The New Plan

So, a lot of changes have occurred since I last updated. Trips planned, cancelled, re-planned and subsequently cancelled again.  For a while, I became disheartened.  I wasted my nest egg and gave in to despair. I resigned myself to internet fantasies of someday travels.  Then, an epiphany.  Why feel confined within national boundaries when there were boundless opportunities for me to explore from within?

There are a lot of places I've yet to see on this side of the globe, let alone on the other. Michigan excluded, I have immersed myself in 4 of 48, 2 of which involved permanent addresses.  I decided to discover America's food potential stateside rather judge it from abroad. It began as a trip to Portland, OR for a friend's wedding and mutated into something completely different at an incredible rate.

I assume by this point, you are asking just what this monster of a trip entails. Bear with me, as this about to get a bit ugly.



...

I am going to attempt to ride my bike to Austin, TX... eventually.

I can hear my family and friends questioning already. I have answers.  Maybe not the ones you want or ones that involve exact details,  but enough that I feel comfortable enough depart.  It's not a race, I'm trying to ride the distance in one stretch.  It's a tour.  One that may take 2 months or even 2 years.  It depends on the variables, of which there are many.  I am breaking the trek into roughly 3 legs, each of which will allow allow me the opportunity to volunteer at farms, food banks and/or soup kitchens. I have planned out the first leg entirely.

On Saturday, August 14th, I hop on my bike and head west to Kalamazoo.  There I meet up Matt, a former bike mechanic who has been so gracious to ride with to Three Rivers at offer me a place to camp for the first night of my trip. I depart the next morning for Michiana Shores outside Michigan City to stay with a woman named Judy who shares my passion for cooking.  My hopes for our exchange of stories and recipes is monumentally high.

Then I head to Chicago to meet up some friends in the area, staying as long as they'll have me.  Once my time has expired in Chicagoland, I ride southwest to Les Brown Memorial Farm, where I start my first stint of volunteering.  I have an indefinite stay lined up here, thanks to the kindness of Larry, Tracy and Rebekah of Growing Home Inc.

Pending any unseen pitfalls, I expect to arrive at the farm around the 19th.  It's from this point, I rest my weary legs and settle in until the next stage of my trip.  It will take me through St. Louis, Tulsa, Dallas/Ft. Worth and onto Austin.  I have some leads, all of which lack confirmation at this juncture.

Again, I'm not rushing.  It's my intention to enjoy this journey and come to learn as much as I can about our food systems, the techniques necessary to move them forward and the skills in the kitchen in order to utilize the goods produced. It's also a chance to educate myself about my own inner workings and personal convictions.

For those interested, you can see my route here.
I feel it's best to take this chance to thank the networks I am using to orchestrate this elaborate expedition.

CouchSurfing.org
WarmShowers.org
VolunteerMatch.org