Washed Up

Thirty-four months ago I left my failing startup in Boston. Spending 70+ hours per week in front of screens, I’d been feeling unsettled, and saw travel as the solution, the way into the life I’d always envisioned myself living.

Since then, I haven’t spent more than 10 nights in a row in the same place. In 2013, I slept in 94 beds, in 127 places. I’ve made many lifelong friends, without losing a single one. My focus has been bicycles and sailboats, but I’ve traveled by just about every mode imaginable — chairlifts, airboats, and railways, to name a few.

My physical movement has been a symbol for a deeper journey — I have been, consciously and not, building myself into a global citizen and taking responsibility for my self. The generation I am a part of — widely referred to as “the Millennials” — has an opportunity, the chance to set an example of world-centrism for generations to come.

We can become a humanity that serves as a steward to the Earth and embraces our diversity, that celebrates our differences while focusing on our overwhelming similarities. I know this because I have encountered so many people, from every slice of humanity, who already imbue these qualities. In a time of profound and widespread disillusionment my optimism is unshaken: instead, it is only growing, since it is based on global experience.

I have been reflecting on this for some time, but haven’t yet found an outlet or opportunity to share these ideas, and to help organize this effort. As I wash up on the west bank of the San Miguel to end my third year of itinerant living, I intend to open this conversation. I hope to hear ideas and suggestions on the most effective way towards the future I see — there’s little time to waste.