| Ult’s American Walkabout |
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October 1998–October 1999
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Map of Ult's American Walkabout |
Journal of Ult's American Walkabout |
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A walkabout is a
journey which an Australian
aboriginal youth takes as a rite of passage
into adulthood. In the U.S., of course, we
don’t walk; we drive.
This web site was established for the purpose of communicating with my friends and family while I am on the road, to share my experiences and just keep in touch. If you don’t know who I am, or why you’re here, that’s okay. Neither do I. |
“...now that he had utterly wrecked his reason he fell into
the strangest fancy that ever a madman had in the whole world.
He thought it fit and proper, both in order to increase his renown
and to serve the state, to turn knight errant and travel through the
world with horse and armour in search of adventures...”
-- Cervantes, The Adventures of Don Quixote |
So I’m doing the American
version, driving around the country in my
Why? Why leave a comfortable home, irreplaceable friends, a promising career, to go gallivanting around this boring ol’ country?
Good question. The only 100% honest answer is because I felt that it was the right thing to do. However, there are lots of more verbose answers which might shed some light on the topic.
Here are some of the things I hoped to get out of the trip:
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Slow down time.
The older I get, the faster time seems to go by, and it was going by too fast for my comfort. I was hoping that by going into unfamiliar environments, I’d have enough new experiences that each day would be unique, rather than all running together.
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Keep me on my toes.
When you know what to expect, it’s not particularly interesting when it happens. So by not knowing what to expect, I’ll be forced to react dynamically to whatever does happen.
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Introspection.
As you might have noticed, I’m pretty obsessed with me. So naturally I’d want to spent a little more time paying attention to me, learning more about me, and writing all about me. This is a great plan until I get sick of me, but can’t get rid of me. At least maybe then I’ll stop talking about me.
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Time alone.
When I’m alone for long stretches of time, I tend to get creative and inspired in different ways than when I’m around other people a lot. Both are great, but it’s a challenge to have a balance between them.
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Practice didgeridoo.
I’ve been playing for a few years now, and I can see lots of ways I could improve, so here’s some time to practice.
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See the country.
I’d like to see the world, too, but I thought this would be a good first step. That way when I meet someone in India who asks me if the Grand Canyon is really big, I’ll be able to tell him. Except that we won’t understand each other, so I’ll probably accidentally say his mother’s sari has more cloth than an elephant’s parachute, and then he’ll cast the curse of the ingrown eyebrows on me, the only cure for which is to sleep naked on a bed of jellyfish.
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Re-prioritize my life’s goals.
Yeah, right. But I am questioning how important a computer career is, versus other exciting pursuits. I don’t know what the answer will be, but my best guess right now is that I’ll return to software development, but in a way that allows me to spend time and energy on other things as well.
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Take a break!
Ten years is too long to spend doing the same thing. Not that I have, but it sounds good to say.
So there it is. I’m sure I forgot some stuff, like “Learn how to fix a 1974 van,” but I think I got the important ones.