Leaving

Today I am leaving for a road trip that I have planned for years. I will be leaving home and this time I won’t be coming back to stay. The plan for this trip is to kayak and backpack the best places that this country has to offer then settle down where I see fit. I will leave Maryland with my car packed with everything I could need for two months of adventuring on the road. I’ll be accompanied by one of my best friends Sam. We’ll begin our trip by going to Colorado and after that nothing is certain.  I don’t know where the trip will take us or how it will shape who I am. It is my unknowing that drives me to go. I learn the most about myself when pushing my boundaries and leaving my comfort zone. This will be by far my biggest step yet. As I leave the east coast, I leave my previous life and almost everyone I have ever known.

 I want to create my own path moving forwards and not to follow the path that has been laid out before me. It would have been safer for me to commit to getting a job in a city to start my career early and in no way am I criticizing those that do. For me it didn’t make sense though. I know there is more to life for me that I have to experience outside the bounds of my familiar life on the east coast. I have been fortunate enough to get the opportunity to follow my vision through the support of my family and to them I am eternally grateful.  

The beginning of my journey won’t be a commute to work. My beginning will be a pursuit of genuine human experience as I meet people and adventure around the best natural playgrounds that our country has to offer. I will be planning for the future as well as I live in the moment day to day. I will get to experience freedom in its purest form as I roam. Humans weren’t built to live plush lives indoors.

 I don’t want to pretend that I’m not putting myself in danger because I am. The biggest rewards in life aren’t the ones that come safely. I enjoy living on the edge not only for the thrill, but also because of what it teaches me about life. I must take my risks carefully because the potential consequences are real and I’m not invincible. Overcoming a dangerous situation through my skills and wit makes me feel strong. It lets me feel the excitement and emotions that humans are evolutionarily meant to experience. The strong survive and I will survive.  

Things will be different. I’ll miss home. I’ll miss family and friends. It is time for me to go though. I must become a man and this is something that I must earn. There are so many great people in my life that I wish I could have gotten more time with before leaving. I won’t forget those who I have left behind and I hope to give back to those that I meet along the way. I’ll keep posting my stories for those that care for what I have to share.

It is time to see what I can make of myself on my own.