After 53 days, 6,140 miles through 17 states with stops in more than a dozen cities, 3 national parks… through rain, fog, sleet, snow, and wind, in deserts, mountains, forests, and on two different coastlines… I’ve arrived in San Francisco. I’ve had more drinks with strangers at bars than I can count. I started the…
Category: Life
Shifting Gears
Fittingly, tonight, my last night on the road before I arrive in San Francisco, I ran out of steam. I spent the day driving to Monterey and then walking along the waterfront. I had lunch at a great little French bakery. I had a couple of beers and an early dinner at a brewery that…
Advice to a Friend (and Also to Myself)
Twice this week, I spoke with a friend who wanted my opinion on a marital issue. I’ve been told I’m good at that stuff: providing sage, honest, and tender relationship advice. I try to remind people that I’m single (as in not very successful in this domain) and maybe not as wise as they think….
Being a Novice, Navigating Traffic, and Decision Fatigue
On Tuesday morning (today as I write this), I was feeling bummed that I got a rejection for a job I had applied to. By Tuesday afternoon, I had gotten a second rejection for a different job. Between the two rejections, I wrote about how the first rejection (and reading that email first thing in…
Emails in the Morning
I woke up to a rejection email. Thank you for the time you’ve invested blah blah blah, very competitive blah, we went with other blah blahs. I really should hold off on checking email until I’ve done something else or consumed better things: coffee, breakfast, poetry… The rejection itself isn’t surprising or new, I get…
Trying to Capture Wow
Nov. 5 7:00 am and 4:00 pm… – Joshua Tree Tomorrow I leave the desert and head to San Diego. The last time I was there, I met my girlfriend’s family and friends, and at the top of Double Peak Mountain near San Marcos, I asked her to marry me. Four months later she left. …
Last Full Day in Sedona
On Wednesday night, I set my alarm for 5am. I had planned on spending Thursday hiking. Everything I read about the hikes I wanted to do said that there was very limited parking and that you need to catch the shuttle, and it’s best to catch the 7am shuttle before it gets crowded, etc. etc….
Hiking, Mindsets, and Mantras
Here in Sedona, there are several hiking trails within a few hundred yards of the Airbnb where I’m staying. After having a large breakfast, I walked the mile back from the diner to my place and contemplated the idea of taking a daily walk – how nice it would be to be able to walk…
40 Days (For Realz)
The 40 days 40 nights thing was my nod to Moses, Jesus, the flood, and all of the other religious references that equate the number 40 with a type of cleansing or awakening. Personally, I hadn’t given it any significance other than it feels like a long time to be out on the road. But…
40 Days and 40 Nights
As I approach midnight… today (meaning the new day after midnight) marks 40 days on the road. Apologies in advance – most of the times that I say today in this post, I’m actually referencing day 39… After 40 days, I’m a little exhausted. On the one hand, I’m a tired of the ambiguity and…
Cold Temps, Warm Vibes
It’s cold in Santa Fe. I was thinking of hiking today, but now I’m not so sure (it’s cold). If I don’t hike, I’ll probably walk around and check out art studios and galleries but… it’s cold. I wouldn’t mind sitting around and taking in the colors (and sun if it comes out). Yesterday it…
The Long Road Out of Texas
When the fog lifted and I saw the landscape, I almost cried. The change in scenery was that dramatic. Along the side of the road, there were a handful of red ravines cutting through the taupe earth. The desert, dotted with sage brush, stretched for miles on both sides of the road. To the west,…