I loved to roam around as a kid. I remember riding my bicycle with my friends Marshall and Andre down streets that were less traveled looking for something, anything that would make our minds race of adventure. Sometimes we got to the end of the road and found nothing interesting, other times we discovered new ponds, abandoned ruins, and cool looking woods. We were modern day Marco Polo's in Northern New Jersey, peddling hundreds of miles on our biycles and had nothing to show for it but sore legs, flat tires, and smiles.
I'm sure the vagabond bug bit me back then as a teenager and it was the reason why I moved out to New Mexico after college. It was also the reason why I took my first cross country trip the year before, and why I love to go hiking and camping. I love to explore and I was fortunate enough to take two extended "vagabonding" type of trips before I got married and had kids. I spent a total of 6 weeks roaming around the southwest deserts in the US taking pictures. Mostly I lived out of my tent or my truck and I vividly remember rationing my money for gas, waking up at dawn to take pictures, and just exploring places like Moab, Capitol Reef, Joshua Tree, and Escalante. I was never happier in my life except the time I got married and welcomed my two children into this world.
The vagabond life really inspires me and I wish to do it more often, but the demands of my family, work, and children currently keep me home. I'm not complaining but I'm longing for adventure again and to go out into the world and see new things, stay for a while in one place, and take in all the "flavor" of the place. I'm really hoping that in the next year or two I'll be able to go roaming around again but this time with a smaller co-adventurer at my side! I'm sure that I'll have at least one kid in tow, each of us with a camera in hand, visiting out of the way places in the world, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, and shooting them. Ahem, their picture! :)
Take a friend, your spouse, your Dad, your kids, or go by yourself, but just get out there! Life's an adventure, what have you done today?
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