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Days 173 to 175 - The Drive Home, The Lesson

WEST.  175 days, 1,500 miles hiked, 25,000 miles driven, 75 parks visited.  One Story.

Can you hear the NPR soft voice?!  Haha.

My inner monologue ran constantly as I drove the 2,600 miles home.  After two hours of high mountain desert driving I hit I-40 and headed east, 2,450 miles east.  I drove for 350 miles between stops, powered by caffeine, chocolate and sugar.  I listened to music and political radio, catching up on the world that kept going while I walked.  I stopped at 9pm just east of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

By the next day, the scenery had flattened and I was officially not in the West.  I felt like a trucker, on auto-pilot, making miles, stopping at the truck stops, even stopping in Oklahoma City for an oil change.  I camped for the night a few hours west of Memphis, Tennessee.

I eventually made it to the mountains of North Carolina and then home to my dad's house at 10:30pm on the third day.  I had driven twelve hours a day but didn't feel that bad.  I was pretty good at this thing, I was a road tripper officially now.

One of the most common questions I've received since being home is: "How have you changed?"  And I don't have a good answer to this question.  And I feel kind of sad and ashamed about that.  I quit an amazing job, left the working world at 33 years old to take a six month adventure trip, and came away without a mission, a purpose--a vision for my life?!  Failure. 

But then I realized something: this trip was never a vision quest.  This was always simply an adventure.  That's what I needed at the time.  I had my whole life planned out at 18--go to engineering school, work three years, go to business school, come to Vietri, become President, get married and have kids along the way.  I would often postpone what felt genuine to me or fun for future gain, because I felt like the reward at the end would be worth it.  And it could've been.  A life being President of a successful international family business would've been amazing.  But it wouldn't have been my life.

And in the end, that's what this trip was: Carpe Diem, Seize the Day.  Six months to do exactly what I would want to do with six months of my life if I could custom tailor it--without any thought of future implications--without any thought of social norms--without any thought of family obligation.  It was purely selfish fun.

And goddamn, was it great.

Now, the harder question is how do I take six months of pure fun and apply it to my life going forward.  That question is frankly hard.  I'm struggling with that question.  I've found myself, since being home, falling into the same traps that caught me last time: laziness (too much tv, not enough exercise), over-analysis (too much thinking, not enough action) and seclusion (too much time alone, not enough time with friends and family).  I haven't been seizing the day.

So, perhaps the answer to the question of what to do with my life-- my mission, my purpose, my vision-- perhaps the answer to what "lesson did I learn" from this trip-- is simple:

Exercise a lot, take action today doing things I enjoy (including work), and do it with friends and family as much as possible.

So, thanks for joining me for this six months.  Sharing this experience with all of you brought me incredible joy!  And if you want to go on an adventure-- I AM YOUR MAN, I'M IN.  HOW ABOUT TODAY?  

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