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KEEP ON TRUCKING


 

I was born in a performance-oriented culture in which acquisitions frequently are the measure of a man.  For the first twenty years of my life, I listened to the gospel of money and materialism, but I never became a convert.  I confess to having a couple of close calls where for short periods of time I felt the undertow of money's siren call.  But I always escaped before money took over my life, and I drowned in a sea of dollars.

 

I faced a choice.  I could become rich in the experiences that come with a life of adventure, or I could be rich in monetary terms piling up a mountain of money and other acquisitions.  It was one of the hardest choices I ever made, and at the same time, one of the easiest.  It was hard because I saw how my medical colleagues were accumulating substantial wealth.  It was easy because I wanted adventure and freedom more than I wanted money.

 

I have always placed a high value on my personal freedom, and I have organized my life around the Freedom Principle.  This principle says if you don't worship at the altar of acquisitions and money, you'll never lose your freedom.  People who have no possessions have a remarkable amount of freedom, because they have nothing to lose.  People who have massive infrastructure and millions of dollars have limited freedom because they have so much to lose.

 

Although it's true rich people have more options than poor people, rich folks have made an agreement with life that limits their freedom and options.  It's extremely difficult to feel free when you are chained to endless infrastructure that you must work to support.  Infrastructure is expensive, and instead of it supporting you, you must work to support it.  You have the initial cost of acquiring it, and the never ending cost of maintaining it.

 

I'm not claiming you don't need money.  I am purposing most people would do fine, perhaps even better, if they had less infrastructure to support.  They would have more personal freedom and probably would enjoy their lives more.  At least, that's the way it works for me.

 

I have a confession to make.  I am addicted to expeditionary vehicles, specifically, Land Rover Defenders.  Even though I am sailing around the world on a small yacht, I still have two Defenders parked in storage facilities around the world.  One is in Whangarei, New Zealand, and the other is in Mooloolaba, Australia.  If I worship at the altar of infrastructure and acquisitions, that altar is shaped like Land Rovers, fully kitted out for expeditionary travel with roof racks, long range fuel tanks, two spare tires, roof top tents, heavy duty suspension, and customized storage compartments.  These freedom machines stand ready to take me from Cairo to Capetown when the time is right.

 

So there you have it.  I do have a certain amount of infrastructure in my life, and I spend modest amounts of money to maintain it.  There is no other way to make my dreams come true.  I need to have my Freedom Machines ready to travel outback and beyond.

 

We all have compromises we must make when we come to our agreement with life.  My compromise is simple.  I keep my infrastructure to a minimum whenever possible.  But when it comes to Freedom Machines - Land Rover Defenders and catamarans - I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep my dreams alive, and even make some of them come true.

 

Stay tuned, because when I finish my sailing trip around the world, I may fire up those Land Rovers and make a truck convoy across the Australian outback.  Then, I may ship the Defenders to South Africa and make a run from Capetown to Cairo.

 

I'm fifty seven years old and still kicking.  I don't know how much time I have left, but in the time that remains, I plan to keep on trucking.  God willing.



 


Log 1 Peter Pan Around the World
Log 2 Weapons of Mackerel Destruction
Log 3 Pirates of the Malacca Straits
Log 4 Kissing Cobras
Log 5 Debriosaurus Rex
Log 6 Go Ahead - Live Your Dreams

Log 7 The Man Who Built His House on a Rock
Log 8 Ambivalent Eagles
Log 9 One-Shovel Full at a Time
Log 10 Hitchhiker's Guide to Planet Earth

Log 11 Keeshond

Log 12 The Red Sea Blues

Log 13 Feel the Freedom

Log 14 The Danger Zone

Log 15 Lucky Man
Log 16 Dream Machines - Land Rover Defenders

Log 17 Trade Wind Dreams
Log 18 Logs With Fins
Log 19 Everywhere, Everything
Log 20 Shark Slayer Is History

Log 21 Viking Funeral - Burial at Sea
Log 22 Improbable and Impossible

Log 23 Keep on Trucking
Log 24 Dream Machines II
Log 25 Bodysurfing Whales
Log 26 Hitting the Wall
Log 27 Surviving the Savage Seas

Log 28 The Next Step
Log 29 Welcome to Barbados
Log 30 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
Log 31 The Man with the Unplan
Log 32 Dali Dolphins
Log 33 Flying Like a Turtle
Log 34 The Foolish Man Built His House on a Pitch Lake
Log 35 Go West Young Man
Log 36 Crossing the Atlantic in a Row Boat
Log 37 The Unsinkable HMS Diamond Rock
Log 38 Catamaran Capsize in 170 mph Winds
Log 39 When Are You Coming Home?

Log 40 Master and Commander of Anegada - Frigate Birds
Log 41 Baths of Virgin Gorda - Batholiths of Central Arabia

Log 42 Free at Last
Log 43 Stalking the Wild Manatee

Log 44 Spreaderman
Log 45 Attack of the Flesh Eating Bees
Log 46 Sharks and Coconuts
Log 47 Stingray Picnic
Log 48 Boo Boo Hill
Log 49 Whale Slayers
Log 50 Noddies (Not Naughty)

 

Log 51 Exumas Land and Sea Park
Log 52 David and Goliath
Log 53 Turquoise Clouds of Paradise

Log 54 Momma Nightjar
Log 55 Maximillian The Great
Log 56 Chiton Kingdom
Log 57 Flying and Holding On
Log 58 Far Horizons
Log 59 Clouds Are a Sailor's Friend
Log 60 Getting Connected
Log 61 Fear
Log 62 Grand Schemes and Other Important Things
Log 63 If Jellyfish Had a Brain
Log 64 Cousins That Don't Kiss
Log 65 Swimming With Sharks
Log 66 Perfect the Way You Are
Log 67 Space Travelers
Log 68 Aliens
Log 69 Monsters of the Mind
Log 70 My Butterfly Collection
Log 71 Somewhere Other Than Here Societies
Log 72 Five-Hundred Pound Spiders
Log 73 Red Sea Sunsets
Log 74 Gibraltar Sunrise
Log 75 Big Sea - Small Ship
Log 76 Just Cruising
Log 77 Castle Mania
Log 78 You Must Know the Sea
Log 79 Flying Like a Goat
Log 80 The Joy of Photography
Log 81 Universal Camouflage
Log 82 My Rainbow Collection
Log 83 Indian Ocean Reward
Log 84 Fiber W
Log 85 Turkish Reflections
Log 86 Mirrors and Mirages
Log 87 Lycean Tombs Rock
Log 88 Rigging Emergency
Log 89 Pamukkale
Log 90 Volcano Land
Log 91 Sniffing the Air
Log 92 Why I Don't Kite Surf
Log 93 Resurrecting Exit Only in Turkey
Log 94 Greased Pole Competition
Log 95 Tsunami Damage
Log 96 Afraid of Living
Log 97 Living on the Edge
Log 98 Borneo Adventure
Log 99 Uligamu Tree Tender with Full Benefits
Log 100 God's Fireworks Display

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This web site is a companion to Outback and Beyond.com.

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