, we loved the idea of connecting…
I recently learned about a comprehensive total immersion health/wellness/fitness program, made available by the Navy SEAL Foundation to active duty and retired Navy SEALS and Special Boat operators. Their assumption is that many Navy SEALs and Special Boat operators are frequently suffering the residual effects of years of physical and mental stress, of having been…
My wife Mary Anne and I recently visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield in Montana, about 60 miles SE of Billings. In preparation, we both had read Custer’s Fall – the Native American Side of the Story, and I read most of the two other books below. It was a powerful and moving experience for…
Bob Schoultz's Corner 