Andrew Zapf
Co-Founder
A Yankee and son of Michigan, Andy is career soldier. His credentials include degrees from the United States Military Academy, Duquesne, and Johns Hopkins University. As an army officer, he has served tours of duty in Kentucky, Texas, California, Iraq, Turkey, Morocco, the United Kingdom and traveled throughout Western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. He is passionate about reading, photography, and cooking. He has also dabbled in fly-fishing, trekking, the motorcycle lifestyle, academia, writing, and has had various success with the Arabic, French, Turkish, and Italian languages. He shares his adventures with his lovely bride and fearless toddler.
Roland Minez
Co-Founder
Leaping into the Unknown, with or without the appropriate preparation, has been a dangerous habit of Roland’s for some time. He grew up in France, Belgium, and Germany, and developed a passion for history, travel, and adventure. After graduating from the United States Military Academy, he has served as an Infantry platoon leader in combat, a diplomat in India, Mexico, Indonesia, and had postings in Africa. He has more enthusiasm than skill for mountain climbing, cycling, and writing history. Roland speaks French, Spanish, and Indonesian. With his better half, he has three gorgeous daughters.
Bryce Mitchell
Contributor
Born in Texas, Bryce quickly escaped for the high desert of New Mexico and the mountains of Colorado. His passion for mountain climbing has led to him leading climbing expeditions on five continents. With his brother, Adam, Bryce climbs and writes a mountaineering blog at https://mountainmitchells.com. He also enjoys reading, especially Middle Eastern and African history, photography, and fitness in all forms. He is also on a continuous journey to improve his Korean language ability.
An Inspiration: Disturb Us – Sir Francis Drake
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.