I aim to walk it off.

I am going to walk across the country.

Hell with that.  I'm going to walk, run, jog, jump, swim, paddle, kayak, and ride a horse for a while if all goes as planned.

I have decided to write about it here.

There's a problem with that part of the plan, though.  I'm pretty sure that even at the best of times I'm an overly dramatic and verbose sort of fellow with a strong predisposition towards unabashed bragging.  As such, I'm not entirely sure that what I write is going to be that much worth reading. 

But to hell with that, too.  This blog might end up the most self-centered, egotistical "look at me" tale that I've ever written, but I'm damn well going to write it anyway.  I'll do my best to keep things short and to the point in hopes that this makes things a better read while still picking out the best highlights of where I go, who I meet, and what I do.  It'll be hard for me to excuse myself from trying to write down every detail of the whole affair, but no story I ever tell feels quite complete to me anyway.  No reason that this should feel any different, I suppose.

Someone told me yesterday that I shouldn't worry so much about how this comes across.  Said it was best just to write things down for my own sake if that's what I needed to do, and to let the rest fall where it will.  I'm not sure if that's good advice for any author, but I get so tangled up in my own head sometimes that I'm willing to try said advice if it helps me get a few thoughts untwisted.

So here we go.  I am going to "walk" across the country.

People so far have responded to this statement in one of two ways:  Either they say "Cool!" or they say "Why?"

Cool speaks for itself and needs no response from me.

As for Why, I've got a whole bunch of reasons; some of which make sense and some of which really don't.  The short version is that I have been feeling very, very restless for a very long time (read "about two decades").  Circumstances have kept me in one place for much longer that I have had any liking for, and I've got a lot of anger and resentment towards the people responsible for that; not least amongst whom I include myself.

I'm tired of being angry.  It's been easier the past few months, but I still feel it gnawing at me now and then.  So I aim to get at the root of it; I aim to walk it off.

Check in here for periodic updates and pictures.  I'm leaving come September, and the next few posts are going to be mostly about preparations.  I'm going to keep this blog going until I get back which is likely to take some time.  So if you have a certain restlessness too, you can follow me along.  It might make it better for you, or it might just make it worse.