There is a sense of owning the world.  I stop where I want, eat where I will, and sleep in field or forest at my leisure.  I am the king of unclaimed places.  Instead of having a decreased sense of place with this nomadic life, my own space in the world has become more at ease.  I enjoy blackberries along the road, fill up water at kind houses, and electricity at outdoor outlets.  Every 25 miles or so there is another town with its library and grocery store and people, with lives.  I have listened to the old squeaky librarian here in Amenia chortle about a picture of a bear in a swimming pool asking "where are the fish?" and had kind strangers offer me fruit and advice, or just want to talk.  Despite travelling solo I am not alone; I am the king of unclaimed spaces, but I travel often.

And I suppose with this first real post I should say where I am going, so we all know.  I am doing this journey because I want to see the west, and I don't want to drive there.  I want to travel and see the world, but not through a window.  I love to travel under my own power (see the name of this blog), and biking has a sense of speed (relatively), power, and freedom which I love.  Currently I am making my way south on Adventure Cycling's Atlantic Coast Trail (the yellow one) toward Asheville, NC.  When I get down there, hopefully in late July, I will continue with my friend/former roommate Alexander Blume on the TransAmerica Trail (the orange one).  Below, there should be a rough google map of my intended route.
Yes, I know I'm going the wrong way, but you know what- local wind is determined by local geography, whereas the jetstream determines larger weather patterns.

In other news, the last few days' highlights.

• Biking with friends the first few days of my trip after dipping our tires and selves in the Atlantic.
• Eating delicious food and relaxing with my aunts and uncles in MA and CT
• Getting smoked one ride by my aunt Nancy as she preps for her Ironperson race.
• Camping in a beautiful field with blackberries, far from humanity.
• Finding three grapefruits and two bags of grapes in a dumpster.
• Talking with a biker who traveled California to Florida, and is now headed up to Maine.
• Taking the time to write this blog.