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“There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me and I know that I just can’t go wrong”
-JB

This quote rings true for me, and has been an ongoing theme in my life for a long time now. When I’m not seeing, experiencing, and doing new things I get a little antsy. About 12 years ago I remember my mother telling me that she was worried about me, that I couldn’t just handle the normal day-to-day life, and that I wasn’t happy unless I was doing or seeing something new. Of course I was 18 or 19 and absolutely denied what she said. Then a few years went by and I started to realize that she was right, and thought maybe I should do something to change that. I eventually came to the conclusion that I can’t change that, and more importantly, I don’t want to! It’s who I am.

So how do I deal with that? This is what I tried last year. I was Jersey-bound for a while, working a lot, and frustrated. I knew something had to change. Well, in the 7 or so months to follow, I made it to Boston, Chicago, Oklahoma, Austin, Florida, the islands, Connecticut, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, California, Vancouver and Alaska. The variety made me happy. I never put my suitcase away, and I loved that. I had to find a way to maintain that kind of variety and adventure in my life. That’s when I started seriously considering a mobile lifestyle, that meaning living in an RV and just moving from place to place. My initial “dream idea” was an Airstream, although I never quite figured out how I was going to pull a 5,000 lb trailer with my… wait for it… Mini Cooper. I’m still intrigued with the idea, however, that’s not where this story is going.

Flash back to a year ago. I had recently started using Facebook and one of my FB friends was Ben Willmore (blog), who actually does live mobile, on a bus. Most of our interaction was casual for a long time, and then we started chatting . . . chatting a lot. Not only do we share the desire for constant adventure, but he’s a photographer, and Photoshop person, to say the least. That is my world, right there. After talking for a while, we realized we had A LOT more in common than those things, and should probably meet. I flew out to where he was currently located in California, for a week, and the gut instinct was right as usual. We hit it off completely and I felt like I’ve known him for years. When It was time for me to leave, we both kind of knew that I’d have to come back at some point. You just cant ignore those kinds of things.

So basically, this time I’m leaving with a one-way ticket. I’m really excited for the change, and have no doubt it’s the right thing for me to do. The lifestyle may not be conventional, but I’ve never been much for convention anyway. It suits me really well, and caters to my desire for variety. And it makes me really happy to have found a companion who shares the same mindset and desires as me. So this is certainly an adventure from whatever angle you look at it.

So when I’ve talked to people about what I’m doing, the same questions pop up, so I’ll answer those here too, while I’m at it:

• Are you crazy? No, not that I know of. But I’ll have to agree with Jimmy on that one, who says “It’s alright to be crazy, just don’t let it drive you nuts.”

• What about work? I am very fortunate to have a job that really only requires a computer and internet connection. And I am very lucky to have an employer who understands my need for adventure and trusts my ability to work remotely.

• Where exactly are you going? I’ll probably be in southern California for the next two or three months and after that, honestly, who knows?

• Wont you miss everyone? More than you know.

*The photo above was shot in Kauai a few years ago.