Part Time Vagabond

Travel Inspiration

// October 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // Feature

What inspires you to travel?

For me, the idea to go visit a place can be inspired by any number of things. A television program, a picture, hell, even just the idea I have in my head of a place can make me want to pick up my backpack and hop on a plane. Of course, reality always sets in and I think about paying for the trip and getting time off from work. What if I didn’t have to think about those things? What if I could just pick up and leave? Where would I go?

Where would you go?

Time Machine by Shutr on Flickr

Traveling is more than just going to visit a place. Why would we go otherwise? We don’t go to the Carribbean just to sit on a beach. We go to clear our minds, wipe away distractions, focus and center ourselves. We go to promote health, mental and physical, and we go to have fun, whatever that may be for each of us. Even the classic road trip is a chance for us to concentrate on only a very few things, but to focus deeply on those things. A long time in an enclosed space with one or two other people is a great opportunity to talk about things, whether out loud with your friends or inside your own head.

My friend Angela recently returned from a month in Rome, having gone there with the expectation that she would find inspiration and a direct path to take in her career and life. As I read her blog, I noticed that things were not going as she’d planed. Now that she’s back in the U.S., she’s come to realize that she went into that trip with too many expectations, and that she’s just as confused and unfocused as when she left. She does, however, know what that she doesn’t want to live in Italy; at least, not in Rome. Travel like that can tell you what you don’t want just as much as it can tell you what you do want.

So we know what travel can do while you’re doing it, but my original point was that there is a moment in time when you decide that you want to go somewhere, for whatever reason, and you pick up the phone or jump on the computer to research your options. Why? What inspires you to do that? I have three or four big trips I want to do in the next year, along with several smaller ones. I have this huge pull to do all of them, no matter what stands in my way. One of the biggest is a trip to Ireland. I have no plan other than to go, no itinerary once I get there.

I just want to be there. And what has inspired me to go? Any number of things, including pictures, video, an ex-girlfriend, and “just a feeling.” Yep, completely vague, and I’m ok with that.

So what is your travel inspiration? Where do you want to go?

Born Again Cyclist

// September 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Feature

A few weeks ago, I started getting very interested in bike touring. I like the idea of living my entire life off my bike, even if it’s only for a short time. My brother and I got into mountain biking when we were in our early teens, and he became very much involved in road and mountain biking communities, both in Connecticut and Arizona. He even trained himself and became a bike mechanic. I took a less dedicated approach, but still very much enjoy riding. Now, with my renewed and new interests in biking and bike touring, I found that I’m paying more attention to what people are doing with their bikes. A few weeks ago, my good friend Miss Something of Somethingfound.net found an old bicycle in New York City, completely stripped it down to its bare bones, and refurbished it. She truly made it her own. I asked her about what it’s like to get back on the bike and ride the streets of New York. Read on after the jump. (more…)

Why I Moved to Maine

// August 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Feature

Earlier this year, I decided that I’d had enough of living in New Jersey. It was loud, busy, and annoying. I couldn’t sleep, and I was becoming more depressed with the way things in my life were turning out. It was becoming clear that I needed a change. The following is from a post dated February 3, 2009 from my old blog, the Inside/Out Reality, in which I announced that I would be leaving New Jersey and moving my entire life to Maine:

Ok, so I announced this yesterday on Twitter, but no one seemed to notice. I had to get my email out to my old school friends first, so they’d know. Now, I’m getting the question I both dreaded and knew would be coming: Why are you moving to Maine?

Problem is, I don’t really have a good answer.

i love that i keep getting asked, “Why Maine?” I really just want to say, “Why not Maine?” 9:48 AM yesterday from TweetDeck

I guess it began back in October 2008. I had already been feeling overstressed and very much out of sorts when I decided I wanted to go camping somwhere. I needed the break. The trip I had planned was already falling apart and likely wouldn’t happen. Then my brother called me from Arizona, saying he was moving back East. We hadn’t seen much of each other over the previous 8 years, so it was a good time for us to get back together. I asked him if he wanted to go camping, and when he asked where, I knew: Acadia National Park in Maine. This place holds a very special spot in both our hearts, and has for many years. I love the area, and enjoy being in Maine. My brother attened the University of Maine at Orono, and loves the state. So it was a no brainer.

After a very long and infuriating drive to Maine, I finally started to relax and enjoy my time up there. We had a great weekend in the outdoors, and I finally felt the tension releasing. I didn’t realize how much tension I had released until I made it back home to Jersey City. The first night back in my bed was one of the worst I can remember. Everything was so loud. I heard every siren, every car and truck, every voice outside my window. My roommates (who many of you know are a bit…rambunctious, to say the least) kept me up late as well. I could feel the tension oozing its way back into my body. It was that night when I realized that I was not meant to be here.

My goal when I first moved to New Jersey was to live there no longer than 5 years. Now, at the 5.5 year mark, it’s time for me to go. So why Maine? First, I’m a New Englander. I love it up there. It’s who I am and where I want to be. Second, Maine is a beautiful state. I’m an outdoorsman, and having access to the outdoors is very important to me. I realized that down here in NJ, I wasn’t getting outside nearly enough. Finally, Portland, by all accounts, is a very cool, culturally rich, and highly accessible city in Southern Maine. It’s on the Maine Coast, and close to New Hampshire and Boston.

No, I don’t have a job. No, there’s no girl. It’s just a decision I needed to make for my own sanity, my own health. I certainly have my share of doubts, but everyone I’ve told about the move has said it’s the right one for me, it’s where I should go. I’m not tied down to anything, and I’m still within a half a day’s travel from everyone I care about (including my online buddies!). I love NYC to be sure, and I’ll be visiting as often as I can.

So in the beginning of March, I’ll be calling Portland, ME home. I’ll be looking for work, whether freelance or full-time (or both). And hopefully, I’ll have a cool local brew in my hand and a smile on my face.

Since the original publishing of this post, I’ve realized that the first indication that I wanted to move actually came in June of 2008, when I visited my brother who was living in Flagstaff, Arizona. During that week, I realized how very beautiful and quiet it was out there, and that I wanted that. I had made the decision: I was leaving.