Beyond the Tumblr

From YouTube to Spotify, and even LinkedIn and PC Optimum points, it feels like everyone is recapping and unpacking 2025. It’s also tradition around these parts to do a year in review, looking back at personal goals, content created and consumed, and where we go from here. Let’s dive in with my 2025, by the numbers. My Mantra for 2025 Building on the idea of making more intentional choices in…

Some people set new year's resolutions. I'm going bigger and broader with a new mantra to guide my journey through 2025. Hopefully, I don't get lost along the way.

In a month when the local gym and organic health food store might be at their busiest, I’m once again taking a slightly different approach to my new year’s resolution. Yes, I have some general goals in mind for my finances and my physical health, to be sure, but for me, it’s more about taking a more conscious and intentional approach to life. If I ever feel in a rut, if I’m ever feeling lost, if…

I feel like I say this every December, but 2024 has been quite the year. It has been a mix of the usual, mundane, day-to-day surviving stuff, but also filled with many treasured highlights that I feel are worth reflecting on. One big highlight for me was appearing with James, Stacey, and Stephen on the CBC documentary “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” with misinformation expert Timothy…

What started as meeting some random guys I met on the internet in the middle of the woods with no cell phone reception has grown to become so much more. Dads Go Wild (formerly 5DadsGoWild or Five Dads Go Wild) is an annual (or even more frequent) tradition where us content creator dad types meet up for deep conversations, fun adventures, and a well-deserved escape from the struggles and…

To date, I've read 25 books so far in 2024. Here are five of my favorites to add to your summer reading list, from vengeful turtles to delightful doves.

At the risk of sounding cliche, reading is fundamental. Whether it’s a paperback, hardcover, audiobook, or ebook, reading is reading. This is true at any age, but I would emphasize that it’s longer-form reading that is most beneficial for adults. In a world where we’re bombarded with pithy observations and rage bait in 280 characters or less, it pays to slow down sometimes. Reading books is…

Thinking about taking a cruise vacation? Here are some highlights from our recent sailing aboard the Carnival Miracle to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada.

After basically not leaving our province for four years (for obvious reasons), we finally took a proper family vacation during spring break back in March. This was my son’s first flight (he did really well both ways!) and the first cruise for both of our kids. We opted for the five-night Mexican Riviera itinerary aboard the Carnival Miracle. It set sail from Long Beach, California with ports of…

Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, I watched a lot of sitcoms. The TGIF lineup on ABC was a mainstay. As I watched those 1990s TV shows, I naturally identified more with the children. I’d see little pieces of me when Stephanie Tanner got bullied at school or Robbie Sinclair questioned the meaning of life. Now, I’ve been a dad for almost a decade. And the role of father plays such a central part of…

The 2024 edition of Five Dads Go Wild took four dad bloggers to Sooke, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. Here's what we got up to.

Last month, we embarked on a Five Dads Go Wild adventure on Vancouver Island. Except, two of the dads injured themselves just before the trip and we called in a local sub. So, it was just four dads on this #5DadsGoWild excursion. And maybe it wasn’t all that wild, because we stayed at a resort? Maybe we’re just getting older. In any event, I thought I’d take a moment to recap a few highlights…

To point me down the path toward improved mental health and happiness, I've decided on three sets of guiding words for 2024. These are my new year's resolutions for 2024.

For the last few years, I’ve been setting “goals” of varying specificity for my “new year’s resolutions.” You might remember when I recently reflected on my goals for 2023. After taking some time to think about it — as I am often apt to do, to overthink it, really — I’ve decided to return to a different approach for my 2024 new year’s resolutions instead. I’m going back to using “guiding words”…

Let's tally up the blogs and articles I wrote, online videos I shared, books I read, and movies I watched in 2023. Here are some of my favorites from this past year.

What gets measured gets done. Or is that what gets measured get managed? In any case, I’m a big proponent of gamifying a lot of what I do. As nerdy as it may sound, I actually enjoy tracking things and playing around with the metrics of it all. To that end, just as I did with the year in review last year, I’m doing it again as I look back at 2023. Let’s take a look. Content I Created in 2023 In…

Perhaps there's a danger to telling kids that they are gifted or special. Because it could lead them down a path of self-hating mediocrity.

It will never be enough, will it? As a child, I experienced several instances where I was made to feel “special” or “gifted” in some way. This inevitably (over)inflated my ego and I built up these big dreams for what I’d accomplish with my life. I’d be rich and famous and renowned and respected. None of that has really panned out, of course, which has constantly left me in a state of feeling…

I know. We’ve still got a whole month and a bit to go in 2023. There’s still, like, 10 percent of the year left. Even so, I feel like we’re far enough along that I have some perspective on how I did with my goals for 2023. It’s like getting your report card in the middle of June when there are still two weeks of school left. I set these back in January as new year’s resolutions, so to speak.…

Struggling to get your kids to reduce their screen time and off their devices? You're not alone. Author Katherine Johnson Martinko offers insight and advice in her new book, Childhood Unplugged. Here is our interview.

Among all the other things we have to deal with these days, screen time has quickly become a big issue for today’s parents. It can feel really hard to get our kids off our screens. We can feel like bad parents for letting them indulge in YouTube rabbit roles and prolonged Minecraft sessions. There has to be a better way, right? Katherine Johnson Martinko certainly thinks so. And she thinks you…

We all do it. We scroll through the perfectly curated lives on Instagram and admonish ourselves for not living up to this filtered ideal. This social comparison runs deep and it's just not fair.

Okay. So, there is definitely more than one big problem with social comparison. Especially in this digital age of instant gratification, overstimulation and social media, we’re constantly comparing our lives with the other people we see online. Believe me, I get it. And it’s a very hard habit to drop. I’m right there with you. Even so, I wanted to take a few minutes to explore one particular…

Dad's extra special day is right around the corner, so what does he want for Father's Day? I can't speak for all the dads, so here's my unique take on the question. It may not be what you expected to hear from me.

All some dads want for Father’s Day is to spend all day with their kids. Other dads would prefer a day all to themselves, away from their kids. And both of these wishes are equally valid. While I’d be perfectly happy with either outcome, if we’re being honest, that’s not the Father’s Day present at the top of my wish list. Sure, I’d be happy with a handmade card, a family photo session, or a…

Recapping some highlights from our recent #5DadsGoWild road trip down to the Oregon Coast!

Well, this is a bit of a far cry from the original Five Dads Go Wild trip, huh? We started out with roughing it in the middle of the woods, some of us (read: me) trying to figure out how to set up a tent and sleeping bag for the first time. For the 2023 edition of #5DadsGoWild, we hopped in a couple of electric vehicles and made a road trip down to the Oregon Coast. Different, sure. But, also…

We brought this upon ourselves. Or maybe it's this societal culture of endless consumption and insatiable desire for more. So much more. Too much more. And yet, it's still not enough.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do? And yet it still feels like you’re coming up short? Like you’re letting everyone down, yourself included? It can often feel like it’s all too much to handle. I’ve been there. I am there. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Maybe too much. So, rather than let those thoughts continue to live rent-free in my brain, I thought…