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Friday, September 15, 2006

One Year Later

A year ago today, i left my home of boone, nc behind, for a life on the open road.
A year later, i find myself back in a familiar place,
if not wiser and a little happier, then completely broke, exhausted, and slightly hairier than i was before.

greetings friends! i'm back in north carolina, for the time being. though not exactly in boone itself. i'm in good ol' Fleetwood North Carolina! (20 min. away from boone). been staying at my parents' place for about a month now. As i recently told a new friend, who said he was "glad someone was out there living the dream" - "living the dream" has, perhaps not surprisingly, led to "living with my parents" to rest and save some money. it's really not as bad as it sounds though. i'm actually kind of enjoying being back home, relaxing and spending time with my family. especially after all the trials and tribulations (and also great times) of the last year spent primarily on the road. i may, in fact be, the only 27 yr old who is not only "not hating" living with his parents, but is also not embarrassed to inform people of such circumstances. as i'm fairly confident that if i say the following to a pretty girl, "hey, babe. my name is jamie. i'm 27 and i live with my parents. prior to that i was living in my car. wanna do it?" that i'll be going back home (that is to my parent's home) and "gettin' some."

gettin some what, i dont know? maybe some fudge pops out of the freezer, and watchin Lord of the Rings with my step-dad. but mark my words, i'll be gettin some.


hhum, i digress - not many people seemed to realize this - but a year ago, i said goodbye to boone, and CLINT NORRIS RD (the road upon which i lived the previous 4yrs), in a way only someone as, err... "special?", as myself could, and would.

by attempting to spell one of people's most favorite words (this was in fact the first post on the website)...
this proved to be more difficult than anticipated. not for lack of knowing how to spell "one of people's most favorite words", but because some road signs are deceptively taller than one might initially expect. it is actually quite difficult to properly deface public property (undetected at that), when you have to repeatedly jump in the air in order to do so. plus i had a minor buzz, which may have affected my aim with the spray paint.

but that was a year ago. i have since driven by my old street and CLTORRIS rd has unfortunately been changed back to it's original spelling.

but i've been trying to think of a special way to commemorate this, the 1 yr anniversary to the start of my crazy adventure. and the idea did strike me to once again attempt to properly deface CLINT NORRIS rd. but... i decided, it's probably best left to others more capable (that is, taller) than myself.

my next thought was, "well, perhaps i'll sleep in my car at the walmart in boone to celebrate this occasion." might as well, since i've slept at practically every other walmart in the country over the last year, right? but i again reconsidered, deciding that having slept at 20 different walmarts (in nearly as many states), was 20 too many for me.

instead of these harebrained schemes, i decided to commemorate this special occasion by doing something i haven't done in a long long time. which is...

buy some deodorant and shampoo.

and also relax and spend some time with my friends and family. you are welcome to join us in celebration. place = bar. town = boone. time = saturday nite sept 16th. which bar? dont know. small town. point being, you'll find me if you want to.

in other news, i wanted to let you know that's it's been a pleasant surprise, while also overwhelming and slightly embarrasing, to hear that many of you, who i hadn't seen in a year or longer, and also complete strangers, were keeping up with my adventures thru the website. i usually don't bring up my experiences on the road these days in person, unless i'm directly asked about them or i feel it's relevant to the conversation. but to answer what has become the 3 most commonly asked questions while traveling and since -

"what is yr favorite place you've been to?"
there's not one. fargo,nd. / columbia, mo. / eureka/arcata, ca. / eugene, or / olympia,wa. / san juan island, wa... are usually on my list. i'd also recommend traveling up the pacific coast highway at least once in yr life. beautiful.
"your least favorite?" simple. grand forks, nd. had major car problems there. i was actually asked this question during a job interview at a starbucks in birmingham, alabama (i needed money and figured since i'd been to every coffee shop in the country i might as well work at one). i answered grand forks, nd at that time too, to which the lady interviewing me replied "oh, i'm sorry to hear that. i'm from grand forks, nd." needless to say i didn't get the job. and what are the fucking odds that would happen?
and finally, all the guys ask "so, how many girls did you sleep with?" at least one in each state i went thru. it was one of my "rules." that's a joke. if it were at all accurate i would have only traveled thru 2 states... oops, i've said 2 much.

regarding the status of the website itself - it became very difficult for me to continue writing and updating the site as i got further along in my travels, and further behind in the updates. it seemed many people were living in my past while i was trying to get thru the present. but what i did manage to write and accomplish, i'm very proud of. and to all of those who have urged me to finish "telling the story (that is, essentially, the first 5 months of this trip)," i believe i shall...

and yes, you don't live in yr car for 5+ months and travel the country in isolation for a large portion of a year without discovering a thing or two about yr own life and the world around you. but more than anything, this
journey just reasserted or reconfirmed what i already knew in my heart and mind to be true, but for that alone, i am very grateful. i don't claim to have answers for anyone other than myself. but if i were to share anything that may be of help to anyone, it would be "dont be afraid to take a chance on something or someone, for your own happiness, no matter how stupid, impractical, or absurd it may seem to do so. follow yr heart regardless."

happy 1 year anniversary,
from jamie and the deathcab