Over the last several years, a childhood friend of mine, Kyle (aka KFisch), has organized an epic backpacking trip somewhere in the United States: fondly named the Broventure. The 2017 version centered on witnessing the total solar eclipse and it also included the largest number of “bros” joining in the “venture”. Here are those “bros” who followed KFisch into the wilderness:
Frank:
Previously introduced in this blog when he joined me for our adventure through Glacier National Park, but I feel it is necessary to reintroduce and provide a more complete portrait of Frank, (aka Pov Jones; aka Povs).
Born in Staten Island where he spent his early years before moving to central Jersey in the 4th grade (when we met), he combines that New York edge with the class all us New Jerseyans possess. At 5’11” with buzzed blond hair and a noticeable cowlick sending his hair up in the front, he is not normally the most talkative person, but when he voices his mind, it is honest, cutting, funny, smart and creative. A quick witted accountant, he deals in practicality and reality. His favorite current pastime is to give unsolicited compliments to friends, raising their spirits, seeing them smile just in time to bring them crashing back to Earth with a poignant shot at their ego. Only the strong survive in New Jersey and Povs is always there to remind you of that. Most of the time he is messing with you… I think.
His creative and effective ribbing of his friends is only overshadowed by his honest, loyal and upstanding personality with those same people. His morals and honesty are never questioned, and whether that means being behind you in tough times or calling you out on your shit, he will always point you in the right direction, whether you like it or not.
About 18 months ago he picked up hiking, spending a lot of weekends driving to upstate NY or New England to hike trails alone. Our trip to Glacier was his first backpacking trip, and I’m not sure if I was able to totally show him the wonders of not showering, sleeping on the ground and surviving off of dehydrated foods. Still, if there is anything that can change someone’s mind about living in the backcountry, it is a maiden journey on the Broventure seeking out the Great American Eclipse.
Kyle:
KFisch and I shared the same school buildings from kindergarten through senior year of high school, but it was not until we shared the bus in our freshman year of high school that our friendship really began. It was his quick, smart and dry sense of humor that forged the friendship that is still going strong today.
He is the architect and leader of the Broventure Excursions. A man born approximately 150 years late, he would have found himself at home as a frontiersmen trailblazing the West with the likes of Lewis and Clark. He spent much of his childhood exploring the outdoors around central NJ, instead of sitting in front of a Nintendo64, and not much has changed as he now spends his lunch breaks “chasin’ those bitchin’ swells, brah,” off the coast of San Diego. Tall and skinny, with wavy blond hair and perpetually in shape, he is the iconic image of a California Surfer. While he possesses classic good looks, he also has the brains so when he is not paddling through the Pacific, he is pursuing his doctorate at UCSD in Neuroscience.
It is not easy to lead a group of adult men with varying outdoors’ skills into the wilderness. People like to hike at their own pace, stop at different times, experience the outdoors in their own way but he maintains a critical balance between keeping people on-schedule while also allowing people the freedom to enjoy the trip how they wish. With his immense knowledge of the wilderness, it is easy to follow him; knowing the trip will be challenging, fun and an adventure. He probably would enjoy himself just as much traveling into the unknown with just his fly rod, but we are all lucky that he invites us along. After all, that way he can split the rental car cost.
Jason:
Another person who has already been written about in this blog, but he was never formerly introduced. He is Louisiana bred and Mississippi raised. A country boy raised in the sticks (seriously, his parents just got high speed internet…they call it American Online…) he spent his free time as a kid hunting, fishing and reading biographies of our founding fathers. He later started reading fantasy novels which ultimately led him down a path of severe “nerdism”. A path that has led to an immense knowledge of epic book series, board games and Magic: The Gathering.
Jason was one of my first friends I met upon moving to the Gulf Coast. Jason had been working at our company for over 2 years when I met him. While his career took him all over the world, he spent a lot of time in Baton Rouge while I was there. Then he spent the last several years in Houston where we also lived in the same apartment complex.
