About James and his Bike

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vag·a·bond
ˈvaɡəˌbänd/
noun
  1. 1.
    a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job.
         My name is James and I like to ride my bicycle. I was born and raised in a tiny speck of a town in rural Oregon and that’s where I stayed until I was 22. I decided I needed some radical change in my life so I enlisted in the Navy with the hope of going out and seeing the world. I returned 6 years later having been to 16 countries, seeing and doing things I never thought I would all while getting paid to do it! Joining the Navy was one of the best the decision I’ve ever made but it’s left me with an extreme case of wanderlust. So now I’m setting out to explore my own country the long and slow way: one peddle stroke at a time.
         Now travel by bicycle may seem like a crazy (some would say stupid) or impractical idea but consider this: an average self-supported bicycle tourist can support him or herself with approximately 600 per month while on the road. 600! That’s waaayyy less than the average person pays in rent alone. So after the military I figured I’d do the normal thing: find a place to live, get a job and start the rest of my life. But the more I thought of doing that the less appealing it sounded. I wanted to do something extreme, something I could look back on later and be like, “Fuck yeah, past James, you were a total badass”. So I’m taking this golden opportunity that I have before me. The holy trifecta of a wannabe traveller. The time,  the money and the inclination and I’m making the most of it. I can think of no greater expression of freedom than to wake up everyday and have nothing more in front of me then to break camp and figure out where the day is going to lead me. I’ll follow the general direction of my route, stopping wherever and whenever I want. If I like a place I may stay a few days and explore more or keep riding; no agenda but to see and do and experience everything I possibly can. Then, when I decide that i’m finished, I will have hopefully figured out what I want to do with the rest of my life. So that’s that. Tally-ho, mates!