Six and a half days…

It’s really not that far at all. I’m thinking in a very vague hazy way about walking from here to my next contract which is up in Massachusetts in June. It only takes six and a half days to walk all that way. Think of the money I’d save!


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Just kidding. I wouldn’t do it to save money. I’d do it, if I were to do it at all, as a sort of pilgrimage. Who knows how far I’d get. Probably all the way. That seems to be the thing about life: you get where you set out for if you just keep progressing along the path.


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This entry was written by happy thanksgiving, y'all!, posted on March 26, 2009 at 12:29 am.

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20 Comments

  1. Sean
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 1:51 am | Permalink

    Sounds fun to me.

  2. Bret
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 8:16 am | Permalink

    *likes this

  3. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 11:43 am | Permalink

    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2010&version=9;

    9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,

    10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

    http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html

    When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside, when people take you in, eat what they serve you and heal the sick among them.

  4. Ted Heistman
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 11:49 am | Permalink

    11. have waterproof gear because this is New England in Spring and not Palestine.

  5. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm | Permalink

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman

    In parts of Europe, as in later medieval Germany, spending time as a journeyman (Geselle), moving from one town to another to gain experience of different workshops, was an important part of the training of an aspirant master. Carpenters in Germany have retained the tradition of traveling journeymen until today, although only a small minority still practice it.

    http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2008/10/15/whats-a-journeyman/

    which certified him as a journeyman and entitled him to travel to other towns and countries to learn the art from other masters. These journeys could span large parts of Europe and were an unofficial way of communicating new methods and techniques.

  6. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 12:10 pm | Permalink

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/jul/15/careers.work5

    He was looking at a travelling journeyman, a craftsman who had served his apprenticeship and was now following tradition by arriving unannounced, to learn from an acknowledged master and to share his hospitality.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/14/walkingholidays

    Three young men are walking across Britain with no money, living wild and relying on the hospitality of strangers.

    Not saying I’m definitely gonna go this route, but I’m heavily considering the possibilities opening up ahead of me…

  7. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 12:21 pm | Permalink

    Also curious how much of the Appalachian Trail I could use for this purpose…

    http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.../b.4850633/k.9733/Interactive_Map.htm

  8. Ted Heistman
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 12:28 pm | Permalink

    I tried backpacking down the lost coast last week and found myself walking through 48 hours of steady soaking rain. I tried to ford the Mattole river at night in a desperate attempt to get to some trees and ended up going under water and losing my pack. Then I walked 40 miles to town and rented a cabin. The next day it was sunny.

    I got a greyhound from Arcata and stayed in Monterey for a few days and slept on the beach, but it started raining again, so now I just got back to Monterey after three days on a bus. Met lots of other travellers, having mixed experiences hitch hiking, getting arrested picked up by drug addicts.

    It won’t be boring.

  9. Ted Heistman
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 12:40 pm | Permalink

    Not monterey. madison. I just took a three day greyhound bus trip fom monterey to Madiosn.

  10. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 1:23 pm | Permalink

    http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma7/3steps.html

    Rev. Heng Sure ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1976. For the sake of world peace, he undertook a “three steps, one bow” pilgrimage from South Pasadena to Ukiah, traveling more than eight hundred miles, while observing a practice of total silence.

  11. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 1:27 pm | Permalink

    I miss Arcata, not so much the town or the people there, but the redwoods and the dreams I held in my heart going back and forth from there, standing on the beach, wondering what I had done wrong when I was so certain…

  12. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 1:40 pm | Permalink

    Washington didn’t have an easy road to travel.In fact, he used only two routes when riding from Virginia to Boston. The first, the Western Overland Route, was the equivalent of a colonial I-95.“ This route was lined with taverns, which were the Motel 6’s of the day,” says Adam Goodheart, Director of the C.V. Starr Center For the Study of the American Experience, located in Chestertown.

    http://www.whatsupmag.com/life-style/p...cing_George_Washington_s_Travels.aspx

  13. Ted
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 1:48 pm | Permalink

    Yeah, I liked the Redwoods and the beach, too. Most of all I love the Ocean. Arcata and Eureka are ugly towns imo, as far as towns go. You would love Monterey I think. You can see sea otters and Seals and sea lions everyday. Plus 300 year old cypress trees all over.

    But man, it sucks being homeless there, with no job.

    The day after my near drowning incident, though, I lived like a king. This guy let me rent this luxury cabin for 40 bucks. It was stocked with gourmet snack food and a 1995 bottle of Pino. Plus he shared a fat roach with me, while I was drying out my stuff on the wood stove and the next day gave me a ride into Eureka.

    My luck on the road is mixed usually.

  14. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 2:00 pm | Permalink

    My luck on the road is mixed usually.

    I think that’s basically how it works out there…

    I’m really curious if there are any “traditional” American overland pilgrimage routes. This is the closest thing I can think of offhand,

    Washington didn’t have an easy road to travel.In fact, he used only two routes when riding from Virginia to Boston. The first, the Western Overland Route, was the equivalent of a colonial I-95.“ This route was lined with taverns, which were the Motel 6’s of the day,” says Adam Goodheart, Director of the C.V. Starr Center For the Study of the American Experience, located in Chestertown.

    http://www.whatsupmag.com/life-style/p...cing_George_Washington_s_Travels.aspx

  15. Ted
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 2:26 pm | Permalink

    Are you going to hitchhike or make a point of walking it the whole way?

    Next time I go on a backpacking trip I am packing a waterproof bivvy sack and a really warm sleeping bag. If you are warm and dry you will be happy.

    Hitchiking I think the less stuff you have the better. More likely to get picked up. You look stranded and more normal people will stop.

    Hitchhiking is not really in style anymore. You will get the odd friendly hippy couple or group that will stop, other than that it seems like only various predatory types will stop. Plus the police usually stop.

  16. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 2:44 pm | Permalink

    Yeah, I’m with you on the bivvy sack. Been meaning to get one of those for years. I’m thinking maybe of taking my bike up there instead of walking the whole way. Not totally sure yet, really. I just have this overwhelming urge to get out there and do SOMETHING.

    Found this segmented map of an Atlantic Coast bicycle tour, which is about 15 bucks a section for non-members, and I’m also querying some regional biking experts for advice:

    http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/atlanticcoast.cfm?pg=more#top

  17. Ted
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 2:48 pm | Permalink

    Bike trips are awesome!

    Slow enough to really connect and see the region, but if you get into a shitty area you can get through it fast.

  18. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 26, 2009 at 2:51 pm | Permalink

    Also vaguely considering trying to get onto some boat and work my way up the coast in time for the contract…

  19. Julia
    Posted March 27, 2009 at 11:08 pm | Permalink

    Think of the money I’d save!

    This was a favorite quip I heard from a Mafia money launderer I met at work. “He saved the coffee overnight in the fridge, drank it for breakfast in the morning and spent half the day in the washroom. But look at all the money he saved!”

  20. The New Tim Boucher
    Posted March 28, 2009 at 12:34 am | Permalink

    What can I say, I love saving money!

One Trackback

  1. By @tmbchr » Poker & I Ching: Gambling, Divination & The Traveler’s Trades on March 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    [...] to walk away from the table with money, someone else has to walk away with less. Contemplating up-coming long-distance trips, it occurs to me that games like poker may be useful on-the-ground skills for road-weary travelers [...]

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