Hi Steemit! I'm a beekeeper, overlander, entrepreneur, mormon, photographer (amateur), and more! AMA :)

Happy to finally be here. Wanted to introduce myself and the interesting parts of my life that some of you mind enjoy hearing about. I am still very new to this platform so bear with me.

My name is Parker Boyack. I grew up in San Diego and eventually moved to Utah for school. I served a 2 year mission for my church (LDS) in Brazil, then came home and finished my degree (BYU). I fell in love with Utah and ended up staying here. Ever since coming to Utah my life has flourished, and I have found passion for several different things. I want to tell you about a few of them.

Beekeeping

I am a beekeeper! I only started last year but have learned so much and ended up with 9 hives this year. I really enjoy it as a hobby and have met a lot of great people. When I bought my house, the city I live in had beekeeping listed as being illegal in a residential area. I worked with several people to get the law changed and now am locally known as "the bee guy". I could go on forever about bees and how incredible they are, but for now I won't. I plan on posting about it more as the season starts again in the spring.

Photography

Another passion I have developed is in photography. I was invited on a trip with some friends down to southern Utah to photograph the night skies in Arches National Parks and had a blast. From then on I was hooked. Photography gives me a great excuse to get outside and see some incredible places. Just last year I went to about 10 National Parks, some even a few times! I enjoy mostly night photography and landscape as well. I am still quite a novice in this area but am learning quickly and have gotten pretty good since I started!

Here is a link to my photography portfolio: https://parkerboyack.smugmug.com/

Entrepreneurship

I have always been an entrepreneur, and have been fortunate to start and sell a few businesses. I am constantly thinking of new ideas and trying new things. One of my businesses was an online gun classifieds site for the state of Utah. A local news company, who had pretty much a monopoly on the market, dropped guns from their website. A few friends and I quickly set something up to take over, and it did. I also started and ran a company that made infographics, it was a blast and allowed me to have quite a lot of time to pursue my interests during college. Now, I am working on a new company. I have been studying UX, specifically around website usability and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization). Stay tuned for more info on the new biz! Here is a little teaser :)

Overlanding

A few years ago I went on a trip to Canyonlands with a few friends, including @jarvie. I immediately fell in love with the experience and culture of it all. I quickly snagged myself a '93 Toyota Land Cruiser with factory lockers and set to work. I've done quite a bit to it but still have a ways to go until I get it where I want. I've done a few trips with her now and love her to death! She is currently sitting in the driveway as I am doing quite a bit of preventative maintenance. Better to fix things now than on the trail.

Adventure Motorcycles

I also really enjoy going on long trips with my buddies on our bikes. We have done several rides which I will post about later on. I have become the group photographer/videographer which is quite fun. We are actually working together on putting together a tour. We have put together a stellar route and are running our first one this year. I used to ride a 1996 Suzuki DR650 which was an incredible bike. I loved it to death but most of the guys I rode with have BMW F800s. We do quite a bit of dirt so I wanted something really capable but also a bit bigger as long stretches on a 650 make me want to die. I ended up picking up a 2004 KTM 950 adventure that is in great shape. I am currently doing quite a bit of work to it to prep the bike for the coming warm months. Stay tuned for more on that!

Here is a video I made of last year's trip. We did all 5 national parks in Utah along with several other cool spots. Ive got other videos on my channel from previous rides so check them out.

Anyway that's enough about me. I will try to post more about all the crazy things I love to do. Here is a picture of my girlfriend and I in Zion Ntl Park on New Years Eve. Have a great day!