Welcome to The Modest Adventure Co!

Located in the breathtaking Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, The Modest Adventure Co was born from a meaningful realization: bigger, faster, flashier adventures (with bigger price tags) don’t equal bigger happiness. As a world traveler, motorcyclist, and epic adventure-seeker, I understand the allure of grand vistas and uncommon experiences. However, both the personal losses and simple joys of the early COVID era shifted my perspective - they helped me rekindle my ability to find joy and fulfillment closer to home.

When COVID closed the Canadian border in 2020, my well-laid plans for a triple-world-record-setting solo motorcycle adventure were dashed. I was heartbroken. COVID also cost me epic professional opportunities just as I was leaving grad school and starting my career. Seeking solace, I turned to local hiking, camping, and intimate gatherings with close friends. The loss of professional momentum and world records turned out to be a wake-up call rather than the crushing blow I thought it would be. It wasn’t until being forced to slow down and stay in place that I realized all the things I’d been chasing were actually chasing me - and leaving me surprisingly empty in the process. I found that what actually made me happy were things that were simple, slow, quiet, and infused with a sense of everyday wonder.

The Modest Adventure Co is a celebration of that very feeling: the extraordinary within the ordinary - the magic right outside our own front doors. You don't have to be wealthy or traverse the globe (or even the country) to lead a life of meaning and fulfillment. The “influencer” lifestyle might seem to overflow with glamour, but is it overflowing with contentment? And at the end of the day - and the end of our lives - isn’t that what we’re all really after?

My mission is to provide my fellow Modest Adventurers with some inspiration, tools, well-designed goods, and intentional community that can help us all rediscover and embrace the modest adventures attainable in our everyday lives.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey of finding beauty, contentment, and modest adventure in the everyday. We don’t have to fly to far-flung places, spend boatloads of money we don’t have, or pine after an Instagrammable life. By honoring the land around us, spending time with those we love, and slowing down, we can rekindle the sense of childlike wonder we’re all born with. We can begin to reclaim our happiness, our time, our innate creativity, our personal agency, and our lives.

Your modest adventure awaits!

Warmly yours,

Jack Thomas