Well, we've arrived at last! Two years of work, with some play thrown in... and now we're ramping up our mobile lifestyle!Just recently got back from a trip to Mexico with Tomoe-- this is a picture from the Baja coast. I was surprised to find that the water is still cold all the way down there! I was expecting balmy tropical waters-- but the ocean felt quite similar to San Francisco's.
However, as you can see it was absolutely beautiful. This pic is from a buggy dune ride we did... cruising around the desert canyons and beach in a little mini 4x4. It was an absolute blast!
Back here in SF, we just finished a visit with my good friend Chris-- who visited from Chapel Hill, NC. He's a hobopoet friend I first met in 1994. He was there for the first car living experiment and the van living experiment-- and has video of both the car and the van somewhere in his house! I'd love to get that on YouTube sometime :)
He reminded me of conversations we used to have in Athens, GA-- discussing Thoreau and Walden and how Thoreau's ideas could be translated to the modern world. I had the realization of how miraculous it is that this man, who lived over 100 years ago, had such a profound effect on my life.. and that his words are, if anything, more profound and contemporary now than when he wrote them. Truly an amazing and beautiful spirit.
Chris flew back home tonight. I helped him start a small business in February and I'm happy to say its doing well and has already replaced his income from the two jobs he has. He's continuing to work a while longer-- using the extra income to build savings and pay off his mortgage. But he plans to become a fulltime hobopoet soon! During his entire 9 day stay, I constantly overwhelmed him with ideas for adventure... and pushed him to hurry up and quit those damn jobs ;)
He did commit to joining the big Hobopoet Clan in Thailand next Feb/March for diving and general hedonism.
Until then, Tomoe and I will be busy with trips to Ireland, Florida, Honduras (Roatan), and Fiji. From Fiji we'll fly to Thailand, and then hop over to South India for a month. Then back to Thailand (and also Laos and Cambodia). A damn busy travel schedule for the next 9 months!
Which is to say, with the success of my business I'm now fully fulfilling my potential as a hobopoet-- and will continue to push the envelope and log the occasional report here.
Seeing as I usually end my posts with a nugget of advice, here it is:
This amazing lifestyle that I now enjoy started with an experiment in simplicity-- living in a Toyota Corolla for one summer in Athens, GA. That moment of action, risk taking, and adventure shaped everything that followed.
So that's my advice to you-- whatever it is-- take that inspiring risk that you've been putting off. Be bold. Do something crazy. Dare to experiment with your life. The incredible positive ripples of that action will completely transform your life.
3 comments:
Heh, between the two pics with the Feyd-Rautha and "desert scavenger" look, and all this talk about fear, you've got a real Dune thing going on right now ...
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain!"
... Or maybe it's just my overactive imagination :)
I stumbled onto your blog while scrounging for a paper on Nomadology, and I'm overwhelmed. You've got the right idea! I want to do something like this, too. How do you work up the courage to start?
What a great blog. I had no idea that anyone else had ever done the car-living experiment just for the sake of the adventure. I did this in Athens, GA as well last winter, just for a week, but I loved every minute of it! Everyone in my life was horrified, terrified even, and there was talk about putting me in hospital. I love what you said about fear. The most tragic thing to me is to let fear keep you in the middle of the herd. I want to squeeze every drop out of life! Carpe diem! Thanks for this blog.
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