Ready to Embark

John Steinbeck wrote, "When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult. He has a built-in garden of reasons to choose from. Next he must plan his trip in time and space, choose a direction and a destination. And last he must implement the journey. How to go, what to take, how long to stay. This part of the process is invariable and immortal."

This cross-country trip was designed out of a morsel of a concept wherein I wanted to discover the country in which we live. I started thinking about going cross-country, a serious thought that is, while I was in Washington, D.C. and Virginia in April on a school trip. I looked at the beautiful foliage along the highway, and I realized there was so much of this country that I haven't seen. So, an idea was born. This morsel of a concept, as I called it, grew to become this journey that begins next week, in just a few days.

As I have been preparing for this trip, mentally as well as physical preparations, I have concluded that the timing is right. That I need to leave some things behind, and go forward, westward from the "normalcy" of home that I know now. Like Steinbeck writes, I truly feel like a "wayward man" right now. Our trip has already had a minor setback, but the timing is truly right. I need to soldier on and cross paths with as many people in this country as possible, and start my path forward into my life as it's to come. And I want to, or I need to, do this through this trip. My life moving forward will not be the same after this trip. Traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific on an unconventional path, but along one long constant line that spans an entire continent, is something I need to do, and something that has been 22 years in the making.

Please check the blog as often as you can, as I will be updating as often as I can. Many of our hotels have free wifi.
A quick word about my companions: Matt I have known since high school, and we have been very close friends since then, going to college together and living together for a year. He is the link to my past: high school and college. Jeff represents my current and future state: as a teacher at Sachem. Jeff teaches English with me at Sachem North HS.

Jeff, Matt, and I will be leaving from New Jersey Monday afternoon and driving straight through the Keystone State to Ohio. I appreciate that we are leaving the comforts of the east coast and any states that border the Atlantic. We are effectively leaving our known selves behind us, hopefully discovering a new personality along the road.

John Steinbeck continues, "A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us."

I'm ready to embark and let this trip take me.