I booked a solo trip across the western half of the US in hopes it would deny me access to my addictions and bad habits long enough for me to break or replace them with healthier choices. I chose Amtrak so I could focus on writing and increase my constant contact with people in hopes of lowering my social anxiety. It may not be the best plan, but it’s the only one a desperate mind could formulate.
Full disclosure: When this trip was originally planned, it was going to be a one-way affair. I had full intention of selling everything I had, packing a bag and hitting the road with no turning back. There were places I wanted to see before this life ended – because once the money ran out, so did my life. I’d be found somewhere on the West Coast facing sunset. To be honest, if I get home and nothing has changed… Well… There’s always the west coast option.
Is such an extreme choice based on my most recent life changing event? Lord no. I am supremely resilient and stubborn. I have above average intelligence, can adapt very quickly, am quite resourceful, and can blend into my surroundings when necessary. I have been a survivor since childhood. One event such as this is but a hiccup in the unpaved logging road that has been my life.
I have to try and balance each entry I make with my intentions of eventually writing a book so some of my entries may not be the full story, may start in the middle, or even at the end of something. More than 95% of this blog will be written on the fly. Only things that come to mind when my laptop isn’t around will be scheduled in.
Off The Rails 