Ryan Ireland

I was born and raised in Ohio and currently live in the village of Alpha with my wife and three children. Despite my love for travel, I’ve stayed close to home. I studied English at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, for both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. During my time as an MA student, I discovered my love for teaching. Right now I continue to teach and go to school as a PhD student at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

I enjoy running, hiking, and cycling in my spare time. Of course my favorite places to visit are in the West. I started visiting the West as a child on family vacations. Childhood was the right time for a boy from Ohio to see things like Arches National Park, the Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Saguaro, and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. For me, these were places right out of someone else’s imagination and a far cry from the housing plats where I grew up. I’ve enjoyed revisiting these places as I’ve gotten older—rediscovering them. Much of Beyond the Horizon comes from these adventures.