I can’t believe it has been just over 10 months since I quit the full-time job to pursue this crazy so-called writing life.  What I can’t believe more than that is that I am almost making it.

Almost is the keyword there though.  I am really hoping to not have to get another part time job to make ends meet and am able to seriously focus on my writing.  But a whole month of travels and with very little work has left my savings in some sad shape.

But on the plus side a month of travels and very little work and Internet time has left me utterly stoked and totally refreshed.

I had planned on launching my new travel blog a month ago but I couldn’t for the life of me come up with the perfect name for it.  I was seriously obsessed with the name – it was driving me freaking mad.  And then I was writing this post and it just came to me – just like that.  Oh the stokage flowath forward!

Domain name available – sweet!  And then when I didn’t think things could get any better I glanced at my e-mail and a new message caught my eye.  An editor of a local mag approaching me with a story idea – for serious?

The world is conspiring with me tonight and I hope so for y’all too!

Truth be told, I am not a planner.   I am like the anti-planner.  I plan to not plan but then think that I am planning so I scrap the plan and go with no plan.  You follow?

Well a few days ago I committed to creating an iPhone guide for a few of Utah’s lovely National Parks.  Super excited for a project like this but totally screwed since I am getting ready to take off for nearly the entire summer.  I am heading to the Midwest for half of May and then I return to Salt Lake City for a week before heading off to Hawaii for a month via a weekend in Portland.

Long story short, I need to either learn to plan or drown.

Tomorrow or the next day I need to speed down south and hike every single trail in two national parks.  Well not every single trail… I already know these places well.  I’ve got a list of sights I need to photograph, restaurants I need to visit, and facts I need to check.  Can I do everything I need to do in 2 or 3 days without falling behind in my other projects?

This is the life that I wanted but sheesh it feels crazy to already be here and is it going to be worth it? I am soon to find out.

I think I might actually be able to start telling people that I am a writer now…  When people ask me what I do I usually just shrug my shoulders and say nothing really.

Now as it stands I have two blog posts a week to write for an area business – the Front Utah.  I have a ton of content to write for my new project with BootsnAll – TravelGearBlog, a couple posts a week to write on my Salt Lake City blog with NileGuide blog and an iPhone App due ASAP.  I was also planning on launching a new blog June 1 but I guess we will see about that.  Oh yeah and there are those 20 hours of contract work a week with the University of Utah thankfully ending June 1 and a bunch of other mini projects.

I know there are plenty of y’all out there that do ten times as much work and have children, live out of your suitcase, or have full-time jobs.  Now I am figuring out that the busy you are the more you actually accomplish and the better you manage your time.  Onward and stokeward – let’s go kick some ass!

For any of you following DirtbagWriter I have obviously abandoned my publication schedule during this last week and have well… decided to abandon it completely.  My gears have been churning and many new opportunities have risen from the dust so I’ve decided to make some big changes here.

Have you ever felt like starting over?  Well I am (sort of).  I am taking everything I’ve learned from the blogging world, Matador U, and all the peeps I’ve met over the last year and launching a whole new site dedicated to traveling the “Dirtbag” way.  I think I’ve finally narrowed in on that oh so elusive niche and am totally stoked to start a new site as well as several new projects that I will be announcing soon.

I will keep DirtbagWriter as my personal site and update it with news and updates on my writing aspirations as well as random thoughts or anything else I feel like sharing.

Stay tuned for the new site launch on June 1.

I was extremely weary after a long day of driving and sightseeing in the desert and found myself in Tonopah, Nevada – still six-hours away from my home in Salt Lake City.  I found a parking spot in town to crash in back of Roo.  It was only 7pm, but I was wiped.  I tried to sleep but I just didn’t feel safe.  The parking lot said free parking for truckers and RVs but I felt totally sketched.

I got back into the driver seat to look for a better option.  I thought about continuing on and finding some place to crash along the way but I was just too damn tired and then I saw a sign for an Economy Inn.

The View Outside My Motel Room - Tonopah, NV

I asked to see the room and it looked alright so I paid in cash – $30.  The room I had been given a key for looked nothing like the room I had been shown.  The deadbolt didn’t lock and the windows opened from the outside.  I checked under the bed for dead hookers and took a quick shower while scenes from Psycho played through my head.  Footsteps outside my room at 3am made my heart rate soar and I was out of there by 5:30.

