About Points Unknown

Hi, I’m Austin – creator and main contributor to Points Unknown. I’ve put this site together to capture bits and pieces of knowledge, research, and wisdom I have come across through my own personal and professional projects, travels close to home and abroad, insights from long nights spent scouring the internet, and various musings from long rides across the country. Thanks for checking it out, I hope you find some of the material useful.

While there are a wide range of topics covered here, they generally fall into simple categories, as shown above and at right.


A little bit about me

I consider myself a scientist, engineer, musician, programmer, weekend warrior, and sometimes adventurer. I have worked as a farm hand, a mountain guide, a graphic designer, web developer, and a civil engineer. I once taught salsa dancing lessons. I have lived in Alaska, Africa, and Argentina, but the Pacific Northwest will always be home. I love skiing and mountain biking. I am a big fan of the maker culture. I can sing songs from more musicals than most people have ever heard of. I like to play piano and guitar, I dabbled for a while in being a professional pop DJ. In a pinch I can recite all 25 minutes of Alice’s Restaurant. I like long road trips. I love the winter. Sometimes I stand in the rain. I realize the full value of water. I think that sport climbing is neither. No one has ever accused me of being a perfectionist. Occasionally, I willingly do things I don’t want to do. Sometimes I dwell on the past.