Thomas Huhti is a native Cheesehead who wound up studying in China during university—itchy feet and wanderlust have been a familial curse—which ultimately led to a five-year stint traveling the globe and living out of a backpack. A fortuitous meeting with a travel scribe on a Chinese mountain opened the then-young punk’s eyes quite wide to the possibilities of combining travel and writing—his two loves—as a career.

Half a decade wandering the world made him long for (and intrigued by) his birthplace, about which, sadly, he realized he knew precious little. Ultimately, he discovered he bled Badger red and understood where home was.

Moon took him on, and thus began a four-year pilgrimage around the state to research the first edition of Moon Wisconsin—done as a gift to his parents, worthy Badgers both.

Now it’s a fascinating blast for Thomas just to get deeper and deeper into the place, a lifelong labor of love (at least outside of deadline crunch times). With his navigator-partner, Yuki, and his bigheaded yellow lab, Bobo, fighting over who gets to ride shotgun, the tent drying in the back of the car, and a Brewers game on the radio, Thomas can be found looking for yet another lake for the pooch to splash in while he unloads his camera gear and notebook.