I would have been better off crashing in my car.

Not to long ago I left my comfortable existence for a magazine internship in super expensive Colorado mountain town.  To save money, I planned on dirtbagging it and camping as long as I could manage.  After only a few nights, rain, lightening, and marble sized hail balls chased me inside and into the Glenwood Springs Hostel.

The Lazy Lizard Hostel - Moab, UT

Why are hostels so damn creepy in the US, but so freaking cool everywhere else?  Is it because I am usually too enamored with the fact that I am in a foreign country and oblivious to comfort and basic hygiene?  Rather I was thinking about my cozy bed a mere six-hour drive away and wondering what the hell I had been thinking to give up all that.

“Oh dude what is that?” I listened as the hostel employees tried to identify the matchbox car sized bug that made its way across the carpet before I crawled into bed with the hostel supplied linens (you weren’t allowed to use your own sleeping bag or blankets for fear of bed bugs, lice, and the like).  I began to itch as I drifted off to sleep as the transient in the bunk next to mine mumbled about the devil and fought out loud with the demons in her mind.

Why hadn’t I just spent one more night in the car?

Speaking of matchbox car sized bugs; last night as I tried to fall asleep I heard some strange sounds coming from Frank’s cage.  She’s been super high energy lately so I thought maybe she was just being her annoying self and playing in her food.  I turned on the light and saw her peering with fright at the bottom of her cage.

Roaches.  Big F-ing roaches everywhere.  Horror movie roaches.  I screamed.

The bugs were literally crawling out of the woodwork.  Chris raged the war as Frank and I huddled together frozen with fear.  One more roach and we were out of there.  Chris grabbed his pants off the floor, put them on, and a roach crawled out.  I shook out the bedding, grabbed some pillows, put Frank safely in the kitchen, and we made a run for the Volkswagen parked out in the street.

We found solace in a car.

For those concerned, I don’t live in a shit hole. Roach problem is now hopefully under control. Some pipe work had been done and they sprayed for bugs, which made them flee the walls.  Attracted by birdseed, the roaches found haven in Frank’s cage.

I was listening to this podcast the other day while road tripping through the desert and found myself both saddened and furious.  In Stuff You Should Know’s Will the moon save humanity?, Josh and Chuck are pondering the end of the world and discussing projects that may save humanity.

In the intro they discuss projects such as Norway’s “Doomsday” Seed Vault and the British DNA depository which supposedly can rebuild an entire ecosystem from plant, animal, and human DNA stores. They wonder, “Which ecosystem?” do we have the power to rebuild.  “Is it a desert? Cuz who really wants to rebuild that?”  Nobody, they agree.

Views From the Hidden Valley Trail - Moab, Utah

Well I would! Begin sadness…

I know this whole desert as wasteland belief is widely held but I really don’t understand how the desert got such a bum rap.  Most people that have actually been to the desert find themselves totally awestruck and surprised by both its simplicity and beauty.  The tough part seems to get people there in the first place…

Cholla Cactus and Joshua Trees in the Mojave National Preserve

I have to admit the beauty of the desert didn’t immediately take me over but more slowly captured my spirit.

I’ve since devoured the words of Edward Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, and Katie Lee.  I longed for their gift of story telling – their ability to move people into action.  Their words have made desert virgins chuck everything to experience Desert Solitaire from the eyes of Ed.  They have inspired others to devote their being to protecting unnamed canyons and relics of cultures that came before us and moved some to risk their own freedom trying to stop quasi-legal oil and gas leases.

I tried to explain how places with names like Onion Creek, Elephant Canyon, Hatch Wash made me feel – what they stirred inside of me.  On paper I was wordless, but in spirit I was spewing flawless prose.

And so I’ve decided to giveaway the words of others. I want to share the stories that have so moved me with the hopes of changing just one person’s belief of the desert as barren and meaningless.

I will start with Edward Abbey’s classic, Desert Solitaire.  This is Abbey’s memoir of his years as a ranger at Arches National Monument (now National Park) outside of Moab, Utah.  It is a great intro to environmentalism and the growing threats of mining, the auto industry, and tourism on our fragile wilderness.  Both thought-provoking and rebel-rousing, Desert Solitaire has moved pacifists to grab the nearest monkey wrench and raise some hell.

