Hello and welcome to 50at60! I’m Michael Steighner, and as I approach the milestone of turning 60 next year, I find myself reflecting on a life enriched by the spirit of travel. I’ll personally be working on a sort of a bucket list challenge during that year after I actually turn 60, but more on that later in this post.
My journey with exploration began in my youth, taking weekend trips to our camp in Northwestern Pennsylvania as well as frequent trips in our custom designed show van with my family as we traversed the eastern seaboard, attending van rallies and truck shows. This early exposure fueled my curiosity and laid the foundation for a lifetime of wanderlust.
After graduating school (and a few years of college) I began my entrepreneurial journey in the world of event production. Even in those early startup years, I intentionally carved out slow off-season summers to backpack through Europe. The allure of distant horizons became a central theme in my life, blending seamlessly with my professional career. As my business grew, I found myself working with clients in some amazing five-star destinations across the United States, Caribbean, South America, and beyond. I seized every opportunity I could to extend these stays and delve deeper into the cultures and landscapes. During that time, my passion for photography and story telling began to grow.
Embracing the fact that my lighting design and production work continued to be mostly seasonal, I fully took advantage of the downtime in the summers to explore as much as I could. For what seems like 10 years starting in my mid 20’s, I could be found just about every summer backpacking around Europe. From the Islands of Greece to the fiords of Norway to the Algarve in Portugal to the art museums in Paris, the entire continent seemed like my personal playground. I think that’s where my longing for wanderlust really grew.
So now, as I stand at the crossroads of turning 60, I’m gearing up for a new chapter—one that possibly embraces RV and van life travel. Just like the site says, I have set a challenge to visit all 50 states in that 60th year around the sun. 50at60. I’ll be sharing a lot of research and planning posts as well as thoughts of traveling with my new feline friend, Penny the Cat! There will also be a lot of documenting the personal experiences during the year as I travel to all 50 states (many that I have already been to before), but with a fresh perspective this time.
Lots to plan for. Lots to recall. Lots to share!
Not sure HOW I am going to do it, how I am going to afford it, and how involved my new cat Penny is going to be in this self induced quest. Lets just say for now as the planning begins that we are all going to learn a lot, from the research, to the planning, to the documenting phase, I intend to share it here and leave a virtual “bread crumb” trail as I go!
Oh, one more thing! I blog and post quite a bit over on a few other sites as well. A couple of those that you might also want to check are these:
TheRoamingCat.com – A site that encompasses a bit more of my travel life worldwide
TheRoamingCats.com – A site that I share some AI created characters and their travel stories
MDSimages.com – My current photography and imaging site now updated and hosted on Squarespace!
