In His Colorful Life Journey, Pickleball Player Doug Dvorak’s Next Stop Could Be Outer Space

By Joanne C. Gerstner
Red Line Editorial

When the conversation starts with Doug Dvorak about his personal chase of adventure, he easily says the quiet part out loud.

He’s a thrill-seeker, looking to push himself to new places.

“I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie,” Dvorak, 62, said. “I’ve done what I call the Trilogy of Terror: I’ve skydived, bungee jumped and done hang gliding in my 20s.”

He said he’s “dialed it down a little bit” in recent years, but Dvorak, who has found success in sales, motivational speaking and pickleball, will never be accused of leading a quiet life. His next big adventure, slated for the end of this year or early 2025, will be traveling to space.

As in outer space.

He has paid the equivalent of a nice new SUV to ride in a pressured cabin, attached to a specialized balloon, to reach 100,000 feet — around 19 miles up — into the stratosphere. The trip will take the equivalent of an average workday, taking off from the Grand Canyon area, ascending for 2-3 hours, then spending about four hours above Earth and ending with a controlled descent. The trip requires extensive review and permitting by government agencies, owing to increased scrutiny for extreme tourist trips following the fatal 2023 explosion of the Titan submersible expedition to the Titanic wreck site.

As soon as Worldview Ventures, the company operating the space balloons, gets the official go, Dvorak is ready to head up. He will need to complete comprehensive medical testing to confirm his fitness, and then spend a week before the launch in seminars with leading scientists, tech gurus and environmentalists as part of the trip.

His wife, Cathy, encourages the adventure, but is happy to stay on Earth and cheer for his safe return. Dvorak’s reason for doing this adventure is of great personal significance.

“It’s the educational component that fascinates me,” he said. “I harken back to the first moon landing, and the picture of Mother Earth and the overwhelming narrative that the astronaut gave. Just to be up there and see that, and that experience coupled with the growing realization that there are eight billion people (here) and capitalism or whatever system we are in — it’s unsustainable. We just throw away, and throw away, you know, all the stuff that’s killing our planet and killing us.”

Dvorak, who is a road warrior for work, spends a lot of time on planes and in hotels around the world. He wants his influence, as he interacts with large audiences for his motivational speaking gigs at conferences, to be informed by the trip to space. He wants to change things for the environment and improve sustainability.

“I hopefully will have that awakening, and that ‘Aha!,’ incredible intellectual and spiritual experience that will be profound,” said Dvorak, who lives in McCall, Idaho. “Then I can come back and spread that message in a very loving way, not on any specific agenda — just to get people to maybe want to go and push the envelope and try it … like recycle more, buy an EV (electric vehicle), go solar. Something like that.”

Pickleball is an important part of Dvorak’s life, a sport he fell in love with more than decade ago when he moved to Idaho from the Chicago area. He was a star racquetball player as a teen and in his 20s, so the appeal of another racquet sport without the wear and tear on the body was huge. He’s found success, playing at the 4.0-4.5 level, winning medals and titles at the National Senior Games and Huntsman World Senior Games.

He’s also survived squamous cell carcinoma and overcame addiction, so keeping his mind and body healthy are huge priorities.

“Pickleball at a competitive level is very similar to racquetball,” he said. “But pickleball, for an old guy like me, is easier on the body. Playing singles or doubles in racquetball comes with a lot of diving…

“I think the additive component (to pickleball over racquetball) is, as you know, if you’ve got aging parents, grandparents, loneliness is a disease and a killer in this country — we create community with pickleball. Oh, even rec play or competitive play. They are wonderful people. It’s still competitive, but it’s a party. It’s a social party with activity.”

Dvorak always travels with his pickleball gear, both as a way to stay fit and to meet new friends. He spends flight delays in an active mode, volleying against an airport gate area wall with a foam ball. When he gets to his destination, he Googles for the local pickleball club and drops in for some hitting or competition.

“I’m frequently on flights that are delayed for 40 minutes or two hours, and I see people are going to the bar and getting sloshed or pouting,” Dvorak said. “So I go into a corner with my foam ball, and I drill. And if I get a free afternoon, like last year in April … in Malta, I went online, found where to play pickleball, I got paired up with the Malta national team. For four days, we played. In Beirut I found an expat started a great pickleball club. It’s so much fun.”

Joanne C. Gerstner has covered two Olympic Games and writes about sports regularly for the New York Times and other outlets. She is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.