Today is my last day of work. I’m terribly excited and I’m afraid I’ve become one of those obnoxious people that dances around the office while everyone looks on in disgust. Nope, I know I’ve become one of those people. I’m wearing my pink party shirt and I WILL strike victory poses in the hall.
There have been tons of articles, blogs, and sundry posted about the new crop of laid-off recessionists who are living off their unemployment and having a damn good time. I can’t claim to have been laid-off so what do I call myself? Rather than tell everyone that I was quitting my perfectly good, fairly well-paid job to vagabond around the continent, I told everyone I was “taking a sabbatical.”
See, everyone understands sabbaticals. They conjure up images of academic expeditions to study beetles or scholarly book-writing. I didn’t have to do as much explaining about why I was hitting the road to travel. At the beginning, I felt the need to justify my trip by interviewing people along the way about their recession experiences. I don’t really need to do that anymore. I’m sure I’ll hear plenty of tall tales, and I promise to credulously document them here. Other than that, I’m wide open.
I like the term funemployment. It accurately portrays my jobless state while indicating that I’m planning to enjoy the hell out of it. Since I’m making a go of supporting myself from my vast network of websites, I could call myself self-employed, but it doesn’t have quite the ring to it. And the odds are good that I’ll have to get a job when I return. Websites just aren’t what they used to be.
So, tomorrow I will wake up without a job and set about packing for my trip to Mt Rainier next week. Huzzah!
Oops - this was set to be published last Wednesday. Stupid blog software…
I’m leaving tomorrow for a 3-4 day ride on the C&O Canal from Cumberland MD to Georgetown, DC. I’m going with a couple of REI coworkers, Lyssa and Brenda. This’ll be my first chance to test out the Big Dummy and my gear on a multi-day tour. The weather is supposed to be rainy and muggy, so it’ll put my new dry bags to the test. The trail is mostly flat, but I’m not sure about its condition, or how bad the mud will be. Good thing I’ve got fat tires.
To inspire me for my trip, a few rousing words from James Elroy Flecker:
“Go as a pilgrim and seek out danger far from the comfort and the well lit avenues of life. Pit your every soul against the unknown and seek stimulation in the comfort of the brave. Experience cold, hunger, heat and thirst and survive to see another challenge and another dawn. Only then will you be at peace with yourself and be able to know and to say; I look down the farthest side of the mountain a fulfilled and understanding all, and truly content that I lived a full life and one that was my own choice.”
image by Joe Hatfield
Below is my bike expedition route outline, You can see that it’s pretty rough and lacks a lot of detail. This is intentional as I’ll be updating as I go and I hope to involve others in figuring out the best way to go. The map is collaborative and can be edited by anyone to show bike-friendly routes, places to stay, and cool things to do. Help a cyclist out and add some stuff to it!
View Francesca’s DC to Managua Bike Route in a larger map
Oh man… I just found a map of the top 50 American craft brewers. Now how many can I hit on my trip? Looks like I might be able to visit the following:
Flying Dog Brewing Co: Denver CO
Breckenridge Brewing Co: Denver CO
Boulder Beer Co: Boulder CO
Anchor Brewing Co: San Francisco CA
Gordon Biersch: San Jose CA
Firestone Walker Brewing Co: Paso Robles CA
Stone Brewing Co: Escondido CA
Colorado and California have a lot of good beer companies. Maybe that’s why they’re so laid back?
Anyone have any personal experience with these places? Any others I should see?