Before, in Clarksville, Indiana.

Before, in Clarksville, Indiana.

After, New Orleans, Louisiana.

After, New Orleans, Louisiana.

It was a blast. No need for more than that. But I will anyway..

For 6 weeks I got my fill of self-reliance and being reminded that I am a part of (as opposed to “apart from”) nature. My life was harsh, yes. But it was also simple, compact–knowable. What makes these escapes appealling to me are the concrete ways in which I’m forced to interact with the world.

Creativity, problem solving, strategizing, perseverance…these are not abstract ideas, but direct acts that I must perform to get through each day. Life is clear, filled to the brim–there is little confusion. Only action and reaction.

And I haven’t even mentioned the people yet, by far the best part. I met so many great individuals that brought me to feel not only closer to them in particular–showing me so much love and support–but also to humanity in general. People care, they are good, and they truly want to look out for eachother–even strangers. I believe we only need to be presented with more concrete, real life opportunities to spread those feelings.

My only regret of this trip is that I didn’t raise money for any cause. I always felt undeserving of help from anyone–I chose to be out there. So when help did happen I wish I’d had some way to redirect that love to someone that truly needed it.

Next time.

Again this adventure was a blast. It felt right from the moment it clicked into my mind until I climbed up onto the levee in New Orleans. What’s next should only feel the same way. So I will wait for that feeling to take me on my next adventure. It may be on the bike or it may not even be physical at all…we shall see.

Thank you everyone for reading the blog and supporting me while I was doing this. We had over 2200 unique visits to the website from over 500 different people. Very impressive. Again, i wish Id only used the platform to raise money for a cause. But since I did not ever ask anything of you before, I will now.

Do something simple and generous for someone else today. Don’t do it for the ‘thank you’…they might not even notice…and you don’t need anyone to validate your acts. Just put positive vibes into your immediate environment–for yourself and those around you.