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Saturday, September 30, 2017
Monday, September 25, 2017
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Looking back at myself ten years ago
Tonight I met a 19-year-old kid who is off a similar-but-different journey to what I'm doing. He's backpacking, floating around the country for a while, maybe making his way out to Hawaii, maybe WOOFing. Super nice, very humble, and I had a good time getting to talk with him for a few hours.
Almost nobody knows this, because I didn't tell pretty much anyone about it at the time, but I considered doing something like this (that?) when I was about 19 or 20. It was even more of a rugged adventure. It was even more ill advised.
It didn't happen, for lots of reasons, and it's probably a good thing it didn't happen.
In some ways I'm actually really happy that I had to wait ten years to make this happen. I'm ready for it. I'm able to do it. I'm mentally stronger. I'm ... kind of prepared. It just seems like a good time. So I guess no, my 20s weren't a total waste, and a lot has happened in the last decade. But I can't help but be envious of Ezra. He's super young, super hopeful, super positive.
And no, he and I are very different people. My journey would have been a lot different than his, and my journey now is a lot different than his. But to experience all of the wonder that all of these borderline-magical places have to offer, to get to meet all of the amazing and sometimes strange people -- I kind of wish I had done it. Who cares if I wasn't prepared. Who cares if it could have been disastrous.
The thing about that is: It probably wouldn't have been. And even if it was, disaster teaches you something. And I wonder what it would have taught me. I wonder how the last ten years would have been different. Would they have been better? Would they have been worse?
Unfortunately, I'll never know now. And I also don't know what the next ten years will bring. Maybe they'll be the best years of my life. Maybe they'll be the worst.
Even if they are, does it matter?
I'm gonna go to Denny's at midnight.
Some things never change.
Almost nobody knows this, because I didn't tell pretty much anyone about it at the time, but I considered doing something like this (that?) when I was about 19 or 20. It was even more of a rugged adventure. It was even more ill advised.
It didn't happen, for lots of reasons, and it's probably a good thing it didn't happen.
In some ways I'm actually really happy that I had to wait ten years to make this happen. I'm ready for it. I'm able to do it. I'm mentally stronger. I'm ... kind of prepared. It just seems like a good time. So I guess no, my 20s weren't a total waste, and a lot has happened in the last decade. But I can't help but be envious of Ezra. He's super young, super hopeful, super positive.
And no, he and I are very different people. My journey would have been a lot different than his, and my journey now is a lot different than his. But to experience all of the wonder that all of these borderline-magical places have to offer, to get to meet all of the amazing and sometimes strange people -- I kind of wish I had done it. Who cares if I wasn't prepared. Who cares if it could have been disastrous.
The thing about that is: It probably wouldn't have been. And even if it was, disaster teaches you something. And I wonder what it would have taught me. I wonder how the last ten years would have been different. Would they have been better? Would they have been worse?
Unfortunately, I'll never know now. And I also don't know what the next ten years will bring. Maybe they'll be the best years of my life. Maybe they'll be the worst.
Even if they are, does it matter?
I'm gonna go to Denny's at midnight.
Some things never change.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Pictures from Oregon
I spent a lot more time in Oregon, but actually didn't manage to get a ton of pictures.
First I raced all the way down to Detroit, OR, to meet my friend Josh who had flown into the area specifically to see the eclipse. For me, on the other hand, it was a happy accident. I'd rather not detail why (frustrating), but he and I actually didn't run into each other until after the eclipse. But it was still fairly ... magical? for both of us, and an unforgettable experience to be sure. And also, where better for two friends from Michigan to meet than in a town called Detroit? (I don't think there is a Grawn, OR. I could be wrong.)
Then we went back up to Portland, where I stayed with my cousin Lance and his girlfiend Carlin. I hadn't seen Lance in years, but it was so, so nice to see another familiar face, and family, at that. They were great hosts, and I had a great time with them. I stayed just shy of a week. They helped me celebrate my birthday in style -- and I was semi-dreading it -- and it came and went and was painless. (Well, finding my way back from the porch took a little doing.)
I then drove about 100 miles south to Eugene, and stayed with my friends' Maria and Corrinna's aunt and uncle, Rachel and Tom. They were also super nice, and great hosts. I only thought I was going to stay one night, but sure enough, it was three. So in 10 days I really only made about 100 miles of progress south.
Stopped at Crater Lake, and since pretty much the whole west coast is on fire, the park was too smoky to even see the water. Maybe the biggest disappointment of the whole trip. I was really looking forward to it.
