"Sailed not as a seaman, but as a traveler..."

"Sailed not as a seaman, but as a traveler..."- Sir Thomas More's Utopia

Saturday, July 31, 2010

My witness is the open sky.

















My first official post as a nomad on the road. No real home, just a general direction. Last night I slept in my birthplace of California. Tonight, I sleep under Idaho's portion of the vast American sky.

As I begin crossing this groaning continent for the second time, I can't help but feel like Jack Kerouac and I would be best friends. Not just because I was born in San Francisco and we have a Jack Kerouac Alley a few blocks from the Beat Museum, but because I understand. I understand that by trying to fit our immeasurable souls into these limited lives we are all "beaten down and beatific."

I noticed that this blog has gotten a little too serious. So, to mirror my intro post, I will end this thought with Julia Roberts. A few of you have asked me why I hate Julia Roberts. Why do you hate her so, Erick? Let the record show that I do not hate Julia Roberts. I was being facetious. I loved her in Erin Brockovich. I would marry Julia-Erin in a heartbeat. Julia-Erin and I would have incredibly good-looking hapa babies while we saved the world, fighting one greedy utility company at a time.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Real men dance.


Video credit: HH

The above video is of a good friend of mine dancing with a man celebrating his bachelor party. The groom-to-be lost a dice game. His punishment? Dance with a complete stranger, who is also a man.

To me, this is what living is about. To amass experiences, not possessions. I will be the first to admit that I love a good handwoven kilim from Central Anatolia more than any sane person should, but I don't measure my life in the knick knacks I've accumulated. Truth be told, everytime I see that kilim, I remember the two-man team from whom I purchased it from. One so willing to please, with scalding hot cups of tea always at hand while deftly unfurling his carpets like giant sails catching hurricanes, and the other so easily able to distill the most complicated of life's mysteries into heartfelt laughter.

The only way to live is like these men. Allow this painfully enigmatic universe its bellows and sighs and you get this beautifuly unforced unraveling of moments, moments which you wish you could inhabit much longer than they turn out to last.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Enough won't do.

Well, I never thought I'd see the day. I am starting a blog.

Let me just preface this whole dive into the blogging world thing with the fact that I am starting this mostly as a means for friends and family to keep track of me while I take this world and wring its countries of absolute awesome. Basically, because blogs are cheaper (free) than phone cards (not free), this is how everyone will make sure I am not dead from dengue fever somewhere in the rural backlands of India. Or something like that.



Moving on, here is my plan:


  • Quit job [check]
  • Sell car [check]
  • Sell furniture [check]
  • Donate clothes [check-ish]
  • Cash in 401k [check]
  • Travel the world

Only one more thing left on my To-Do List, but to be fair, it's a pretty big thing. Ever since I can remember, I have dreamed about just packing up and going until one day it dawned on me - if not now, when? Now, goddammit. Now.

One last thing. Do not compare what I am doing to Eat, Pray, Love. This is not a trip contrived on the promises of the revenue of a book about self-discovery targeted at today's "modern woman" who is also probably a huge fan of all things Julia Roberts. Just. Don't.