On the road again

I love traveling. In fact, I just returned from Ireland for my brother's wedding. (Here's a photo of me in a kilt reading at the event.)

In 2006, I spent time in Fairbanks, Alaska, to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. That was my one experience with a volunteering vacation.

Jay Loecken and his family have taken the idea of traveling for a higher purpose a lot further than that. Since April 18, 2008, they have been driving around the country in an RV looking for people to help. In the process, they have visited 44 states.

According to a recent Star Tribune article, God showed them the way:

'My wife and I always dreamed of traveling, but then God showed us that we don't need to just travel for adventure,' he said. 'We travel for a purpose.'

The Loeckens' journey started when they took a mission trip to Africa in 2007 and discovered the extreme poverty. When returning to the U.S., the Loeckens discovered that there was poverty nearby, and decided to make a difference here.