About
About This Blog
In All Directions was started in October 2015 intended as a travelogue for my time spent on working holiday in Australia. Though the stay in Australia didn’t last long, the blog continued. Gradually, it has morphed into an expansive collection of my thoughts, ideas, and reflections—my collective musings. Topics broached are broad and reflect my varied interests and experiences: from travel, culture, and recreation, to nature, place, and the outdoors. I do not claim to speak for my millennial generation; I only claim to be one voice among a diverse group of peers.
In All Directions is an experiment in understanding life—my life in particular, but also transcending to truths about existence on a grander scale. I write to process my own thoughts, and much of my writing is flavored with introspection and personal reflection. Some of these writings I choose to share with others. The gift of sharing writing is that it can often say something that others couldn’t think or express themselves. My goals for this blog are to inform, educate, inspire, and challenge.
About The Author
Tyler (Ty) Bleeker is a dedicated outdoors enthusiast and classical naturalist. My academic training has been in the natural sciences and I am ever-intrigued at understanding the natural world around me. My awe at the diversity of life also includes the cultural sphere found on this planet, and I’m keen on learning more about it through travel. I’m a serious hobbyist and amateur professional; bicycling, rock collecting, and photography are a few of my many interests.
Learn more about me at my personal webpage: tylerbleeker.com
In All Directions 
Hi Tyler
Jenny sent me a link to your blog. What a awesome fun trip it must have been for you. The kind of thing so many dream of, but fail to ever realize. I’m so sorry I was sick the night you came to our home, I would have enjoyed hearing about your adventures.
I hope you liked the food – Jenny warned me that you were a picky eater when younger. Sorry you guys had to finish making dinner, but I was totally out of it. In fact, I was sick in bed until Thursday. Yuk!
As you are Jenny’s cousin, that makes you family.
Eh komo Mai – come inside, you are always welcome.
Aloha
Juanita
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Hey Tyler!
We are stuck behind you in Michigan on our way back to Colorado from NY (for college). We are glad that you have many bumper stockers for us to read and pass the time!
Love the sentiments! ❤️ You may want to replace your co-exist and pride stickers. If you send us an address, we will send you some more stickers!
Rhiannon & Dianne
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Hello Rhiannon and Dianne!
I think I remember seeing you pointing at my stickers in traffic! It always makes my day when I can brighten someone else’s day with my sticker collection. Alas, some of my most prized stickers have faded and peeled, including co-exist and pride.
I always appreciate stickers! My summer address is:
Tyler Bleeker
c/o Camp Menogyn
55 Menogyn Trail
Grand Marais, MN 55604
❤
Ty
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Tyler,
I just seen you on Wheel of Fortune. I was excited to hear about your love of the outdoors. I looked you up to my excitement you live in Grand Marais,MN. I live in Little Marais 25 miles south of Tofte. I work at Wolf Ridge in Finland MN. If you should ever make it to WR please stop and say hi. If I see you in Grand Marais hope you don’t mind if I approach you and maybe have a friendly conservation. Robin.
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Hi Robin! Thanks for watching and cheering me on on Wheel of Fortune! I am impressed that you were able to track me down to Grand Marais from the episode, as I do not remember talking about Minnesota on the show. Perhaps we will run into each other in Grand Marais, and if so, please do feel free to start up a conversation 🙂
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Hi Tyler! I am planning to follow your route from your 2020 solo bike trip around the coast of Michigan. I wondered if you might have a list of maps that would be beneficial to the planning of such an epic trip? Any insight on how and what to plan for is more than welcome. I have hiked from outside Oscoda, Michigan up to Roger’s City but I believe biking is a better option for me although I’m quite the amateur! Any advice for this newbie to the sport?
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Hello Mathieu!
Congrats on your decision to undertake a long bicycle journey! Now you get to have all the fun in planning a long, epic bike trip!
My 2020 Michigan route was not the first, or only self-supported bicycle tour that I’ve undertaken. This trip lasted 16 days, but before I had undertaken this trip, I had taken a few other shorter 1 or 2 -night long bicycle tours. Advice for a newbie bike tourer is to try out all of your gear set-up on a shorter trip or two, see what works for you and what doesn’t, and get all your systems dialed in. After that, scaling up to a week or two trip is not any more complicated. Experience really has been the best teacher for me.
As for maps, the only one I used was an old Michigan State Highway map available for free at highway rest areas. Nor did I carry a smartphone or a GPS. I had previous experience driving most of the roads on the West Coast, so I had a rough idea of what roads would work and which wouldn’t, but the east coast was entirely new to me. Fortunately biking around the coastline of Michigan is fairly straight-forward, as in most places there is a road that follows the coastline that is safe and scenic to bike on. In places where the roads grew large and busy (Traverse City and the Saginaw Bay area, for example), I left the major roads and biked out into the countryside along lightly trafficked two-lane roads. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going on a journey with such limited mappage, but I have a very strong internal geographic sense and wandering around is part of the journey for me.
For further resources, I would definitely recommend checking out the Adventure Cycling Association. They are a community of bicycle touring enthusiasts and also have maps for sale on certain popular bike routes, including in Michigan https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/interactive-network-map/. I would also highly recommend becoming a member of Warm Showers, a worldwide supportive community of bike tourists and gracious hosts who will host bike travellers along their stay: https://www.warmshowers.org/
Glad to hear you are out and exploring the northeast part of the state! I hope to make it back to Alpena someday. Happy Travels!
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