I did, however, give a lift to Taro, a guy from Japan who was backpacking pretty much all of Oregon (north-to-south). We drove through the park together and talked, and compared travel stories (he has many more of them than I do). He bought me dinner and it was pretty cool. If you're reading this back in Japan, Hello Taro! It was really nice to meet you!
Anyways, pictures! The order got kind of messed up again, but, again, can't be bothered to fix.
First I raced all the way down to Detroit, OR, to meet my friend Josh who had flown into the area specifically to see the eclipse. For me, on the other hand, it was a happy accident. I'd rather not detail why (frustrating), but he and I actually didn't run into each other until after the eclipse. But it was still fairly ... magical? for both of us, and an unforgettable experience to be sure. And also, where better for two friends from Michigan to meet than in a town called Detroit? (I don't think there is a Grawn, OR. I could be wrong.)
Then we went back up to Portland, where I stayed with my cousin Lance and his girlfiend Carlin. I hadn't seen Lance in years, but it was so, so nice to see another familiar face, and family, at that. They were great hosts, and I had a great time with them. I stayed just shy of a week. They helped me celebrate my birthday in style -- and I was semi-dreading it -- and it came and went and was painless. (Well, finding my way back from the porch took a little doing.)
I then drove about 100 miles south to Eugene, and stayed with my friends' Maria and Corrinna's aunt and uncle, Rachel and Tom. They were also super nice, and great hosts. I only thought I was going to stay one night, but sure enough, it was three. So in 10 days I really only made about 100 miles of progress south.
Stopped at Crater Lake, and since pretty much the whole west coast is on fire, the park was too smoky to even see the water. Maybe the biggest disappointment of the whole trip. I was really looking forward to it.
I did, however, give a lift to Taro, a guy from Japan who was backpacking pretty much all of Oregon (north-to-south). We drove through the park together and talked, and compared travel stories (he has many more of them than I do). He bought me dinner and it was pretty cool. If you're reading this back in Japan, Hello Taro! It was really nice to meet you!
Anyways, pictures! The order got kind of messed up again, but, again, can't be bothered to fix.
Pictures from Washington
Catching up on pictures. First up, Vancouver.
So over the last several weeks there have been some complications with uploading and backing up pictures in large quantities, like I was doing earlier in the trip. Mostly it was an issue of Google Drive filling up.
Anyways, I've finally went back and gotten a bunch ready to post.
I've definitely been posting pictures, yeah, but the ones from Instagram are mostly a highlight reel. There are a lot of cool ones that haven't been put up.
I'll spare the narrative for the most part, since it's so far behind, and just post.
First, a handful of photos taken in Vancouver that didn't get posted.
Anyways, I've finally went back and gotten a bunch ready to post.
I've definitely been posting pictures, yeah, but the ones from Instagram are mostly a highlight reel. There are a lot of cool ones that haven't been put up.
I'll spare the narrative for the most part, since it's so far behind, and just post.
First, a handful of photos taken in Vancouver that didn't get posted.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Just a List of Good Things
I realized several days ago, somewhere while driving through California, that a lot of the blog posts I've been making kind of focus on some of less good things that have come up for me on this trip. And that's kind of unfortunate, because so are so many great things I've seen, had happen, had pop into my brain, and so on.
Here are some of them.
Here are some of them.
- For years I've felt like I'm a pretty adaptable person. This has been confirmed.
- I also have liked to believe I'm relatively resourceful and self-reliant. This has also been confirmed (in many ways).
- So many people are so nice. Including complete strangers.
- In fact, sometimes complete strangers even go beyond the point where friends or acquaintances will go.
- But, friends and family still come through. I've received multiple donations along the way, and it makes that day a little better every time.
- Even if it's just a substitute, support from social media actually feels really good.
- I've gotten to meet a lot of people I would have never gotten the chance to meet otherwise.
- While they still absolutely needs to be protected, there are still a lot of wild places in this country.
- While not without its flaws, this trip wouldn't have been possible without technology. Namely, the internet and a smart phone. I could have done something similar, yes, but those things are my lifelines.
- "Winging it" usually works out just fine.
- I got to see some of the biggest trees on the planet. Literally a dream come true.
- I got to see some really big mountains. Drive through different ranges, camp in the shadows of them.
- I got to see glaciers.
- Even though I might feel vulnerable and alone at times, traveling alone has also been pretty empowering.
- I've had lots of conversations with lots of random people about lots of different things in lots of different locations. Given the chance, I'm talking people's ears off.
- Driving long distances really hasn't been that bad.
