Self-published with love and late nights
This magazine has been a goal of mine for years.
I’ve spent a good part of my life road-tripping back and forth across the U.S. The late-night drives through deserts with busted air conditioning, the 4 a.m. blizzards while chasing snow, the backroad campsites that are probably legal — they’ve all built a love for travel and nature that I’ve never quite been able to put into words.
A passing comment from my dad once summed it up best. When I told him I’d fallen in love with San Francisco and would probably stay here for good, he paused and said, “Huh. I always thought you were an outdoors boy.”
Printing these stories has always felt like a way back to that. It’s tangible. Real. Holding a magazine in your hands makes the words and photos timeless. There’s no engagement tracking, no comment threads — just the quiet moment of sitting down with a cup of coffee, the breeze outside, and flipping through pages that remind us why nature matters.
So this is for every midnight hour behind the wheel of the Jeep that Meghan has had to listen to me talk about a life beyond tech. It’s another step toward a life spent on the road, in national parks, among the trees — telling the stories I want to tell. It’s me hoping to convince you to fall even more in love with nature than I am.
This is Cypress Magazine.
Issue No. 01
Six stories. Matte-finished. Ad-free. And perfectly sized to slip into your day pack. The inaugural issue is inspired by the sketchbook that’s always in my back pocket and the weathered copy of Meditations of John Muir folded in with our National Park maps. It’s meant to be taken with you.
Inside, you’ll find stories that are emotional, reflective, and meant to make you slow down — to look a little longer at the trees, to notice the quiet beauty in the in-between moments. I hope to see your copy years from now, creased and tattered from being carried with you on your own journeys.
You’ll see underwater film photos from Monterey’s kelp forests, travel alongside the birds of the Galápagos, trace the path of the water flowing through Los Angeles, and read about why protecting what remains of our environment is one of the most meaningful acts we can take.
Come along for the journey
This magazine is only possible because of the friends of Cypress who’ve helped to write stories, share photos, edit content, provide design critiques, and stay up late with me after hours. Each contributor joined me on this adventure with no expectation other than the hope that someone, somewhere, will pause for a moment, hold our work in their hands, and experience the emotions that we’ve tried to share.
As for what comes next? My printer, my editor, and my friends all keep asking about the business plan — and honestly, we’ll figure that out as we go. For now, it’s enough to have made something real. Sometimes the most important step is simply to hit publish.
If you’re ready to commit to that journey with us, get the annual magazine subscription now and watch how this project evolves along with us.
