Grab Bag
[ Day 13 – June 25, 2012 ]
Reese’s Pieces (Image Credit: Ged Carroll, Flickr)
There’s no narrative for today; I didn’t want to force a story that wasn’t there. For a change of pace, here are a few random thoughts from the road:
- Personal experience can benefit from compounding interest just as well as monetary investment can. I think a lot of people unfairly discount the value of pursuing life on our own terms while we’re young, whether that involves going on an adventure, finding love and starting a family, launching the career we really want, etc. I think there’s a reluctance to stare at this reality head-on. Why might that be so? This isn’t a rhetorical question; I’m legitimately curious.
- Through Tom’s caloric largesse (see Day 10), I ate spam for the first time today. I don’t recommend eating it at ambient temperature.
- A little-known fact: bicyclists are allowed on interstate highways where there is no local alternative. On Day 11, I rode a little over seven miles on I-5. Riding a bicycle on the interstate is an unusual experience. On one hand, there is ample shoulder. On the other hand, the speed differential between motorized and non-motorized traffic can rattle even a seasoned cycle tourist. I can’t adequately describe how vulnerable I felt when passing over interstate exits.
- My favorite backpacking/cycletouring foods, in no particular order:
- Dried fruit
- Almonds
- Tortillas
- Cheese sticks
- Foil-packed salmon
- Peanut butter
- Trail mix
- Reese’s Pieces
- Haribo Goldbears
- Cycletouring guilty pleasure: breakfast cereal with half-and-half
- Actually, this is just a regular guilty pleasure.
[ Daily Miles: 38 ] [ Total Miles: 676 ]
2 Comments
Chris
July 15, 2013I really like your concept of compounding experiences since the first time you told me about your idea. I share it often. It is a corollary to living in the moment, but whilst making decisions with intention. This is primarily a question for those of privilege, not just in terms of financial resources, but also the conditions and education to make such careful choices. I recognize how much privilege I have, and hope I am making the best choices I can, to find that balance of past, present, and future.
Skip
July 15, 2013Personal experience certainly does benefit from compounding and pursuing life on your own terms from the get-go has the potential for tremendous compounding. But there are also tremendous risks, particularly financial ones far downstream in the later portions of one’s life. Not many people are willing to take those risks. It’s easier and more ‘normal’ to stay with the herd. And it takes more thought and effort to deviate from the norm. And it takes a bit of a support system and a lot of guts. I suspect most folks never really think about it.
Re Spam: I don’t recommend eating it at any temperature. And I’m surprised someone of your generation even knows what it is. The product must be subsidized in some way – I can’t imagine there being enough demand to sustain a product line. Of course, the line may have been shutdown decades ago – I think that stuff has a shelf life of a thousand years.
Re cycling on Interstates: I knew that fact though I have never tested it on my bike. It appears there is a lot of vagueness on the definition of ‘no local alternative’ as I recall seeing signs on some on-ramps in the middle of nowhere stating “No Bicycles” where the only alternative was significantly longer and more circuitous.
Re food: Pop-tarts. Cinnamon frosted pop-tarts. And M&Ms.