It has been a few weeks of being busy and active, but other than almost daily walks most of the business has been on real life issues.
One thing: preparation for the walk has me quitting smoking. That's a big step for me. I have smoked since I was in the Marine Corps. That's 27 years. Smoking has been a constant in my life. It has been a comfort during the bad times. It has given me regular breaks to catch my mental and emotional breath before going back into life. It has been social time, relaxation time, thinking time.
On to new things...
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
It's Official!
The walk will be supporting and raising funds for Bitcoin for Children, www.bitcoinforchildren.com.
Bitcoin is all about the future, and there is no better investment in our future than our children. ALL of them. There can be no social or financial revolution or even change without supporting, planning, and caring for the children who will live in the world that we create.
In that cause, all BTC donated for the walk that is not used directly for the walk will be donated to Bitcoin for Children.
Bitcoin is all about the future, and there is no better investment in our future than our children. ALL of them. There can be no social or financial revolution or even change without supporting, planning, and caring for the children who will live in the world that we create.
In that cause, all BTC donated for the walk that is not used directly for the walk will be donated to Bitcoin for Children.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
More progress
Good things happening in the bitcoin world, and it makes the walk easier.
Thank to gyft.com, certain hotel and motel stays can be purchased with bitcoin. This is a good thing and solves about 1/3 of the lodging problem.
As I have noted before, I am not at all adverse to camping on the side of roads if I need to. That is fine for the long expanses, but there are problems:
Doing in so in Cities is probably frowned upon. Vagrancy laws apply here, and that isn't even mentioned the basic safety issues.
I am sure that the law enforcement agencies that cover the highways would not appreciate a tent on the side of the road. That won't necessarily stop me in rural areas, but it is certainly something to consider.
Campgrounds and hostels have several advantages, most importantly meeting and talking with more people. Not to mention that they are cheaper than hotels. I would prefer these options whenever possible.
The 'possible' part comes into play here.
Between my own funds and donated funds, I want to be as frugal as possible. I have contacted a bitcoin-related charity that I believe strongly in, and while I can't give specifics, any bitcoin I have left after the walk will go to that charity. The more I raise, the less I spend, the more I have left, the more goes to a worthy cause.
Hopefully I will have more details on this soon.
Thank to gyft.com, certain hotel and motel stays can be purchased with bitcoin. This is a good thing and solves about 1/3 of the lodging problem.
As I have noted before, I am not at all adverse to camping on the side of roads if I need to. That is fine for the long expanses, but there are problems:
Doing in so in Cities is probably frowned upon. Vagrancy laws apply here, and that isn't even mentioned the basic safety issues.
I am sure that the law enforcement agencies that cover the highways would not appreciate a tent on the side of the road. That won't necessarily stop me in rural areas, but it is certainly something to consider.
Campgrounds and hostels have several advantages, most importantly meeting and talking with more people. Not to mention that they are cheaper than hotels. I would prefer these options whenever possible.
The 'possible' part comes into play here.
Between my own funds and donated funds, I want to be as frugal as possible. I have contacted a bitcoin-related charity that I believe strongly in, and while I can't give specifics, any bitcoin I have left after the walk will go to that charity. The more I raise, the less I spend, the more I have left, the more goes to a worthy cause.
Hopefully I will have more details on this soon.
Friday, March 28, 2014
"No one can walk 1500 miles!"
As conversations go, there are days when the walk comes up a lot, and days when it doesn't come up at all. And then there are the days like today when I am on the phone talking about the walk and talking to local businesses about taking bitcoin.
I got a lot of skeptical looks, which is to be expected. One man stopped short of calling me a liar and looked at me like I was crazy. And then there was that one lady. "No one can walk 1500 miles!"
Well yes, actually. People can, and many, many have walked farther.
I can understand completely that most people haven't heard of the Peace Pilgrim, Nate Damm, Peter Jenkins, or the hundreds (I think) of others who have walked from coast to coast.
What I can't understand is that people have no conception of travel before cars, or apparently that they think that travel didn't happen before cars.
I can only be amazed. And not in a good way.
I got a lot of skeptical looks, which is to be expected. One man stopped short of calling me a liar and looked at me like I was crazy. And then there was that one lady. "No one can walk 1500 miles!"
Well yes, actually. People can, and many, many have walked farther.
I can understand completely that most people haven't heard of the Peace Pilgrim, Nate Damm, Peter Jenkins, or the hundreds (I think) of others who have walked from coast to coast.
What I can't understand is that people have no conception of travel before cars, or apparently that they think that travel didn't happen before cars.
I can only be amazed. And not in a good way.
One year from today
One year from today I will be in San Diego and will start walking north.
I imagine that day over and over. I imagine talking with the bitcoiners in many cities and town. I imagine talking with store owners and vendors to convince them that bitcoin is a good payment option.
I also imagine long hours and days walking alone. I imagine the beautiful California vistas and the hills I will need to crest.
I imagine being away from my family, long phone or skype session, and hoping they are charting my progress and proud of me. Or at least tolerant.
I'll be posting more about my motivations and reasons. I'm still wrapping my head around some of them. Some of them I have already written about here. The bitcoin part is easy, or at least it is on the surface.
The walking part, well, isn't. My reasons are as clear in my head and emotions as a summer sunset, but articulating them isn't as easy.
