Gerry Barnes, GettingOutside Editor-at-Large. Gerry Barnes is a professional counselor and a member of the ACA's Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling. He is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California's graduate program in Professional Writing. Besides writing travel-adventure pieces for GettingOutside.com, he pens articles dealing with spiritual issues and his work has appeared in Columbia, Christos and Women's World magazines. He is a recipient of the Southern California Motion Picture Council's "Golden Halo" award for his writing and a Los Angeles Community Impact award for his work with teens. He currently resides outside Philadelphia.