Sorta Songlines

I love you baby, but you gotta understand

When the Lord made me

He made a Ramblin' Man.

Some folks might say that I'm no good

That I wouldn't settle down if I could

But when that open road starts to callin' me

There's somethin' o'er the hill that I gotta see

Sometimes it's hard but you gotta understand

When the Lord made me, He made a Ramblin' Man.

~ Hank Williams Sr.

Big Piney, WY

Does the road wind up-hill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day? From morn to night, my friend. - Christina Rossetti

When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there. - Japanese proverb

There is no happiness for the man who does not travel. Living in the society of men, the best man becomes a sinner. Therefore, wander. - Aitareya Brahmana

O Public Road You express me better than I can express myself. You shall be more to me than my poem. - Walt Whitman

Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them determined by the will-whatever we may think. - Lawrence Durrell

A child on a farm sees a plane fly by overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home. - Carl Burns

Some days, all travelling is, is staring out a bug-smeared, rain-soaked windshield at the back of a semi. - Ryan Short

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money. - Susan Heller

Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. - Anatole France

It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to. - J.R.R. Tolkien

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. - Henry Miller

When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. - William Least Heat Moon

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. - Lao Tzu

Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Tuesday, October 10

Bozeman, MT

Question: What does one take on a trip around the country if one will be camping/moteling/sleeping in the car/visiting friends in and around small towns/big cities/middle of nowhere for days/weeks/months?

Answer: Too much.

Well, now I’m sitting in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Last night was a bit cold, but I did alright for the most part. There were a couple things I needed, hence the Wal-Mart stop. I’m probably gonna end up shipping a box-o-shit back home. The stuff that was nicely folded and organized into the trunk has somehow exploded all over the backseat and spilled over into the frontseat. I really don’t need as much crap as I brought. You’d think after the 412,576 (rough estimate) roadtrips I’ve taken I would be better at packing for them. The problem is, every trip is a little different and not knowing what sort of feel this one would end up taking I didn’t want to be sitting in the middle of Minnesota thinking, ‘This sure would be paradise had I only remembered to bring my…’

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