Adventures To Nowhere

08/27/2023

"Can't"

Can't jump onto the roof of a two story building.

Can't wade across the Atlantic.

Can't convince my two year old to eat dinner if it isn't mac and cheese.

"Can't" is this killer word that makes convinces us of impossibility and depreciates our own capability. I'm not into it. "Shouldn't," and "That's probably a bad idea," hell yeah, those make sense, and in their own way they're motivating.

"Shouldn't use cheap gear," Let's try it (pictured here with a Mardingtop 60L).

"Its probably a bad idea to camp in a hammock in winter," We'll see about that (it's the best).

Motivating with momentum, laughing off failure, and experiencing the beauty of the other side of the suck are all part of what makes adventure unique, leave us with core memories, and hopefully a little smile as we traverse our lives.

04/29/2023

A mid morning meander through the woods. It's in and the are already making an appearance.

That said don't eat the fuzzy ones.

04/23/2023

Today, instead of going straight to the gym I opted for a rainy jog along Sucker Brook Trail in Williston, VT. You may wonder why I didn't do this when it was 70⁰ and sunny...

And I may ask myself the same thing.....

01/11/2023

I love the mountains. I love being deep in the wilderness, out of cell service with a ruck on a hill.

My commutes in Vermont have always been glorious in some way. The kids and I had a huge commute for years. Sometimes that was tough for all of us but the frickin majesty of the hills, sunrises and sunsets was enough to bring things around for the final stretch.

A short walk on the suburban trails behind our Essex condo left me with reminders of absence of color in the woods in winter. And the commute home today reminded me how wrong I am. And the chime from my 2 year old (who's only just started to talk) in the back seat, "Hello mountain," well there's not many ways to describe that feeling.

01/07/2023

Whelp... I hiked most of Northern Vermont 2021, hammocking in some very remote locations often in sub-freezing temps. Then I took a 2021 718 through Maine over 3 days and 1500 miles. And then bombed around Los Angeles in a 2021 Challenger 392 Honeybee.

I figure a combination of 2021 and 2022 is in order.

2023's Adventure To Nowhere is becoming a bit clearer, as I'm sure anyone can see...

Follow along this year with irregular posts and updates as we build this 208,000 mile, $7,000 2011 Chevrolet Suburban into something truly capable of all the needs of the whimsically adventurous Suburban Dad.

Big thanks to my amazing mechanic, Nick, who cranked out lots of suspension work including Bilstein Shock Absorbers and a 2" level on the 'Burban this morning! More to come!!

12/26/2022

I find my zen at a million miles per hour. Things make sense at that speed.

11/05/2022

over

On a whimsy, sitting on the sofa at my sister, Ariel's Hollywood apartment waiting to leave for my flight home, I jumped up and announced I was taking the to for some final pictures. Ariel opted to co-pilot and we unleashed the along the winding roads. I joked that this would be "Classic Adventures To Nowhere and we'll get there two minutes too late."

I was right. But the sunset was for me and Ariel, a farewell of sorts. Cresting Mulholland the sky offered us a glimpse of the that we witnessed driving up. I give you this picture as a whisper of something greater. As we got back in the car the lyrics came through from Pandora:

"And you run and you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again"

I laughed. It was one of those moments that no one would believe if there wasn't a witness.

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older"

The last time I was here was the original to Nowhere. I was 19, I think, and the US was at a pivotal point of change. There was still a strong smell of Cold War across the country that had been compounded by the 9/11 attacks. Now, at least three apocalypses later, looking back on that time it seems like a million years ago, both for me personally and in the of society and culture. When we left on that trip the world seemed huge and we had set out looking for our place in it.

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"

In a recent post I alluded that I still question the definition of an "Adventure to nowhere." Truth is I have that answer and I know the pieces that go into one. I know what the formula is that make up these trips. I know how important the concept of being on an "Adventure to Nowhere" is in inspiring my daily life. I know what these answers are for me, and they are mine. And maybe over the right beer at the right time and to the right person I'll give those answers.

But for now what I can say is this; The days are just as long as three years or decades or even centuries ago, it's just that makes them feel shorter. We don't lose our improvisational or our ability to see and in the world, it's just sometimes we forget how. And maybe with a bit of and a lot of we can find those lost minutes and rekindle the fire of wonderment and awe.

11/02/2022

11/01/2022

I find air travel to be a particularly contentious and occasionally unavoidable endeavor. Being a germy human in a meat suit with my own rubber on the ground, be it boots or wheels, is a comfortable scenario. Being a germy meat sack jammed in a tin can hurtling at 400mph at 30,000 feet has always felt particularly unsettling to me. But hey

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=112254641686200&id=100087049922981&sfnsn=mo

The greatest thing about especially over is there is no apparent reasonable hour. It's nearly acceptable to get obliterated at 6am, and at the very least people don't blame you for it.

"A beautiful deep ruby sheen with tinges of violet and a delicate and eloquent bouquet. A pleasant wine with a fairly well-established flavor revealing hints of dark fruit and violet."

I don't know about all that but it at least it mutes the taste of TSA.