Balanced Rock at Arches National Park

Like all free things there is a catch.  After reading the book you must either give the book to someone else and/or let me know (in just a few sentences) what you got out of the book.  Did you gain any new insights?  Did the book inspire you in anyway or do you still strongly advocate strip mining? You will then be featured in the blog and receive much fame and link love-age.

To enter simply leave a comment (perhaps some desert thoughts) before April 20, 2010 and the winner will be chosen randomly and announced April, 21, 2010.

Hiking Through Chesler Park - Needles District, Canyonlands National Park

To conclude, here are some words from Ed in Desert Solitaire:

“Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life-forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.”

Flowering Cactus in Joshua Tree National Park

My desert road tripping travels and dirt road obsession has gotten me into a lot of almost troubles. After a serious close one the other day (#1) I’ve decided to step up my desert travel safety measures. Here are 10 things I wouldn’t recommend doing when road trippin’ through desert land.

1. Enter unfamiliar desert territory with a quarter tank of gas.

2. Fail to adequately cork the only bottle of wine on super rocky dirt road.

3. Assume that just because the map says that there is a town there that there is an actual town there.

4. Rely solely on your google map directions print out and leave the map at home.

5. Rely solely on your memory and leave the map at home.

6. Put off fixing that slow leak on your front right tire.

7. Forget to lock your Space Cadet.

8. Carry beer as your only means of hydration.

9. Believe that the sign “Roads may be impassable due to storms” must not pertain to this road.

10. Believe that there has to be services somewhere 50-miles after passing a sign declaring “No Services next 98 miles.”

I just finished reading 4 Classic Mistakes I Made In My First Year of Blogging which led me to reflect on all the things I think I’ve done wrong with this blog.  And then I read Abbie Mood’s This Niche Business is Stressing Me Out and then I really started spiraling.

For a while I’ve been worried that my blog name is lame, but when I came up with the name I had no idea people would actually be reading this.

As the story goes, I was bored at work one day and was futzing around with things and decided to spend the $10 and buy a domain name so I could futz more freely.  At the time of blog naming, I had fantasized about this whole dirtbagging thing – I guess I was mustering up ideas for future world domination.

I wanted to be a writer and I also knew that the only way I was going to be able to leave my job and follow all my dreams was by being a total dirbag, which had pretty much been my total travel style all along.  Some people would describe dirtbagging as minimalistic or budget travel but I like to think of dirtbagging as more of a lifestyle.  So to me a dirtbag is an extreme budget traveler that is ambitious, eco-conscience, and cooperative – a major dreamer, adventurer, and conventional dissenter.  So I paired dirtbag with what I wanted to be and there you have it – dirtbag writer.

Still I wonder if dirtbag writer is super cheeseball and I wonder what I would name my blog if I were naming it now.

I wouldn’t use my name because for one: people can never spell it right so they would never be able to find it again and for two: I am too shy.  I’ve written some really personal stuff and some total babble and really haven’t been too stoked about people I know actually reading this stuff.  But then I started reading Julie Schwietert’s blog and started considering the importance of owning what I wrote and now I am wondering if I am hiding too much behind this dirtbag facade.

So I’m curious.  How did you name your blog?  Do you wish you had named it something different?  Are you totally sick of the name or are you just starting to grow into it?

I’ve been a bit absent in the blogosphere this week – too busy celebrating my birthday, entertaining family visitors, and enjoying the 2 plus feet of snow we got in the Wasatch while also trying to catch up with work and recover from my SEND at the Buffalo 50K this past weekend.

So I finished the big race and knocked off numero dos on the life list.  I did it and surprised the hell out of myself.  I don’t think I have ever been so proud of myself.  Not just because I finished the race but also because I finished the race smiling.

Can't believe I am still smiling

The only goal I had for the race was to finish.  I wasn’t aiming for any specific time, I just wanted to make it across the finish line.  Well I guess I had one more goal and that was to finish the race with a smile on my face.  I tend to crash or hurl during the last few miles of the race and usually cross the finish line looking super pissed off.

One unfortunate thing about running in the desert is that there are no trees (or really anything) to obscure your view.  I could see the finish line for miles before I ever got there, which I thought would be torturous but instead rejuvenated me.  I have no idea how I could feel suddenly energized after being on my feet for 7 hours – maybe some sort of evolutionary survival instinct kicked in.  I couldn’t have shed that smile off my face if someone paid me.  I probably ran that last mile faster than any of the other 31 and approached the finish line laughing and smiling.  I was elated or quite possibly delirious.