Part of it is adventure. Part is pilgrimage. Part of it is connecting with myself and environment, urban and rural. Part is meeting people of good will, and navigating those who aren't. Part is time to myself and part is meeting new people. Part is mourning the past and part is celebrating the future.
It is all of that and more.
365 days and counting.
I imagine that day over and over. I imagine talking with the bitcoiners in many cities and town. I imagine talking with store owners and vendors to convince them that bitcoin is a good payment option.
I also imagine long hours and days walking alone. I imagine the beautiful California vistas and the hills I will need to crest.
I imagine being away from my family, long phone or skype session, and hoping they are charting my progress and proud of me. Or at least tolerant.
I'll be posting more about my motivations and reasons. I'm still wrapping my head around some of them. Some of them I have already written about here. The bitcoin part is easy, or at least it is on the surface.
The walking part, well, isn't. My reasons are as clear in my head and emotions as a summer sunset, but articulating them isn't as easy.
Part of it is adventure. Part is pilgrimage. Part of it is connecting with myself and environment, urban and rural. Part is meeting people of good will, and navigating those who aren't. Part is time to myself and part is meeting new people. Part is mourning the past and part is celebrating the future.
It is all of that and more.
365 days and counting.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Heh heh heh
I've spent the last few days compiling lists and contacts to request sponsorship for the walk.
The few companies I have contacted thus far have yielded no replies. Pretty much expected. They've got to think I'm a crackpot. After all, walking 1500 miles? On bitcoin? This guy has to be completely nuts.
Yup. Guilty as charged.
The few companies I have contacted thus far have yielded no replies. Pretty much expected. They've got to think I'm a crackpot. After all, walking 1500 miles? On bitcoin? This guy has to be completely nuts.
Yup. Guilty as charged.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Politics
For the last week or so I have been actively resisting saying anything about politics. I wanted to keep this blog about the walk and nothing else. Some part of me wanted the purity of the project to preserved.
I have my personal reasons for this. For most of my life I have been the odd man out. I have been beaten for my beliefs. I have been persecuted, shunned, penalized. My family does not speak to me because of my beliefs. My 'friends' have turned their backs on me.
I am a child of the 80s, of that slim generation caught between the Baby Boomers and the so-called Generation X. I belong to neither. I sometimes envy my children and the current generation for being able to be more open about their beliefs with less persecution and pain than I had, even though their pain is still considerable.
What are my beliefs that are so heretical?
That ALL people deserve respect and care regardless of any other consideration. That ALL children should be cared for, provided with food, water, education to their capacities, and most of all they must be loved.
That no religion has a monopoly on truth. That art and science enrich our lives. That no class, ancestry, or gender of people inherently deserves praise or condemnation for accident of birth.
Social justice is not limited to one gender or another, and so I cannot be feminist. All genders must be protected equally and there MUST be a level playing ground.
We are one species, and so I cannot promote one so-called race above another. ALL people must be accorded the same respect.
Love cannot be limited by gender, religious belief, social mores, and most especially by law.
That it is the responsibility of each of us to make our communities, environs, and the world itself better for our having been in it. That our children should enjoy better than we were given and that they in turn bear that responsibility for theirs.
We can no longer afford to be selfish, nor enthocentric in any of their forms. We never really could.
Why have I been condemned for these beliefs? Because there is no 'ism' or 'ist' label that does not violate them. We are all guilty. I am condemned because I expect people to at least attempt to rise to the greatness and wisdom that we could hold instead of descending into material or self-righteous comfort. I expect people to do the work to make things better for ALL instead of promoting their own limited views, interests, and comforts.
I may be expecting too much from us, but it is easily within grasp.
If only we would reach for it.
I have my personal reasons for this. For most of my life I have been the odd man out. I have been beaten for my beliefs. I have been persecuted, shunned, penalized. My family does not speak to me because of my beliefs. My 'friends' have turned their backs on me.
I am a child of the 80s, of that slim generation caught between the Baby Boomers and the so-called Generation X. I belong to neither. I sometimes envy my children and the current generation for being able to be more open about their beliefs with less persecution and pain than I had, even though their pain is still considerable.
What are my beliefs that are so heretical?
That ALL people deserve respect and care regardless of any other consideration. That ALL children should be cared for, provided with food, water, education to their capacities, and most of all they must be loved.
That no religion has a monopoly on truth. That art and science enrich our lives. That no class, ancestry, or gender of people inherently deserves praise or condemnation for accident of birth.
Social justice is not limited to one gender or another, and so I cannot be feminist. All genders must be protected equally and there MUST be a level playing ground.
We are one species, and so I cannot promote one so-called race above another. ALL people must be accorded the same respect.
Love cannot be limited by gender, religious belief, social mores, and most especially by law.
That it is the responsibility of each of us to make our communities, environs, and the world itself better for our having been in it. That our children should enjoy better than we were given and that they in turn bear that responsibility for theirs.
We can no longer afford to be selfish, nor enthocentric in any of their forms. We never really could.
Why have I been condemned for these beliefs? Because there is no 'ism' or 'ist' label that does not violate them. We are all guilty. I am condemned because I expect people to at least attempt to rise to the greatness and wisdom that we could hold instead of descending into material or self-righteous comfort. I expect people to do the work to make things better for ALL instead of promoting their own limited views, interests, and comforts.
I may be expecting too much from us, but it is easily within grasp.
If only we would reach for it.
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