This post is intended to go beyond describing my intentions for writing this online journal and to better explain what the "Walkabout" is and why I am setting out on this adventure.
I have always been a sucker for personal transformations and people and cultures embracing the traditions of "rites of passage." Whether its to gain acceptance into a group, earning your street cred, learning the ropes, passing a test, or just proving something to yourself. The process that someone goes through, where they transform or grow into a more enlightened person, has ALWAYS inspired me. The Australian Aborigines Walkabout is probably one the most recognized rites of passage in the world. In that culture, young males would set off on a journey, for several months, to RETURN to and live in the wilderness so as to reconnect with "the old ways" and to grow as a man. In a sense I plan to seek the same transition.
The idea is for me to spend a year's time traversing the American landscapes of the US National Parks. Spending roughly 4 days to over a week at each park...setting aside at least 2 months solely in the untamed Alaskan wilderness. I'm sure my back will never forgive me for this, but I will spend the entire year sleeping under the stars, in a tent, under a shelter, or in a hammock. Away from the comforts of modern society. My trusty Jeep Wrangler will be my steed between each of the Parks and will be put to the test as I am guaranteed to come across ALL TERRAIN in the truest sense of the term...mud, snow, ice, rocks, grasslands, sand dunes, beaches, rivers, and mountains. Pending an appropriate start date, I will most likely begin by following a northerly head wind towards Acadia National Park in Maine. From there I will follow a course due west across the Unites States' northern limits until I reach the pacific. Henceforth I will go boldly into the country's final frontier...Wild Alaska. Pending survival, I then set my sights on the contrasting royal majesty and fierce barrenness of the West coast Parks. I will then steer east and tackle the bold landscapes of the American mid-West. If the unpredictable weather of the Rockie Mountains hasn't weakened my resolve, I will head southeast towards Big Bend and the remaining parks the make up the southern half of the United States. To only then return back to familiar territory as an unfamiliar man. I might recognize my "home" but, to my home, I will likely be a gritty, unkempt stranger...a blurry reminder of someone it once knew.
My body might make it back but my mind is certain never to return. It will forever belong to the adventures...to the strangers...to the sights...to the solitude...to the dangers...to the stories...
I've spent the last few days thinking about writing this post but realized I couldn't put the answer to paper. In this post I wanted to describe What and Why. I've vaguely described what this Walkabout will entail but I still need to reflect on the full essence of WHY I am doing this...What I DO know is this... I have to do it. Jack London said it best....its the Call of the Wild.
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