Jason has never met a person with whom he didn’t want to be in deep conversation. Probably one of the reasons we became such good friends is his ability to completely run a conversation, often about sports or beer. He is good at talking; I am good at listening. He is a great story teller to the point where I often let him tell my stories because it just more entertaining for all involved. He has a knack for calling people out in a way that makes you smile, instead of scowl. Often smiling and joking, it is always entertaining having him around.
Jason and I ultimately came to the same decision to leave the corporate world and explore our great nation at the same time. Jason joined me and the rest of the fellowship for Broventure 2017, and the plan was always for him to stay with me and finish the epic RealTrip together. We have hiked through Texas and the Grand Canyon together but our greatest challenge is still to come, finding totality and more so, being confined to a Subaru together for 5 weeks.
Kyle T:
Along with Frank, this marks the maiden Broventure for Kyle T, subsequently referred to as KT. I met KT while living in Baton Rouge through Jason. He and Jason went to high school and college together then both moved to Baton Rouge upon graduation and until recently KT, Jason and I all lived in Houston together. While I cherish all my amazing friends through all aspects of my life, I don’t have a single person that I attended high school, partied/studied through college and started adulting with like KT and Jason have each other. Their bromance is strong.
A Georgia boy, KT, is an engineer whose career originally brought him to South Texas, but it was his need to get away from the corporate world that led him to live the good life in Austin for several years and explore entrepreneurial endeavors. There are many reasons that led me to quitting my job and heading out on my own and KT was definitely one of those influences. Seeing how he decided to live his life for a few years and then return back to the workforce was an inspiration to me. He recently moved to Houston where he, Jason and I were able to enjoy a few months bumming around the Bayou City together before I took off.
KT is smart, confident and funny. He is always good to have around the group to ensure everyone knows where “the line” is, as he often crosses it. A brash, irreverent sense of humor, his quips cause laughter and a far-off thought of, “should I be laughing at this?”.
When different friend groups come together and forced to hang out, it can be awkward. Especially in our case where we were to be constantly together for 5 straight days in potentially stressful situations but KT has the ability to cut any tension and keep the group at ease. Every group needs someone who can keep people laughing when calories are low and miles are long and KT can do just that making him a happy addition to the Broventure.
Chris:
The stalwart veteran of the Broventures, he is a college buddy of KFisch’s. KFisch and Chris have had many adventures together traveling all over the Western Hemisphere. A Boston native, he is relatively soft spoken but always friendly and easy to talk to. I met Chris on my first Broventure into the Alaskan wilderness several years ago and our friendship immediately took off. KFisch was the only person I knew on that trip and I was surrounded by “Bostonians”, but Chris and I immediately became friends talking about sports, fantasy and real, and he made me feel less like an outsider and more of one of the gang.
Chris somehow remains to be the most easygoing guy in the group while also being the quickest. He is a skilled outdoorsmen, always first to the next waypoint, first to setup camp, first to finish meals, first to break camp. It always seems like he effortlessly pushes himself through our sufferfests without ever being tired, hungry, sore or bothered in any way. You can commonly find Chris sitting on his pack casually enjoying the outdoors waiting for everyone else.
He is the important bridge between the group and the leader. Someone who has traveled with KFisch more than anyone, he is a go-to for questions about the trip, living outdoors and whatever else you need to know. Sometimes you feel like you cannot keep asking the leader question after question so it is good to have someone else you can rely on.
Although we have lived in different time zones the entirety of our friendship, it is always nice to see him as we annually set out into the wild together.
The Fellowship:
So there it is, the Fellowship set to head out together to find Totality. Salt Lake City was the rendezvous point before we strapped on our packs. We converged on SLC from New Jersey, San Diego, Charlotte, Houston and Boston. We all managed to make it to the AirBnb before we began the drive North. On August 17th we drove out of SLC together in search of an epic adventure and the Great American Eclipse.
(Spoiler Alert: We found both)
Matthew