Dropping Out

It started out with my friend Dan. A couple years back, he decided he had enough of the 9-to-5 life and quit a really, really good job to go see the world. It’s not all roses and paradise, but he’s never looked back. Then Vez took off for a year. Then I started ultra running and met Sweeney, Shacky, Vanessa, Mike Miller, Olaf and a ton of others who simply wouldn’t accept routine anymore and decided to live a real life, which does not include slaving away for 40 hours every week.

I thought they were either very rich or really crazy, and likely a bit of both.

But it got me thinking. It got me looking at my own life differently and seeded a yearning that never went away. I want my life to be filled with adventures, I want to go with the flow, follow my instincts, wherever they take me. Mike Miller helped me realize it; I’m a disperser. Deep down inside, I’m a nomad.

So I made the move. I’m going off-grid.

I’m leaving on a sabbatical. I’m selling my car, downgrading my motorcycle and subletting my apartment. I’ve cut down on buying crap and saved some money, and I lowered my available salary to compensate my revenue while I’m gone. In a little over two months, I’m going to be homeless. And it feels awesome.

I’m going to pack only what I really need and stuff it into El Capitan, my $1,300 used camper van I found in classified ads. Then I hit the road. I’ll travel around Quebec for a part of summer, then head down to the West Coast to go running with my friends. I’ll probably spend fall on the West Coast, with a couple trips back and forth to do fun things like visit my Belle in Montreal and maybe go run in Korea with Dan. I’ll hang out in Boulder, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas, not necessarily in that order. My only plan: no plan.

When December closes in, I’ll cross over to Mexico and drive down to the Canyons to hang out with my friend Keith and to attend the annual Rarajipare. I’ll hop over to the Baja at some point, maybe to meet my Belle and drive around for her vacation. I’ll drop by Sayulita if Olaf is still around, then try to convince him to come down to Nicaragua with me for our friend Josue’s awesome volcano race, followed by UMCB of course. The rest is a big blur, and I love it that way.

I’ll use FlintLand as my link with you. I want to take some time to write about places and people, about my running and the events I’ll attend and about living small and free in a camper van. I want to share and connect, explore and discover, experience and struggle.

I want to live.