Highlights
- 5-years experience working as an editor for leading online publishing brands
- Carl decided to found Outforia to bring about his vision of what online outdoors experiences should be
- Can be seen out spending time in nature on a daily basis
Experience
Carl is the founder and Editor-in-Chief for Outforia. Annoyed by the lack of quality online outdoors publications willing to uphold high standards of value and ethics, he decided to make the resource he would have wished to read. Carl has previously managed a multitude of large publishing sites reaching hundreds of thousands of readers on a monthly basis. His previous projects have been featured in leading publications including The New York Post, International Business Times, Daily Mail, Yahoo.com, The Sun, Life and more.
The Story
For Outforia’s founder, that origin is as vivid and sweet in the memory as the day it occurred…
I was 11 when my grandfather took me camping for the first time. I was like many 11 year olds in many ways, however I was not what you would call “outdoorsy.” I was more of a nerd, hiding away in my room most weekends playing video games. And that was fine – I knew nothing more.
But as it turned out, the universe had greater plans for me. It was just patiently waiting for an opportunity to show me them. And so, perhaps nudged by this cosmic inevitability, my grandfather whisked me from in front of the TV and took me trout fishing near the Austrian border.
We sat, we fished, we ate and chatted. My grandfather, bless him, tried his best to entertain me. But I was bored. I missed my games every second until night fell and we slept.
I dreamt of aliens, monsters, dungeon quests and space travel – every amazing element of my favorite digital realms not offered by the boring outdoors. My grandfather, as he never failed to recall, dreamt of not having such a dull grandson!
But the thing about monsters in your dreams is that they often spark nightmares. And so I woke, sweating and panicked, and could not sleep. The tent felt claustrophobic, so I exited and sat by the still-warm fire. It was then, as the clouds above parted and moonlight fell through, that I saw.
A pair of yellow eyes… Across the lake… Blinking in the dark… I crossed my chest and prayed it would not return…
In the morning, my grandfather laughed as I told him this, and said my head was filled with pixelated nonsense.
Back home after a cruelly game-free weekend, I was flicking through the newspaper.
Wildlife experts in the region were losing their minds. Unusually prominent lynx activity had been noted not far from where we had camped. I laughed to think those were cat eyes. Nothing alive looked so mysterious, majestic and deadly all at once.
I turned to the next page and almost dropped the paper, for a full-page picture of the Austrian lynx was printed. I looked into its eyes and immediately I knew.
From that point, my games began to lose vibrancy. All I could think of was those eyes, though they no longer filled me with fear. Instead, the sight of them in my mind’s eye electrified my soul with a yearning to see as they did.
Since then, my love for the outdoors erupted. Soon I was the one dragging my grandfather on camping trips. My parents wondered if I was the same child – I often wondered the same.
If Outforia can incite in just one child the magic of the outdoors like those lynx eyes did for me, then our project has already succeeded.
Outforia's Editorial Policy
Outforia stands by the integrity of its journalistic content. Every member of the Outforia pledges to publish only unbiased, non-monetized views. All news, reviews, articles and features are shared with full transparency as to performance and purpose with any brand input clearly noted. We meticulously fact-check every article shared for accuracy of quotes, features, pricing and more. We will be as efficient as possible in updating any information published that is no longer accurate, whether discovered in-house or brought to our attention by a valued user. We respect ownership of visual collateral and only use media for which we have ownership or express approval by the media’s owner. Likewise, any media no longer approved for use will be promptly removed.
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