Adrift in Space

[Phoo]

Star Date: 2017.1.7
Odometer: 0
Local Coordinates: 40.043055, -75.460540
Ship’s Log:
-Prologue-
It feels a little bit like standing near the edge of a cliff. Every spare minute of the past two months has been dominated by planning, preparation or just daydreaming about this trip. As I type up this first post in this log, that I wasn’t sure I’d ever have the opportunity to create, I’m just over three days out. That’s three days and one undoubtedly restless night before I pull chocks and light the engines on my tiny spacecraft, then make the jump to hyperspace.

At first, it was just a point on the horizon, but that cliff is now just precious inches away. The idea of a “point of no return” is largely an artificial construct, in my case. I could always scrub the launch if I really wanted to, but I won’t. Early Wednesday morning, I’m going head first over the figurative edge. The sudden deceleration at the end may not be terribly pleasant, but I think and hope that the ride will at least be interesting.

In the next three days, I have a little bit of vehicle prep ahead of me, some organizing of things into containers, some last-minute paperwork and then few hours to quietly contemplate the decisions that have led me to this point. For the next year (plus or minus), I’ll be taking a general break from my current existence to travel, explore, and experience. I will attempt to document my adventures here.

(Note – There’s a bit more to say here, and I’ll consider the next few posts as part of the same general entry)

 

[Tucsontom]

Where are you headed, for how many light years and in what type of space ship?

 

[Phoo]

-Who is Phoo–
Foo with an F, by definition, is a generic name for more or less anything. ‘Phoo with an apostrophe-P-H is an abbreviation of Tayphoo. Tayphoo is a whimsical nickname that rhymes with a gelatinous soy product. A high school friend coined it, and it has managed to follow me for about twenty years now. My parents, however, call me something different, but that won't be discussed here. At present, I shall define myself as a temporarily retired engineer and wannabe adventurer. I also enjoy riding bikes, riding snow, taking pictures, and occasionally writing. I'll not promise to be good at any of these things, but I try.
‘Phoo does not enjoy long walks on the beach.

-Spacepod Rising-
After much research and contemplation, I determined this to be the best ready available option for a strange trip across time and space. It will serve as my home, life support system, storage closet and star cruiser. Behold The Spacepod:

It is a 2008 Toyota Sienna AWD with a fair number of miles on the clock. My list of “mods” include a cot, some milk crates, a roof box and a full sized spare tire.

-Phoo's Excellent Adventure or Good Luck Finding Yourself-
Before I announced that I would be pulling the D-ring on “normal adult life”, I considered posting up a thread in the trip planning sub-forum entitled “How to Drop the News on Your Friends, Family and Coworkers”. I'm sure that would have been an interesting discussion, but I didn't. When I did break the news, the responses were varied, colorful, and can generally be categorized as one of three primary types:

OMGyergonnaDIE! (Gripping fear of the outside world)
DoodWut? (Total confusion by the decision to quit a stable job in order to live in a van)
Sweet Bro! (congratulations and/or admiration)

My favorite comment, however (and I heard several permutations of it), was “good luck finding yourself”.
To the logical question of “where are you going?”, my silly/sarcastic answer has been, “LEFT”. More specifically, I don't have a very well defined route at the moment, other than to head west for the lovely mountains on the opposite (from me) side of the continent. My rough, sketchy plan includes a low pass through Chicago airspace, a slingshot through Colorado and the southwest, eventually turning final somewhere in volcano territory of the PNW.

I will certainly go places and see things, though, I do not classify this as a sight-seeing trip. I will be bringing along both my splitboard and mtb with me. As such, the most significant adventure and exploration will be through those respective lenses.

As far as Finding Myself is concerned, I do intend to push myself mentally and physically in ways that office life does not allow, but I also like to think I already have a good handle on who I am at this point in life. I've seen over 12,775 sunrises, by goly!
But who knows. Perhaps, late at night, deep in the mountains on some lonely dirt road, I'll be confronted by the snarling beast of existential quandary.

Let's hope for the best!

 

[Cloudrunner]

Godspeed

 

[Airmapper]

Not that I don't appreciate the out there format, but trying to process this information my initial reaction was thus:

 

[Phoo]

Airmapper,
That's probably an accurate assessment, but I'm at peace with it!

 

[AggieOE]

Sounds like fun, something different, and something illogical by most peoples standards. lol What's pushed you or pulled you to the metaphorical edge? Any idea of how long? Weeks? Months? Years? 2-hours?

 

[unkamonkey]

Phoo. grab it by the horns and run with it. Some people think I am an idiot, some think I am the smartest person they know. You only have one person to live up to a standard for.

 

[Tucsontom]

Powered by attitude and curiosity. The means and destinations are just variables to explore. Light speed! Get going and go slow!

 

[gm13]

Folks tend to take themselves too seriously. I like your style, it's a nice twist. Enjoy, I'll look forward to updates. To infinity and beyond!

 

[Phoo]

Thanks all for the well wishes! I should be on the road in a bit over 12 hours now. I'll be figuring out the electronic communication situation as I go, but hopefully, I'll be a good way across the continent when I next log on.

A couple of quick answers to questions above -

Time adrift:
Barring the need for expensive repairs to the van or its pilot, I'm hoping to stay out-there for a full year. I've budgeted for that long, plus a little cushion, but I'll need to hold myself to task in terms of being frugal.

But whhhyyyyy????:
Why travel and experience things? I could write a very long essay on that topic. Maybe another day, but suffice it to say that I've always wanted to take a big trip and the planets have aligned in my life such that I can do it now. No guarantee that there will ever be a better/easier/more convenient time than the present, so it just made sense (ha!).

Nothing left to do but sit and wait for the launch command. Aaaannny minute now...

 

[Judoka]

Not that I don't appreciate the out there format, but trying to process this information my initial reaction was thus:

Admit it; the title sparked your interest! Smart approach to me. Besides, somebody needs to remind the Romulans that Earth still has some wayward explorers who might suddenly take flight and show up in their galaxy someday. Phoo, just take your time with that re-entry. It is easy to crash and burn when the mission is over.

 

[60toyetero]

''On the road again.. I just cant wait to get on the road again.'' happy travels, Phoo holding short of 27 ready for take off.

 

[Phoo]

Star Date: 2017.1.20
Local Coordinates: 33.984349, -112.167650
Ship's Log:
After narrowly escaping some exciting weather, I've headed further south to enjoy some warm weather for a few days. As routine cleaning and maintenance are often neglected, both ship and crew have grown progressively gnarly, but morale remains high.
Some scenes from the trip.

[

More updates to follow when we reach the northwest starbase in about a week.

 

[VTlandrover]

subscribed! i wish you well on your adventures, good luck! safe travels! :smiley_drive: