A view of Baja, CA. Photo from Don and Donna Ford. 
Don and Donna Ford camping on the Yukon River. Photo from Don Donna Ford. 
A foggy view of the Yukon River. Photo from Don Donna Ford. 
A view from a Kayak of the Inside Passage. Photo from Don Donna Ford. 
Don and Donna Ford.
What do outdoor professionals do when they retire from a life in the outdoors? As baby
boomers retire life can offer many paths. Long bucket lists confront aging bodies, fixed
income, and family responsibilities. This show features a couple who have made the most of their retirement. In 2012 Don and Donna Ford retired from a long and productive career at NOLS, the well-known outdoor school. After teaching, directing and mentoring many outdoor professionals in Wyoming, Alaska, and Mexico, and raising two kids they were free to settle down. Or not. Their project, Seeking Horizons, has taken them from Cabos San Lucos, Baja, Mexico, to the mouth of the Yukon River by foot and paddle. Learn, as Don put it, what they “retired to,” and how they did it.
HOST: Paul Twardock
GUESTS:
- Don and Donna Ford
LINKS:
BROADCAST: Thursday, November 5th, 2020. 2:00 pm – 3:00 p.m. AKT
REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, November 5th, 2020. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT
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Eric Bork, or you can just call him “Bork” because everybody else does, is the FM Operations Manager for KSKA-FM. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the FM broadcast. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, the Alaska-focused outdoors program. He also maintains the web posts for that show. You may have heard him filling in for Morning Edition or hosting All Things Considered and can still find him operating the soundboard for any of the live broadcast programs.
After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate, and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming he’s probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book, or planning the next place he’ll travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!
