About us

We are Ankush and Sam. We have lived in Austin for twelve years, spent a year living in Seoul, and we take Mowgli, our Shih Tzu, nearly everywhere we go.

Why field notes

A field notebook is written for whoever comes to the same plot after you. It records conditions, not achievements. Not "stunning waterfall" but one drop, 249 feet, six people there, dogs fine on leash.

That is how we write these guides. The stops we actually made, in the order we made them, what it cost, how long the drive was, where Mowgli was welcome, and what we would do differently.

Look first. Shoot second.

We film everything, but we go outside to be there, not to record being there. Some of our best calls were the stops we skipped: we had a permit for Multnomah Falls and drove past it to a waterfall ten minutes further on with six people at it.

What we cover

Two things: the outdoors and food. Texas Hill Country trails and swimming holes, state parks, road trips across the US, and the year in Korea, including cycling from Seoul to Busan and hiking Bukhansan in winter and Seoraksan in autumn. And wherever we go, where to eat after.

The small print

We pay for our own trips. If a stay or a product was given to us, the guide says so at the top. Every figure on a page is checked against a public source on the date we write it, and where our own video or caption got something wrong, the guide corrects it.