The Born Again Outdoors Manifesto
I wanted to start this piece with a wistful “Born Again Outdoors started as an idea I had while…” but the truth is that it’s a lot more complicated than that. Really, Born Again Outdoors is the culmination of a decade’s worth of ideas and side projects that have arisen in my mind, or been put to ink, and all manifested as this amalgamation before you today. Hell, it isn’t even the same today as it was a year ago, or two years ago when I founded it. It continues to evolve and change, as I have, and will continue to do so. But many things about Born Again Outdoors have remained constant for as long as it has existed.
At its heart, Born Again Outdoors is about rediscovery. I launched it in January of 2024 when I abandoned what I consider my “adopted home state” of Montana to move to New Mexico for a significant career advancement opportunity. I had been a seasonal National Park Service Ranger for a year and a half at that point – 11 months at Shenandoah National Park and then 5 months (plus 3 offseason months working in the bookstore) in Yellowstone National Park – when I was given an offer for a permanent position at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which I took. It was a difficult time in my life; I was dealing with being separated from my then-partner who had opted to stay in Yellowstone, I was struggling with adjusting to a new place, a new job, and a new cohort, and I was struggling with the burnout I felt from having moved so many times in such a short amount of time – and knowing I wasn’t going to stay in Carlsbad forever, so I’d have to move again (which I eventually did when I moved to Mesa Verde National Park). But even so, I rediscovered my love of writing in that time, and published my first article on Born Again Outdoors in February – a recap of my own rediscovery of the outdoors that led me to create it in the first place.
Most people see “Born Again” in the name and assume it refers to a religious rebirth. In reality, what it refers to is less about religion or politics or anything of that nature and significantly more about rediscovering the world itself; being born again as an outdoorsman. After growing up in it and being shaped into the person I am because of it, I left it behind, and in doing so, had lost touch with a huge part of who I was – and who I am.
So, what does this look like in practice? Well, for one, I’m not an expert in anything regarding outdoor recreation, don’t (and won’t) ever claim to be, and as such, am not turning this site into a “how-to” like so much of outdoor media. Additionally, unlike much of outdoor media, I’m not selling anyone that repackaged “hyper-competent badass woodsman” narrative. This brand’s identity doesn’t revolve around me being an expert, or a backcountry badass, or an extraordinary marksman or caver or… anything else. I’m an ordinary guy who goes to the gym a few times a week, likes to expand my horizons, and has a curious mind. As I write this, I’ve been on the couch all day and am wearing the clothes I woke up in, drinking my 4th cup of coffee – and it’s 3pm. What I’m much more focused on than anything surrounding my own abilities is telling stories surrounding the outdoors.
Allow me to explain. In so much of outdoor media – whether that’s in writing, like what I do, or in videos, which I don’t do… yet – things are very boiled-down for content. Let’s take hunting for example. I don’t want to just create content that’s “guy goes out, shoots an animal, takes the grip-and-grin, and talks about how great the meat is and how this is what he lives for.” That leaves out so much substance from the hunt itself. And this is a core critique of mine: modern outdoor storytelling has become formulaic and shallow. The focus of Born Again Outdoors is on telling the story of the landscape, the action, the doubt, the quiet, the failures, and the triumphs. A reflection on the notion of free will brought on by a delicate dance with geology in an obscure gypsum cave in New Mexico; asking difficult questions about the strange mix of sadness and elation involved in a successful archery hunt; or exploring internal feelings of contented solitude while exploring the lonely South Dakota badlands; these are all examples of things you will find in my content that take the narrative further than a simple caving, hunting, or national park vacation trip.
Born Again Outdoors isn't just about telling my own stories; they aren't all about me. The world is our shared heritage and our public domain. I aim to provide a lens to explore the stories that have always existed, not always to simply showcase my own exploits. If Born Again Outdoors stands for anything, it’s the belief that wonder still matters – and that the world is worth rediscovering, again and again.
