Travis Smola was born and raised in southwest Michigan and graduated Western Michigan University with a degree in journalism in 2013. He got his start in print and has been published in magazines and newspapers in Michigan, Wyoming, California, Nevada and Texas covering just about everything including local government, crime, sports and special features. He has been a fisherman all his life and hunting for over 20 years. In 2005 he got into geocaching and has been an active member of the geocaching community in southwest Michigan ever since.