How the Walleighs Found Purpose & Adventure

Rick & Wendy overlooking Lewa Downs' savannahBoomers Rick and Wendy Walleighs’ book details their inspiring move to Swaziland and then Nairobi, Kenya for a total of 18 months. These are documented on this website and in their book titled From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose & Adventure in an Encore Career. It is available on Amazon, all online book retailers, and some Bay Area bookstores. Go to Media Coverage to see all the media featuring the Walleigh’ adventures.

ALL ROYALTIES ARE DONATED TO TECHNOSERVE, the international development organization for which the Walleighs worked, to continue its “Business Solutions to Poverty” in Africa and Latin America, so please buy this book for friends and family!

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos and descriptions of our many travels to nearly 60 countries on six continents.

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Download our entire book for free! Or click on the image above to sign up here to get a free preview of our book, From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose and Adventure in an Encore Career.

Kenya Successes: TechnoServe Organized Small-Scale Dairy Farms for Large-Scale Impact

Kenyans drink a lot of milk.  This tradition is probably derived from tribal culture—particularly the Maasai tribe--where cows represent wealth. However, the vast majority of dairy farmers own less than ten cows, each of which typically produces ten gallons of milk...

Hiking with Friends to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, Yosemite

After many years of attempts by Rick’s backpacking buddy and his wife to persuade her to backpack, Wendy finally agreed to a compromise: hiking to one of Yosemite’s High Sierra camps where breakfast and dinner were included in the price and box lunches were available....

Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Our four days in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island AND British Columbia (BC) gave us a feel for the history—human, geological, and cultural—of the southwestern-most province of Canada. Upon our arrival into Victoria, we checked into the historic Empress Hotel....

Central Kenya: Aberdare, Treetops, The Ark and Lewa Downs

The Walleighs took another trip to central Kenya with their friends Fred and Judy (and their adorable sons) to the Outspan Hotel near Aberdare National Park, not far from Mt. Kenya. While there, Rick and Wendy traveled nearby to the Treetops resort, famous for its...

Kenya Successes: Aspen Orchards & Dairies

Wendy and Rick met with this participant who was definitely making progress in TechnoServe's Upscaling program. Starting in 2003 in his home, Joseph Njer’s growth-oriented yoghurt processing business by 2007 was on a US$170,000 run-rate for annual turnover.  The...

Across NY through Hudson Valley–Breathtaking Colors Everywhere

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New York...

Uganda: Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth National Parks

Each of the two national parks Wendy and Rick visited--Murchison Falls northwest of Kampala and Queen Elizabeth near Uganda’s southwestern border—had wonderful animals as seen on the Uganda Animal page.  Plus each had unique geographical elements.  Along the way to...

Yosemite – the Walleighs Favorite Place on Earth

Starting in Summer 1972 when Rick and Wendy took their cross-U.S. trip in their red VW camper between each of their graduate schools, their first visit to Yosemite began their life-long love affair with this amazing place.  On that trip, one of their first guided...

April 26 to May 8, 2012 Botswana Experience

It is always challenging to coordinate two people flying from different places to then fly to a third, but imagine doing that in Africa! After a week of visiting and working in Nairobi with friends and colleagues from the TechnoServe Kenya office, Wendy flew to...

Western New York in Autumn

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September 2013 after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New...
Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Our four days in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island AND British Columbia (BC) gave us a feel for the history—human, geological, and cultural—of the southwestern-most province of Canada. Upon our arrival into Victoria, we checked into the historic Empress Hotel....

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Backpacking in Sierra

Backpacking in Sierra

After a two-night trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains earlier this summer, in August, Rick and two friends went backpacking into the Sierras’ Desolation Wilderness for a few days. The lakes were still partially frozen and the trail was still covered quite a bit in snow....

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“If you are nearing the end of your business career and wondering what’s next, you’ll find Rick and Wendy’s experience both illuminating and inspiring.”

Debra Dunn

Consulting Associate Professor & Former Senior Vice President, Stanford University, Hewlett Packard

 “Rick and Wendy Walleigh are my down-to-earth heroes. At the end of Phase 1 of very successful careers–still healthy enough to spend their retirement days skiing, golfing, lunching, traveling in style–they chose instead to take their energy and considerable skills and apply them in some of the poorest communities in the world.

Bruce McNamer

President & CEO of The Community Foundation for the Nation's Capital Region (Washington DC) & former CEO of TechnoServe

“For those seeking an encore to their professional lives, Rick Walleigh’s account of the adventure he and his wife, Wendy, began is as energizing as it is useful. This remarkable book summarizes the factors they considered before volunteering in Africa to foster economic growth through small business development. More importantly, it records their experience with cultural change, new applications for honed skills, the nature of contemporary economic development work in the face of poverty, and the sights, smells, surprises and encounters found in living and working overseas. This is not a “how-to” book for those of us wanting renewal; it is an “I did this and so can you” story that is unique, thought-provoking and encouraging.”

 

Ron Boring

Former Executive Vice President, Vodafone-Japan