My name is Scott Dutkus. Can you remember the first book you read? Me neither. But, the first book I remember reading was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I was about 6 or 7 years old and the story captivated me. Then I read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and my fascination grew. Inside those books, I found adventures that crossed Middle Earth, visits to historic sites that told the tales of the First and Second Age of Middle Earth, and then the races and people they encountered.
All these stories are forever ingrained in my memory. I know it was fictitious history, but that sparked my love of all kinds of history. The spark is now a blazing fire and everywhere I go, I try to learn about a piece of its history. Some histories are well known, some are strange, and some are unbelievable. Whatever they are, I want to know them and I want to experience as much of them as possible. My quest for knowledge and desire to explore and see where history was made has been aided over the last 20 years by my choice of profession. I served in the Air Force for over 20 years and the opportunities to travel and explore Beyond Last Week made serving so much better.
Before you read about some of my adventures, I think you should know a bit about me. I was raised in a very rural part of New Jersey. Additionally, I am the middle child (which explains so much about me) of a retired NJ State Trooper (and former Marine) and a retired Elementary School teacher. I followed my big brother into the Air Force, while other siblings followed my parents. After graduating from college, I served in the Air Force. During college, I meet my best friend and beautiful bride and we continue to share many adventures. We have two amazing kids that laugh at us often because, even though we are older, sometimes they are more mature.
My travels have brought me across the globe and back again. Most trips have been a blast, some have been a bit dangerous and I have only been yelled at or scolded a handful of times for doing things I was not supposed to do. Examples of these fun times and misadventures include: getting yelled at in French while touring Neuschwanstein in Germany; being scolded for taking pictures of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem; coming face to face with a bleating moose in Yellowstone National Park; practically living the movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” while trying to buy a house; and breaking down on the side of the road in Jordan right outside a ‘not so friendly’ town. These misadventures only add to the spice of life that my journey provides me.
There are a lot of travel blogs out there, but hopefully, I am unique enough for you to continue reading. I want to give you historical insights so if you travel to any of the same places you can get the most out of your trip. Hopefully, my adventures will also make you laugh. Not all my journeys are to faraway places. Some are close by, here in the Good Ol’ US of A. As a caution, you may see names like Jim, or Joe, or Jenny, or any possible random name. Some of these are made-up names. Unless I have permission from the actual person, I will keep people anonymous.
Additionally, some of the places I have visited I may not be able to name since they are not releasable to the public due to my military connection. I will talk about these places in generalities but not name some of them. Finally, some may only be accessible to military members. If that happens, I will point out those parts so you know not to try to go there without the proper permission. I am about to retire from the military but still plan on adventuring through history and hope you will enjoy my posts. Please keep coming back to read my posts. And remember, I am a middle child, the forgotten one, and I crave the attention so don’t let me down.
