Since leaving Asheville back in May, our trip has taken us from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the heights of the Empire State Building. Along the way, we have traveled over 10,000 miles and crossed the borders of 23 states and 1 foreign country. It has been a memorable journey so far.
It has been a gift to have the time and resources to make this trip. We have had some amazing experiences including participating in the Bryce 100, canoeing down the Green River, and bicycling into Quebec. Our travels have given us the opportunity to reconnect with old friends now far flung across the country and to spend extended periods of time with our family.
We are back in the Southeast now, and as the heat of summer finally begins to dissipate, a new phase of the journey is about to begin. Our bank accounts won’t allow us to continue traveling indefinitely and for now, our restless urges are satiated. We are preparing to get back to work. We will spend October working bicycle tours in the Outer Banks before settling down for the winter months in Southwest Florida where Mary will work as a nurse in Naples and I will cook for the staff and students of North Carolina Outward Bound in Everglades City.
Although it has been challenging at times, being homeless and living The Dirtbag Way has not gotten old yet. We will enjoy being in one location for a few months, but we have no intention of staying put long term anytime soon. The freedom and lightness we are experiencing right now is far more appealing to us than the weight of responsibility we were feeling as full-time employees and home owners. So as we wind down into a period of relative stability, thoughts of the next adventure will fill our days and our nights will be consumed with dreams of the road.
Thanks for being a role model! As I ease into the the thirties I ask myself (and my family and peers as me!) when or where I plan to “settle”. My partner Esteban and I are getting married and the number one question in the air is which country we will decide to permanently live in. The closest thing we have to an answer is neither.
We bought a mini-van last month to better support our dirtbag way and we are constantly scheming on how we can financially support ourselves with seasonal jobs that will allow us the time to travel the world. We have been building the gear necessary to start up our own kayak guide service in Bariloche, Argentina over the past few years and we are pretty much there. I wanted to share that with you as a fellow dirtbagger. If you ever find yourself way down south we would extend whatever we could to help support your adventure. And if you know of folks looking for a good guide service there tell them to look up LetsGoPatagonia. We’ve purchased the rights to that name and aspire to have a website by Feb 2016 or sooner.
Hope you have an amazing winter in the Glades. Thanks for inspiring and showing us that we don’t ever have to give up the dream.
Thanks Lark. Mary and I have definitely been thinking alot about vans lately. The Matrix is serving us well, but we sure would like to just be able to pull over somewhere and not have to set-up a tent.
It’s exciting to hear about your plans as well. It’s funny, we had a big Patagonia trip in the planning stages over a decade ago and ended up using the money to buy a house instead. Though I don’t in any way regret the decision as it lead to so many other opportunities, we do feel that we have some unfinished business and would love to catch up with you down there one of these days.