I’ts mid August and normally, this would be my nine-year anniversary post. Right now, though, my heart is elsewhere. I don’t know how the last few months can feel like they’ve both flown by and somehow stretched into what feels like a decade… especially the ones since January. Sigh Lately, things feel a little unhinged, a little unsettled. I know I’m not alone in grieving […]
Poetry at the intersection of nomad life and humanism
The best part of our FIRE life are the people we meet along the way. There is a group of friends we made on the road, that we have camped with again and again over the years, some of which we have known since we began our nomad life back in 2016. We refer to ourselves as the Music and Mind Camp (short MMC), an […]
What if we run out of time?
Things have been truly shitty since the beginning of the year to put it nicely. The good news is, I am FIREd and can deal with curveballs life throws at me, without the added stress of work, an empathy lacking boss, office politics and any of these things that make life even more complex. My dad passed away in February this year. I traveled to […]
Haunted by the past of my native country, hopeful for the future of my new home country!
This is not a political blog, it never was intended as one. Humanism, however, is one of the core subjects of this blog and there comes a time when humanist values cannot be discussed without touching on political subjects. The time for me to write about humanist values, even though I must touch on political subjects has definitely come, but I have been struggling to […]
Return to RTR and Slab City!
After all the fun we had at last year’s Rubber Tramp Rendevous (RTR) in Quartzsite, it was an easy decision for us to attend the 2018 RTR as well. This year’s event was another huge success, despite the many challenges for the organizers that go along with the growing popularity of the gathering. We reconnected with friends we made last year and enjoyed making new […]
What if more Humanists became financially independent?
After a busy year of travelling (most of which remains undocumented on this blog, as my friends have aptly pointed out on numerous occasions) we rolled back into my beloved Phoenix right in time for the 2017 holiday season. Spending November and December in Phoenix gives me the opportunity to reconnect with said friends (who then have to listen to all the stories in person […]
Getting unstuck in Sun Valley in preparation for the Solar Eclipse!
No better location to watch the Great Solar Eclipse than a place called Sun Valley! Right? Actually, we did have other plans, but you know what they say about best laid plans and such… We were going to head up to the Redfish Lake area of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, where we would have enjoyed well over 2 min of totality, pretty close to the maximum possible in […]
Hurricane Harvey, here’s what you can do.
If there is one good thing that comes out of disasters such as Hurricane Harvey, it is the widespread desire to provide help. Many people choose to help and it is heartwarming to see a nation come together, setting all disagreements aside in favor of getting the job done. If you’d like to help, right now what is needed most is money. Needs will certainly evolve […]
FIRE almost one year in: Spoiler Alert: It’s not a sabbatical!
On August 19th 2016, I sent an email to all work related contacts, informing them I was taking a yearlong sabbatical. After changing my out of office reply and voice mail along the same lines, I handed over my company cell phone, laptop computer, passwords and a bunch of other work related stuff to my colleagues later that day and said goodbye. No farewell party, […]
Slab City, the last free place on earth? Go with an open mind or don’t bother going!
Last year in October we spent a few days in Slab City. I have been wanting to see it in person ever since I read about it many years ago. It has also been featured in “Into the Wild” and a bunch of other stories, so yes, I was curious and it was on my bucket list. But I wanted to stay there for a longer […]