Life Off the Map

Six years after first saying he wanted to start a podcast, Chad finally hit record at 47. Thirty-five episodes later, the host knows a little more about microphones—but mostly he's learned that making something can expose, stretch, and change you in ways you never planned.

This isn't a polished highlight reel or a victory lap. It's an honest look behind Season One—the conversations that got und...

A cherry-red 1988 Bronco that looked great but needed a little elbow grease just to keep moving. Walter Mitty spacing out in an elevator, rescuing a dog from a burning building in his own head. And an 89-year-old widower who discovers a very unlikely new hobby while trying to find his way through grief. On the surface, these stories have almost nothing in common.

But they all point toward a question that m...

Sometimes a walk through an old neighborhood becomes a walk back through your life. Unable to sleep, Chad heads outside at 4:30 a.m. and begins walking past the neighborhoods, houses, and elementary school that quietly held fourteen years of his family's life. Along the way, he walks by a hoarder house, an angry neighbor determined to stop a construction project, the home where his daughters grew up, ...

Have you ever looked around at a life you genuinely love and still wondered why something feels... missing? Not because your life is falling apart. Not because you're ungrateful. But because somewhere beneath the responsibilities, routines, and successes, there's a quieter question you can't quite put into words. If you've ever felt guilty for asking that question, this episode is for you.

After 32 ep...

Most of us like the idea of adventure—we just don't like the parts we didn't plan. Whether it's a diagnosis, a closed door, a relationship that changed, a business that isn't going the way you expected, or simply realizing life looks different than the picture you had in your head, disappointment has a way of making us wonder if the story is over.

Recorded from Copper Mountain, Colorado, this episo...

Come join us for the final chapter of a three-part Colorado series that started along the river in Eleven Mile Canyon, moved into Leadville and over Hope Pass, and now ends with an attempt to climb Mount Elbert—the highest mountain in Colorado. The plan was simple: wake up early, drive to the trailhead, climb the mountain, and head home. It did not go according to plan.

What followed involved a Jee...

Sometimes the most dangerous place to stop is a place that feels pretty good. This episode was recorded in Leadville, Colorado, during race week for the Leadville Trail 100 Run, one of the most iconic 100-mile trail races in the world. Out on the trail to Hope Pass, surrounded by runners, mountains, thin air, and the history of a race that asks people to keep moving long after comfort is gone, one question kept s...

Most of us spend our lives trying to optimize everything. We map the route, fill every hour, and work hard to make sure nothing goes wrong. But somewhere along the way, we may have stopped leaving room for surprise.

In this episode, Chad loads up a Jeep with homemade beef jerky, fly rods, camping gear, and a loose plan, then heads west toward Colorado. Along the way he retraces a 30-year-old memory, fish...

What does a canoe in Chicago, an art studio in Oklahoma, and a giant movie monster have in common? More than you might think.

In this episode, Chad reflects on a season of unexpected change and the people who taught him a different way to move through it. Along the way, you'll meet a grandmother who opened her home to artists and friends, a father who created adventures out of ordinary moments, an actor ...

Most men don't need another productivity hack, leadership book, or five-step framework. They need to feel like themselves again.

In this episode of Life Off the Map, Chad reflects on a weekend in southern Oklahoma, a river full of men in camo and pickup trucks, and a question that wouldn't leave him alone: What if men aren't falling apart all at once? What if they're slowly drifting away from the thin...

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out to do something no one had ever done before: cross Antarctica on foot. He never made it. His ship became trapped in the ice. The expedition failed. The dream died. The map no longer matched reality.

Most people know how to start an adventure. Far fewer know what to do when the original mission dies. More than a century later, we still tell Shackleton's story—not b...

Somewhere in the middle of editing his upcoming book, Chad realized the questions he was asking about the manuscript had quietly become questions he was asking about his own life: What belongs? What doesn't? What's making the story better? And what's just making the story longer?

In this reflective solo episode, the host shares a story from a construction project that unexpectedly became a turning point ...

Joy isn't accidental. It's something we either cultivate or slowly lose without realizing it.

In this solo episode of Life Off the Map, Chad reflects on why so many driven people feel tired, disconnected, or emotionally flat even while building a life that looks successful from the outside. Recorded after a trail run around Lake Arcadia, Oklahoma this conversation moves through everything from future-foc...

A lot of people are waiting for life to feel different before they start living differently. But the real shift often begins with one small decision: stop blaming, stop sitting, stop drifting, and take ownership of the life in front of you. That kind of life will take courage.

In this episode, Chad sits down with speaker, author, and coach Roxanne Parks for a lively, honest conversation about fear, grati...

Most people like the idea of rebuilding until they actually find themselves living through it.

In this more raw and reflective field notes-style episode, Chad records outdoors during a busy and uncertain season of life. Instead of a polished teaching episode, this conversation feels more like a trail journal from the middle of rebuilding — honest observations about movement, exhaustion, healing, is...

You're doing the work. So why isn't your life actually changing? Most driven people don't struggle because they're lazy—they struggle because they're aiming at the wrong problem. So they double down. More discipline. Better routines. Cleaner habits. And still… the results don't match the effort.

In Part 3 of the Life Audit Series, Chad walks through a hard realization from his own life: what...