"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it." - Cesare Pavese
In 3 days I will again subject myself to this sweet brutality. I've been fortunate to wander far from home in the past, this time I'll stay in my own time zone. Powered by my own two legs, I'll pedal down the U.S. Pacific Coast - from the Peace Arch in Blaine, WA to the border of Mexico at Imperial Beach, CA. I'm not sure what I'll find along the way, other than what Mr. Pavese promises. I suppose that is my intention, to strip away the familiar comforts, the ruts and routines into which I've grown comfortable, only to expose my dreams, the sea and the sky.
Several people have compared my trip to Cheryl Strayed's journey her popular book Wild. (She hikes the Pacific Crest Trail with little backpacking experience but a lot of moxie.) It was definitely an inspiration for my own trip, particularly a guy she encounters on her trip, who marvels at the amazing experience she's having, and wishes aloud that he could do the same...before driving off in his fancy car, back to his office job.
Here's the thing. He can, you can, I can have an adventure like that. "I can't" is bullshit. I've left my own office job and BMW bracket or no, this involves some sacrifices - steady paycheck and benefits, yeah? (I should note I'm getting a little help from my friends, see below.) I am taking an early / temporary retirement to travel, bike and write. It was not easy. That's worth repeating: it was NOT easy; it took agonizing deliberation to get here. But I'm here, counting down the hours to the starting line.
"Someday" is not a plan.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
I am super lucky to have some help on my Pacific Coast Highway tour. Check out www.blackburndesign.com/outthere
Updates along the way @jen_scho (Twitter) and jen_scho (Instagram)
Looking for inspiration? Check out these sites:
- Adventurer Alastair Humphreys: Www.alastairhumphreys.com
- Bruce Weber "Life is a Wheel" http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/29/travel/biketour.html
- Adventurer Helen Thayer www.helenthayer.com
- Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild www.cherylstrayed.com
...And because dreams are infectious, here's one of my favorites - Mr. Rogers: http://m.video.pbs.org/video/1428499965/
