ETC Pod #7: Friar Chris – Hitchhiking and Philosophy

The final episode of the Friar Chris Series begins with a discussion about the differences between bicycle touring and backpacking then moves on to deeper topics, including (@ 15:45) my experience volunteering on the Gulf Coast in the immediate aftermath of Katrina and the corrosive and corrupting effects of tribalism and dogma in the Disaster Relief Industrial Complex. We then move on to (mostly) explore the fundamental ideas behind why he and I chose hitchhiking and what we learned and experienced while traveling the country as “disposable” vagabonds loitering out on the fringe. SPOILER ALERT: Sausage Party Hope lies within!

7/4/17 (3): Waterbury to Springfield, VT – Jerking the Wheel

I wasn’t “getting anywhere” so around 2:30 I abandoned my roundabout in favor the interstate. My initial instincts: solid. The ramp blew. Hard. No way anyone could stop. After half an hour, despite the blister on the ball of my foot barking, I chose to walk the mile and a half thru Waterbury in hopes of better luck with Route 2 from the other end.

7/4/17 (2): Colcester to Waterbury, VT – Amy & The Beacon

Bob dropped me off in comfortable territory: a large rural Mobil station that happened to be alongside US-7, the road with whom I’d begun the trip almost a week before, and a short walk from I-89. Mostly out of habit (I had Subway and plenty of water from earlier), I took a lap around the …

7/4/17 (1): Alburg-Colcester, VT – Daddy Mammon’s Consumerist Plantation

July 4, 2017 Part 1 I arrived by Amtrak’s Adirondack in Rouses Point on Monday, July 3, and felt rejuvenated! The stomach bug…so familiar by then I’d named it Ticonderoga’s Revenge…had passed and I was ready to attack my old friend Route 2 and make my way to Maine. Things began perfectly and made me …

Plan Less. Live More.

Along with an infamous "Hostility Toward Wealth" Facebook post that destroyed some deep friendships, this has perhaps become my favorite blurb I've written. It's from March or April 2015 and was written in a tent in Salento, Colombia. I have to admit, and with only a slight, and forced, degree of humility: its nice to …