Growing up Jay’s family lived in Grundy Center, IA, he was born in Marshalltown back in 1978. Later, Jay and his family moved to Marion, IA, and then to Iowa City. In 1999, Jay took off on an 11 year culinary crusade that led him to Arizona, Montana, Cape Cod, The Florida Keys, The Black Hills of South Dakota, Austin, Central Illinois and back to Iowa City in 2010. His love of traveling, food, and family drives his blog, theiowagallivant.com.