It was only 6 months ago where he asked me what my greatest regret was, and I answered “Settling down in a great city that is so far from good mountain streams! I live in Pacifica, just outside of San Francisco. My wife loves it here but I want to be nearer a stream. I’m writing this from the airport, on my way to Colorado with Margaret, and I’m hoping she will fall in love with it and we’ll move there tomorrow!”
It’s now official: Tenkara USA is moving to Boulder, Colorado!
Ever since visiting Colorado for the first time (on this trip with John Gierach and Ed Engle), I have been trying to convince Margaret that we should move there. San Francisco, after all, is not really a hot fly-fishing destination, and more and more I started dreading the long 3-hour drives to enjoy mountain stream fishing. Plus, every time I read a blog about tenkara fishing in Colorado, like this one by Jason Klass, or this one by Paul Vertrees, or this one by Kevin Fricke, or this one by Karel Lansky…I’m reminded of how there is a lot of fishing in the state and also how active the tenkara community out there is.
While I’m really not enjoying the process of packing, I’m super excited to start calling Colorado home in a week. There were a lot of things that prompted us to move there. First, the fishing is the state is great. I can be in some great streams in less than 10 minutes from the new HQ, and if I’m willing to drive a couple of hours there is a whole world of fishing. I’m really hopeful the move will inspire some great content for this site, in addition to a new boost of inspiration for developing and refining our product-line.
Colorado also has one of the most active tenkara communities in the country, and I’m excited to be in the middle of it. Lastly, Boulder has a good mixture of everything my wife and I need: a great University (where Margaret will hopefully be going in the future), a booming community of outdoor-industry entrepreneurs, and great opportunities for other outdoor activities, and amiable climate with a winter everyone is promising to be mild enough that even a guy from Brazil and his wife from Southern California will survive.
To be fair, it’s not like it’s a huge corporate relocation. Essentially, where I go Tenkara USA follows. We don’t have a retail location (and for the time being Tenkara USA will not have a retail location in Boulder); our warehousing and distribution is outsourced to a third-party fulfillment company; our customer service will continue to be handled by TJ who lives up in the California mountains and additional support and repairs by John Geer who is out in Montana. I’m fortunate to be able to move anywhere I want due to the way I setup the business. And, I’m partially convinced that this fish is the reason Margaret finally agreed to move.
If I don’t answer your email or respond to this blog for the next week, now you know why. I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving, and if you’re out in Colorado, let’s connect soon. If you’re not there, you’ll have a reason to visit with the 2014 Tenkara Summit.