Up until the age of twelve I lived my life as a vagabond or a gypsy. Home wasn’t a place as much as a state of mind. After my father died I bounce from different family members to different foster homes til I found one that put up with me. On this account I was lucky. Some find there way into group homes which become a gateway to permanent institutionalization. In high school I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Also read Into the Wild by John Krakauer a true story about the travels of Christopher McCandless (AKA Alexander Supertramp). Both books helped inspire me to travel with nothing and nothing to lose. By 2003, I had tried college, the military, retail and a stable factory job but I knew it wasn’t for me. I understood life is short learning that at a young age, then seeing people my age die and of course 9-11 being just over a hundred miles south of me. What if I stayed in the factory collect my overtime and benefits going to the local bar week after week without seeking adventure? Who knows maybe I’d be married with kids and a house, then divorced, losing the house after the factory’s closing and the housing market crashed. Maybe I would’ve eventually got caught up in America’s opioid epidemic that struck my hometown like many others throughout the country. Either way I knew I had to leave. The road was calling me.

No Plan, No Place, No Job.

“Freebird” on the Radio

In the printing factory between stacking advertising flyers I’d glance at the USA Today weather map and seen how warm Florida was in winter. Today I know Floridians don’t fear hurricanes, instead their dread lies in sub fifty degree weather. For months I fantasized about getting in my Jeep Wrangler and driving south. No job, no place and no plan; I would seek adventure. The first week in January of 2003, I quit my job, packed my my Jeep and drove south.

First stop was Freehold, New Jersey. I visited my uncle who at this point I only knew through family funerals. In conversations we talked about my father who was a stranger to me. It was definitely good to see that missing piece. I never knew my father’s side of the family and I was too young to know the who, why, what or where of what was going on after his death at the age of forty. I’m almost four years older than he was at his demise which is bizarre to contemplate. Anyhow after many drinks, the playoffs watching Michael Vick be spectacular before the dog fighting scandal broke, and meeting other family I never met. It was a good trip nowadays my uncle and I are polar opposites on the political spectrum but can always agree to sit down for a beer or many.

From Freehold to Norfolk, Virginia, I went over the Chesapeake Bay bridge which if you have any fear of drowning or tunnels you might want to avoid. It’s both scary and thrilling to be on a long stretch of road on the middle of the ocean. Then you’re in a tunnel twice. In Norfolk I met up with my brother. We enjoyed some drinks at Jillian’s which has since closed. It was a competitor to Dave and Busters that ended filing for Chapter 11. I got my car towed by parking in the wrong spot which I had not planned. Luckily I got my paperwork faxed from family to prove ownership. Other than that it was pleasant visit but now I was entering the great unknown.

I was headed for Florida. It’s warm down there, no snow and I could become a new person. I always felt I was a sidekick to my friends and this in hindsight was my own doing. At twenty-five I had no idea who I was. I was as lost internally as I was on the map. It was only appropriate I go without a plan. Possibly it was a passive suicide attempt. Then again staying where I was would only kill my spirit over an extended period of time.

It was late at night when I made it to Florida I 95. Signs appeared for St. Augustine, Florida and I fatefully took that exit. Here I booked a room at a Super 8 Hotel (or motel I’m not sure). An attractive Polish student was working the front desk that night and she was trusting enough to ask for a ride to her apartment. She directed me through the scenic route of downtown Saint Augustine and I instantly fell in love with this magical place. From late November until the end of January the entire town is lit up in what is called The Nights of Lights. Her friends need a roommate so I went with it.

For a while I would stay with students from Poland; in a way I was the tour guide of American culture answering peculiar questions about common vernacular. This was where my story began in Florida. Things went right and things fell apart in about twenty years as of 2023. Speaking of 2023, I’m due for a new adventure. This time there will be planning and and end goal. I do believe everyone should once in there life go out with no idea what they are doing just to see where the road will lead you. Leaving New York was one of the best decisions I made and anyone that truly feels stuck in life should consider a change of scenario and an opportunity to become a new person.