Hello,

My name is James Tockstein. I’m a 23 year old outdoors-guy finishing up my last semester of college online. I will soon be moving to Door County, WI to work year-round for an outdoor recreation company. I have many interests and hobbies including music, adventure sports, ecology and the environment, and pretty much everything outdoors.

I’ve been into paddle sports since I was 6 which was when I first entered a kayak at my grandfather’s cottage in Ellison Bay, WI. In 2017, I became a sea kayak guide/instructor and I have American Canoe Association training as a level 2 Sea Kayak Instructor and level 3 Coastal Trip Leader. I now have 3, going on 4, years of work experience in this field, as well as experience as zip-line guide and leadership and teambuilding Program Facilitator/Manager. During my time in school in the Milwaukee-area, I became extremely interested in rock-climbing and bought a membership at a local climbing gym where I trained 3-5 days a week in the spring and fall. Living in Wisconsin, there isn’t much opportunity for outdoor climbing, but I found a love for bouldering which is plentiful outdoors if you look hard enough. Additionally, I enjoy hiking, cycling, free-diving, and many other outdoor activities. Some other fun facts about myself are that I am colorblind and I have ADHD, which are topics that might be discussed future posts.

I created this website/blog for a few reasons. The first reason is to learn a little bit about the basics of designing and running a website. The second is to have an outlet where I can express my thoughts, opinions, and write about things that interest me. The third reason is to provide some form of education for those who take interest in nature, the environment, ecology, and adventure sports, hence the name Outdoor Explanation. This education is for myself as well, and I would like to be able to connect with, and learn from, those who view my website. After I made the website, I realized that it would be be cool if I let other people contribute as well and share their interests, experiences, and knowledge, so I sent out invitations to all my nature enthusiast and adventure buds to join the Outdoor Explanation team. That being said, the type of posts I plan to make are educational essays, travel advice, experiences, gear reviews, tutorials, as well as personal topics here and there, but I’ll be mostly sticking with the outdoors theme. I’ve also been toying with the idea of creating a photo gallery (Update: I did this). Many of my posts may contain opinions, but I am a firm believer in the importance of backing up claims and opinions with research in order to build a strong and legitimate argument.

Disclaimer: I am no expert in the field of ecology or environmental science, or anything really. I am simply a nature and adventure sports enthusiast who takes great interest in learning about and researching these topics.

Thank you for viewing Outdoor Explanation! Feel free to contact me with any thoughts, suggestions, or questions that you may have at outdoorexplanation@gmail.com.

-James Tockstein