- I'm kind of falling in love with my new (to me) car.
- I've gotten to rediscover a lot of music I haven't listened to in years.
- I've found some clarity about the things that are important to me, and the things I want do do going forward.
- I've accepted that I won't find clarity in everything, but I know I can make it through anyways.
- Autopilot mode isn't the most glamorous or adventurous way to get across the country, but it is functional.
- There's this phase you'll here sometimes, "Get comfortable being uncomfortable." Yeah, I think I've done that. Some variation of it, at least.
- I've gotten to see several different animals I've never seen before.
- I've gotten to see several different trees and plants I've never seen before.
- I've gotten to see several different animals and plants that are related to species I've seen lots of, and I would have been able to at least narrow it down to a family based upon the ones I knew.
- My 30th birthday came and went and it was fine.
- I've seen how helpful staying organized can be (in ways).
- I've met a handful of really amazing people and have been able to share in mutually enriching experiences. I couldn't forget about them if I tried.
This is obviously an incomplete list. And there is still a lot left to see and do!
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
The Trip So Far: Day 47
I'm behind again on pictures from Washington and Oregon. Hopefully I'll get to those in the next few days. Also my point and shoot camera decided to stop working, and I'm out of space on Google Drive, so I need to figure out how I'm going to change up my process of getting things off of my phone, backed up, and online in a place people can see them.
So today, something totally different than pictures. Words. Lots of them. Like two of your are excited.
---
Going into the trip, I knew I would have some bad days occasionally. I've had several, but overall I've still had far more that were good or great. On those bad days I often feel tired, overwhelmed with all of my options -- and all of the work I have to put into narrowing and selecting those options, then making a plan -- and I wonder why I'm even doing this. What did I expect to figure out? What did I expect to find? Did I hope to find some elusive grand truth? Or did I just want to see mountains and big trees?
Unfortunately, if that was my goal -- I'm still not sure I can say exactly what my goal was -- I haven't found that grand truth yet. But I have pieced together some smaller things.
Often on those bad days I find myself a combination of tired, hungry, lonely, and thus, grumpy. One of the things I've been remembering to do is to simply take care of my physical needs. When I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm tired, I either try to sleep or figure out how to sleep better the next night. If I'm complacent or can't get my mind to calm down or I just can't think of anything better to do, I try to squeeze in a workout.
This is on the top of my list, because I think it has a huge effect on other things, like mental/emotional needs. There are other things I can do, too, like take some time to read or write, go have a drink, try to find people to hang out with, etc. But a lot of the time my bad mood does stem from some kind of physical need that isn't being met, and when I finally address it, I'm almost instantly in a better mood.
Another thing that has become abundantly clear as I've went along, and I've known this for years, is that I'm not a city person. I'm simply not. For years people have told me I just needed to give more cities a chance. That I just needed to find the right city. That I'd "love" Ypsilanti, such-and-such suburb of Detroit, Chicago, Boston. And Portland. Oh my god I'd love Portland. Everyone loves Portland.
Don't get me wrong, all of those places have qualities I like about them, but I can say with certainty now, I am not a city person. I'm a small town boy. I always have been, and I most likely always will be. Portland was cool. There were a lot of things I liked about it -- but also several things about it that I didn't. I didn't fall in love with it, apologies to everyone who has ever told me how much I would. In the end it was just another city. Good restaurants and bars and lots of wacky people, sure. Also lots of pushy homeless people -- I actually heard, two different times, homeless guys approach people asking for money and then asking them to go to a nearby ATM for them!
Lots of garbage, too. The two are related.
In Calgary one night, I think the biggest city I've been to so far, I met up with a handful of people thanks to the Couch Surfing app, and actually had a pretty cool night with several strangers. They were telling me about where they were from, and I was telling them about where I was from. I kind of described how cities make me feel, and how I'm definitely a "small town boy." I kid you not, the John Mellencamp song "Small Town" came on the radio, and it felt like he was singing directly to me. (Also: Bob Seger came on two songs after that and made me feel all kinds of homesick. Also also: Different song, but I've had "Turn the Page" stuck in my head for over a week now.)
I told several people that I was not looking for a place to relocate to on this trip, but that I wouldn't rule it out. If I fell in love with an area, I'd consider moving there. So far it hasn't happened. I'll come back to northern Michigan, and I'll probably spend most of my life there. I don't think that's a bad thing -- and if you do, I don't know what to tell you. So far at least, I'll take my town of 20,000 over any city with 1 million plus.
