a sort of armored knight or warrior on a black dirt bike holds a sword abot his head in challenge or in triumph, with windmills and old building in a hazy background, with a gray and overcast sky above

The Struggle Within: refining and redefining purpose

The original plan for my trip to Canada fell through, but now I'm heading to Vancouver Island for a special event. The rare Martin Mars aircraft is making its final flight, and I'm determined to be there. Despite struggling with depression and motivation, I'm pushing myself to explore and find my mojo again.

rendering of a paper map of the earth, in an old-time style, with drawings of strange birds, mammals, people, and mountains in the margins. many words appear to be scrawled on the map as notes.

Navigating the World: Reflections on Paper Maps vs Online Maps

I just did a fair amount of reflecting on a deeper topic: the difference between nostalgia and genuinely remembering the things in our past that were better. It eventually devolved into thoughts about paper maps. It's interesting as a topic because there are plenty of people who never had to learn paper maps, so they … Continue reading Navigating the World: Reflections on Paper Maps vs Online Maps

Road Trip Or Pre-Trip..? the story so far

Don't ask me, man... I just work here. There is little to update, as the last week has just been a long interstate burn. 500-mile days for three days straight, then hanging out on a cot recovering. I'm at the jump-off point of my 2024 road trip, even though I put about 2,500 miles on … Continue reading Road Trip Or Pre-Trip..? the story so far

Back on The Road

Excited and tired at the same time. That's the best way to describe my first week on the road. I'm not sure this part can truly qualify as a road trip, since I'm trying to get to the "start" in Maine as quickly as possible, so I've been mobbing up the interstate and putting in … Continue reading Back on The Road

Backtracking

"...Each day is a question mark. Sometimes we can turn that into an exclamation point, other days we just make it a comma. One day it will be a period: full stop. Until then I just keep looking at the blank pages and try to fill them with something useful, because every time I let the malaise take hold, the pages keep turning, even though they are blank."

motorcycle on dirt gravel road in wyoming mountain forest, sky, clouds

Thoughts About Roads

Roads are a world-changing technology that we humans take entirely for granted. The world shrinks because of them, but it's hard to see without close inspection. We don’t really notice their impact because they have been around long before we were born and have already shaped so much of our societies and world views. You … Continue reading Thoughts About Roads

Perspectives: Backwards and Forwards in Time

The end of the year is a natural time to reflect. Usually I even write a blog post, looking at my previous year's post and seeing if things turned out the way I planned, then writing a new one to forecast the coming year. Having done that several times, patterns become apparent. The main one … Continue reading Perspectives: Backwards and Forwards in Time

Putting It All To Bed

Desert Adventures At The 40th Anniversary of The LA-Barstow-To-Vegas Ride Before The Long Trip To End The Year In Baja. And here we are. Mexico. The trip never really ends, but the chapter called "Road Trip 2023" is over for me. It was not without incident, but that's what makes for memories I suppose. The … Continue reading Putting It All To Bed

The Long, Straight Road

Leaving Bisbee was the beginning of a 2,000 mile loop, all of it centered around the normal errands people do around town. My town, however, was a helluva lot bigger: like half of the American Southwest kind of big. Since this was business and not pleasure though, it meant using the interstate, aka the superslab. … Continue reading The Long, Straight Road