(Out)tro

A beginning sprouts from an ending, and lays its roots in the tale that precedes it. So it is with this one. I looked around and found that the life I was living closely resembled the nightmarish futures that, in my adolescence, I had hoped to avoid. Despite my best efforts to succeed in what seems an honest career, my reluctant hand was forced. So now I sit with my last month’s wages, my belongings distributed or packed and a road ahead of me.  How did it come to this?

Next year has been planned, my future from there on is clear, and most important of all, it is one I am excited about. The six to eight months in-between however posed a bigger problem. So I have no job and little chance of immediate gainful employment and even if I did find a job it would most probably be as stifling as the one I just crawled out of. I did learn a lot from working in the financial industry, but I had to be honest with myself -- it was not for me. That’s okay. So when faced with an uncertain future it was my step-father who suggested I take a road trip. His idea involved me packing my bags, hitting the road and finding whatever work I can to help pay the way. My initial reaction was a fatalistic one, but it did not last long. Soon I started to see it as the opportunity it really was. I was being given the rare opportunity to write, and write something special.

I decided that I would not simply hit the road to do the usual soul finding, who-am-I-really types of adventure, but as a chronicled exploration of our fair country, specifically the Garden Route. It is a road I have driven through countless times, but never really got to know. I have always admired its beauty, which even to this day inspires entire worlds in my imagination. Now I will discover all the hidden wonders that lie in its valley and between its winding mountains. There is so much to discover in our own land, why not find it and share these experiences with others who may wish to do the same one day.

As I have started to prepare for the trip more and more people have told me how jealous they are and how they wish they too could be doing this. I hope I don’t sound arrogant, but I hope to face and grow from all the difficulties that I shall encounter, as well as share my findings with others so that they too can do it. My Header was designed by a talented artist and good friend of mine, SimonSubrosa. As we sat and discussed the trip he told me about a similar trip that he took, which only lasted three or four days. He told me that he learnt so many things that had never occurred to him, and found amazing places that no tourist information kiosk would ever have heard of. That helped stoke my desire for this trip. To think that there are so many things to see, countless things to learn and hardships to overcome, is rather exiting. Most of all I will be doing it myself, relying on myself.

That comes to the hard part of the whole excursion. My funds are far from infinite. In fact, without the loving aid of my friends and family, this could never have been conceivable. To think that now it is, gives me a fabulous warm feeling in a very feminine part of my anatomy, which my masculinity refuses to acknowledge. I hope it lasts long enough to help keep the cold out while I am on my trip. So I will have to find jobs in the small towns and villages I stop at to help finance this trip. So it’s not going to be a holiday, that's for certain. However, it does add an interesting dynamic, and a fantastic opportunity. What better way to get involved in a community and find all its wonders, than to actually be a part of it. At least I have a mountain of Bar and Restaurant experience, so that should serve me well. It seems like the most valuable skills university teaches our youth is how to waiter and bartend.

Well, I am off to continue preparing for my trip. I should be having my final send off this weekend. Then it’s good-bye Port Elizabeth, and hello the open road with all it has to offer and demand.