An adventure of a lifetime

One month separates this beautiful day and the day my college friend Chet and I depart on an adventure of a lifetime. On June 25, Chet and myself will trade our cars for bikes, mattresses for sleeping bags and computers for maps. We will ride over 3,000 miles on bicycles, (equivalent to riding from New York City to Los Angeles) through 14 U.S. states and two countries. The starting point is Point Judith, Rhode Island, and the final destination is home, here in Greensboro, North Carolina. Between Point Judith and Greensboro we will touch land in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Canada, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. With packs on our backs, pedals under our feet and ambition in our blood, Chet and myself will greet the open road for four straight months.

People say that there is no better time than after college for an adventure. What they are saying is; before we enslave ourselves to society until we grow old and wrinkle, we should escape on an adventure that we would always remember.

After a young scholar is handed his/her diploma, society greets the scholar with a firm handshake before it shoves the scholar in a spontaneous direction. The weakest scholar will fall face-first to the ground while the strongest scholar will use the push as a way of gaining speed and momentum to fulfill the ultimate goal of any young adult: Independence.

When I received my diploma in early May, society was their to greet me. Instead of shaking society's hand I avoided the greeting altogether. I want to map out my own spontaneous directions. Sure, finding a job right after college is ideal. But, before a job I search for a path of nothingness. This path of nothingness is not a road to loneliness, but a path which I can fill with anything that I want to fill it with. I want to see things that will change my idea of beauty; touch things that I've never felt; listen to people that I've never conversed with; and taste food that I've never heard of - all while smelling the different flowers along the way.

By the end of this adventure I will meet the inevitable. I expect society to be waiting for me with a shake and a shove. My hope is that this adventure will prepare me for the shove. If I can bike 3,000 miles, spend four months sleeping in a tent, prepare countless meals on limited supplies, all while keeping a stringent budget, then I can accomplish any obstacle that life throws my way.