On the days when I feel really overwhelmed, or lazy, or whatever, I do find myself beating myself up quite often. Why don't I plan better? Why can't I just figure things out in a way that makes more sense? Why can't I manage my time better? What's wrong with me?
I'm not sure anything is "wrong" with me, I think it's just a matter of perspective.
Time management is not one of my strong suits. I've actually been aware of this for a few years now, but it's come to surface again on this trip, and I think I've finally figured out a way to address it.
There are a few ways I could choose to take it on. First, I can see it as a problem. I can attempt to get better at it. I can do things in a more orderly fashion. I can keep a better schedule. I can do things quickly and efficiently and I can become really time sensitive. I can cram a bunch of things into my day, do them all. I can be a machine.
OR ... I can do none of those things, I can accept that efficient time management is not a trait of mine, and I can work around it and move on. I can not jam as many things into my day. I can space things out more, just try to get a few things done completely/done well, rather than a lot of things done with machine-like efficiency. That doesn't mean I can't imrpove this in some ways -- but overall, I think I'm just going to let it go and stop worrying about it. Rather than plot a bunch of things into my day, and then have everything fall apart when one (or all) of them takes longer than I anticipated, I can just roll with it. Something takes longer than I thought? So what? Figure it out, complete it, and move onto the next thing. Couldn't get to everything I wanted to today? So what? Get them done tomorrow or the next day.
It's not the end of my world. Apparently I have a lot of days left to do lots of different things. A few hours here and there don't matter. There's no such thing as "wasted time." (I'm not sure how much I believe that, but for right now it sounds good.)
In all these long hours I have with me, myself, and I to reflect and ponder all things, I keep coming back to the same thing, from many different angles: Embrace who I am, and don't worry about trying to change it. Be adaptable, yes, but in ways that make sense.
So I don't like cities and I often find there aren't enough hours in the day, and I'm not a social butterfly. Big deal. I'm smart, I'm fairly funny, my family loves me, I have at least a few friends who value having me around, and I'm good at a lot of different things.
I'm still trying not to think too much about what I'm going to do when I get back, with work and life and everything. I'm trying to just "enjoy the ride," literally and figuratively. But it's creeping in more and more -- and I keep telling myself I don't need to worry about it. I will figure it out, I will be fine, and I don't have to make huge changes to my life or my habits to make it all work.
Not that there isn't more to puzzle out. There is. There's a lot. But I have the pieces, and I know I can fit them together. I just might not know what the picture looks like at the end.
---
In those moments that I get caught up in everything, and ask myself why I'm even doing it, what I expect to find, I keep falling back on the old cliche that It's about the journey, not the destination. And I guess there is some comfort in that. In a sense.
I think that embracing myself, and my habits, and my nature, is probably the best thing I can do. Hopefully it spills over into the rest of my life, as well as making the rest of the trip a little easier on myself. I'm going to have to find a job and hit "reset," in a way, when I get back to real life, so those lessons will probably be valuable there. Don't apologize, don't try to change, but figure out how to make it all work.
For everyone who tells me they're envious of what I'm doing, or living vicariously through me, there is someone else who -- inadvertently, and not purposely -- makes me feel like I'm "doing it wrong." The professional travelers, the ones who basically spend their lives on the road. The ones who did the same kind of trip but stretched it into a year. Or two. The ones who have traveled the whole world, twice. The ones who have spent more time traveling in the last five years than they have working. The ones who have no worries about costs and budgets.
And it's there that I, again, need to remember that I am me, and that everyone has a different journey/path/whatever. I can't do a lot of that stuff, and some of it I wouldn't even want to. And that's fine.
This kind of goes back to what I don't like about cities, or don't care about. There is the obvious stuff -- the huge numbers of people, the traffic, the parking, just too much going on, the blight, the waste, the garbage, etc. -- but a lot of the problems I have with them are less obvious. Every time I ask people what I should check out in any location, I get a long list of bars and restaurants, mostly. And that's fine, and I understand it. But it's also not really what I'm hoping to see, and if that's all I go into a city for, what's the point? I can find good food and good beer almost anywhere. (Plus, it's not in my budget to do a lot of that.)
I'm just ... different than most people. I enjoy things differently. I'm a weird mish-mash of interests and sub-cultures jammed into one person, and the balance and percentages change every few years further complicating things. It doesn't completely make sense. I don't completely make sense. But it works for me, and people close to me like it (sort of), so why change it? So it makes sense that I'd tackle a trip like this differently than most people.
Monday, September 4, 2017
Sunday, September 3, 2017
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