Feeling stoked pre-race

Halfway through the race I had made a promise to myself that I would never do this again and now I am searching race listings for another.  I definitely draw the line at the 50K though (during my race there was a simultaneous 50-miler, those people must be nuts).  Now that I know I can run a 50K  I want to see if I can pick up the pace a little (since I ran super slow).

Here’s a bit more about the race itself if you’re interested.

Oh so cold at the start!

The Buffalo 50K is on Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake and involves 2-laps of a sixteen-mile course with amazing views of the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch, Oquirrh, and Stansbury Mountains.  The course is a mix of double-track and some seriously awesome single-track.  The trail for the most part is rolling with a bunch of steep ascents thrown in.  Quite sandy at times, my new Dirty Girl Gaiters worked fabulous – not only are they super cute, I didn’t even get a grain of sand in the shoes.

The race started at 8am and oh was it chilly.  It was around 35 degrees and the wind whipping off the lake made it feel even colder.  My toes were totally numb the first few miles until we crested the first big hill and got a little sun.  The rest of the day was absolutely gorgeous, the most perfect day I could imagine.

Views of the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island

My hip flexors cramped up pretty bad at the halfway point and I am pretty sure I won’t do a race again where you need to do multiple laps of the course.  Imagine running 16 miles just so you can return to the same place you started and do it all over again.  Laps suck!  With crampy hips and a crappy attitude, I definitely felt like quitting at this point but I just kept going and eventually got over the hump.

The race peeps were wonderful and I really love the energy of these races.  I didn’t hear a single negative word or catch a single negative vibe out on the race course.  All the other racers are encouraging and supportive – even the pukers didn’t have an ill word to say.  At around the 27-mile point I pass a man that looks like utter death and ask him how he’s doing and he responds, “Great!  I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.”  Sheesh I wish the rest of my world was like this.

The Buffalo of Antelope Island

Tomorrow I am getting up at the ass crack of dawn and running my first ultramarathon – 32-miles of dirt, sand, and rock.  And mind you I am no hardcore – I simply decided to attack something on the life list.

This morning, I revisited the life list hoping to rouse some confidence and panicked.  Then I did what any reasonably human being would do and bought a hula-hoop.  The truth is I didn’t want to fail miserably at the first thing I attempted on my life list so in order to make myself feel better I successfully accomplished a superficial task and purchased a cutie hoop from HipEHoops on Etsy.  Plus I’ve really wanted a serious hula hoop for some time now and it collapses and can fit into a backpack – stoke!

I can’t remember the last time I tried to do something that I wasn’t very well sure I could do – maybe I have never done anything I didn’t feel totally capable of.  I quite honestly don’t know if I can run 32 miles and this isn’t just the pre-race jitters talking.  50-kilometers is a long ass way and up until 3-years a go I had never run over a 5K.  Sure I’ve trained but seriously what the freak was I thinking?!?

Last night I listened to this Buddhist meditation talk and it spoke about acknowledging your fears as away of accepting them and letting them go… So what am I afraid of?  My hamstrings cramping up, hurling, my ankle swelling up (cuz it does that sometimes for no apparent reason), passing out, quitting and then having to tell everyone that I suck, losing control of my bowels (all you long distance runners out there will understand this one and the rest of you will go ewe), weird leg itchy phenomenon, and getting charged by buffalos (yes buffalos).

I know I have the cardio to make it that far but there are just too many other factors and I seriously question the ability of my stomach to deal with such stress.  I love this Sunny Blende quote – “Ultras are just eating and drinking contests, with a little exercise and scenery thrown in.”  I totally agree.  I just get so darned hungry (I am blessed with a super high metabolism) and tend to eat everything in sight at the aid stations.  I regretfully grabbed a handful of candy corn towards the end of the last race I did and sadly hurled them up right before the finish line.

So tomorrow when you wake up – think of me running.  Then tomorrow when you are enjoying your weekend brunch and drinking mimosas – think of me running.  Then tomorrow when you are reading a book and taking your afternoon nap – think of me running.  Then tomorrow when you start thinking about eating dinner – think of me still running…

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.
~Edward Abbey