The Start of a New Project... to document and share an experiment.

I have always enjoyed traveling. I enjoy exploring new places, learning about new regions and eating in new restaurants. Either by luck or non-cognitive design, I am in a situation that requires (or allows ??) me to travel almost constantly. 2010 is the third year in a row that I needed to travel more than 300 days for work. In the past four days, I've been in Bellingham, WA, Tulsa, OK and Mays Landing, NJ and tomorrow I'm off to Manhattan. And this is not an especially odd week, nor am I counting flight layovers as "I was there".
I worked in Washington State last week, one of the projects I work on required me to be in Tulsa on Saturday afternoon and, unfortunately, I attended a funeral for a good family friend in New Jersey earlier today (RIP, Gary Sutley, Thanks for the Good Times!). I head up to NYC tomorrow to for another event that takes place later in the week.


As I travel around the United States and (less often) the rest of the world, I collect stories. Sometimes the stories aren't that great, other times they can barely be believed. As I travel around and catch up with old friends or make new ones, I often find myself telling a story or sharing a travel tip from the road. This blog will be partial travel log, partial travel advisor and probably involve a rant or two as we go.


Lately, I have spent a fair amount of time trying to explain the fact that I REALLY don't have a home. Like, really. This is the part where I should tell you that one particular friend of mine, who works with me on a major project and travels with me quite often, has threatened to start wearing a t-shirt that says "He's not kidding." People have a hard time believing that I really don't have an apartment, house or condo somewhere. Did you see that movie Up in the Air ? Yeah, that guy had a home... I don't. Out of these conversations that begin with raised eyebrows and skeptical looks came the phrase "Homeless by Choice"... and now we have a blog. Of course, once we establish that I don't have a home there are other questions:

Enough Stuff for a two bedroom apartment.

1. My Stuff is mostly split between 3 places: With me (which includes in my truck, which I use to travel a fair amount of time), in a storage facility or in a PODS. Of course, I have some things stashed with family and friends around the country... a back up hard drive here, some extra clothes there, stuff-I-don't-want-to-lose at my Mom's. I have one motorcycle in Ohio and another in Virginia and a lot of firearms in a big safe somewhere.


2. I'm a Teacher, TV Show Host and Author, so I don't really need to be anywhere all the time... in fact, it seems like I almost always need to be somewhere else. It's not always been that way... I was a civil servant in the government bureaucracy for a short time and, although I loved my job, it didn't take. I worked in a pseudo-corporate structure for a few years and know that it's not for me. Independent entrepreneur with lots of great business partners seems to be working out pretty well.

My Preferred Office Setting.

3. I do have an office in Virginia Beach, VA... but I've only spent about 2 hours there in the last 6 months. I much prefer to work in a hotel room, or in my truck, on the iPad, MacBook and Blackberry that are rarely outside of arm's reach... let alone my sight.


4. Sometimes I stay in 5 Star Hotels, sometimes I crash on a friend's couch. In the absence of a motivation to stay anywhere special, the default is Holiday Inn Express... Yes, I'm a Platinum Member of the Priority Club.


5. No, it doesn't get old... at least not for me.... at least not yet.


So, that's about enough background for now.


Tomorrow I am taking my first trip on a train in the United States... granted, it is a short trip... but we're going to see how well Amtrak is doing with its new push to redefine rail travel in the US. This week I'll be spending 5 days in my favorite city... what a great week to start a travel blog.


-RJP


As a shorthand for the blog, I'll be listing highlights of where I stayed or where I ate when I post in this manner:

Today's Restaurant:
Ye Old Mill Street Pub, Mays Landing, NJ.