What is Raw Land Expeditions?

Raw Land Expeditions (or Raw Land Exp.) is a website dedicated to my favorite outdoor activities, experiences, and lessons learned. It’s also where I share my plans to build a small cabin on raw land I’ve purchased. Until I start building my cabin, I’ll spend a lot of time camping on it during the summers to get a feel for the area. 

While my cabin build is still several years away, I figured now is a good time to start this website. I’ve wanted to start one for years, and now I can dedicate time to it. I’ve always loved being outside and going on adventures. Especially in the mountains, surrounded by trees. Some of my favorite memories and experiences have been on trails, in the mountains, and in the woods. Many of those experiences involved running 100 miles or racing my bike across Texas. But I’m also a firm believer that even short walks outside have major health benefits, and I enjoy even the shortest ones. 

My hope for this website is that it does a few things. I hope it inspires and encourages more people to plan a hiking trip and go on an adventure. I hope at least one person can learn from my mistakes, especially my near-fatal mistake in the mountains. And it’s a place where I can share and document my plans to build on my land. My long-term goal is to live a mostly off-grid life, and much of how I live today is preparing me for that adventure.

Full transparency, it’s a 5-10 year plan. And probably closer to 10 years. So this will be a long process. I’m starting this website now to share my story from the start, so those interested in following along can be with me from the beginning. And to document my journey for myself. 

That leads me to another reason for starting this website: to document my journey from buying raw land to moving onto it for good. 

The final reason, and probably the most important, is that this website is a creative outlet. The only way I can become a better writer is to write. The only way I can figure out how to best lay out a website is to do it. If I don’t start, I’ll continue living in this “waiting for everything to be just right to start” place. I learn by doing. I’m starting now because I’ve spent too long wanting to start, and if I don’t do it now, I never will.

So, I have a really good idea of how I want to start this website. I know what I want to write about first and have a few adventures coming up to write about. But I imagine I’ll eventually focus on one area, or at least find my crowd. The main reason it’s taken so long to start is that I have so many interests, and I’ve had a hard time “niching” down. Don’t be surprised if I randomly blog about something that seems off-topic, like college football. I’ll mostly stick to camping, hiking, and preparing to live off-grid; however, I plan to explore other interests here and there if I feel compelled.

I also want to learn what others are interested in, and I’ll do my best to write about what they want to know. 

I’m sure it will take me a month or so to get into a routine, but that’s my plan as I start. I won’t overthink things right now; I’ll just write and post. 

Thanks for reading and following along. Please comment or send a submission form with any questions. 

Sincerely,

Jess