Pilgrimage
I feel like I owe you an explanation
Over the last few weeks or so I’ve been slowly releasing information on a big undertaking of mine. And I’ve been kinda tiptoeing around the details of what exactly I will be doing. I will be taking a bike and traveling around the contiguous US starting in Pennsylvania. I have a few landmarks in mind I want to hit but I know I will eventually end up in California to visit some family. Otherwise, I will be exploring as I discover. I will be living out of a backpack and using a combination of urban and wilderness survival to live as “free“ as possible. When I say free, I mean both monetarily and metaphysically. I have had several weeks now to really precisely figure out what I will be doing, but at first I didn’t really know how to explain this.
Initially what I told others was some variation of, “I’ll be moving“. While not untrue, that is a gross understatement. And slightly misrepresentative if I’m being completely honest. But it was safe. Moving requires no additional explanation. After a while I started saying, “I’m going backpacking“ or“I’m going cross-country” or something to that effect. Way more accurate, but its still leaving something out.
The destination
Inevitably the question would come up, “So where are you going?“. And, I get it. It makes sense. Logical question to ask. So, I would answer it, “I’m headed to California, taking the scenic route.”
That was a mistake. I gave an answer out of comfort. Fear. I was afraid of baring myself. Of being honest. Of living openly. I’m hoping to rectify that.
I have no intention of stopping. I will live nomadically.
This is my mission statement. The nomadic life style, I have come to realize, is the natural progression of multiple of my personal philosophies. I try to live minimally, and there is no better way to do that than to carefully vet every single thing I own because I will be carrying it on my back. I’m an avid proponent and practitioner of self defense and emergency survival techniques, but I’ve never bet my life on my theory. I don’t actually know if any of it works. It’s never been stress tested. I’ve never been stress tested.
In summary; I am abandoning excess, restrictions, and theory. And embracing necessity, freedom, and practical experience. To do this I am embarking on a pilgrimage. One where the journey itself is the destination.
“Let go your earthly tether. Enter the void. Empty and become wind.”