Welcome back to scotomaville!
“There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
It's been six months since the previous episode. Check the timestamps on my last upload to YouTube! You can watch this episode on YouTube. If you're a subscriber I want to edify you. We have got six new episodes getting lined up that are real killers. You see: Onas Probandi. You remember, it means 'the burden of proof is on the claimant'. I need to show you my evidence.
[crosswalk signal blasts]
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT
It almost goes without saying that in this episode we're going to talk about some stuff that you are very well familiar with - SETBACKS - having 'life' happen between your plans - like COVID.
I'm not sure about you but the last six months have been [crosswalk signal blasts] WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT - which has been very rich for us - with very strong obstacles. Marcus Aurelius recommends - the obstacle is the way. He meant
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength."
Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and theologian, recommends that you find someone to follow who's been where you want to go... that's done what you want to do.
If you're hoping for a lifestyle of Airstreaming with some variety while on an expedition (a journey with a purpose), then you should:
"learn of those who have been bound like you and who now stake all their possessions. these are people who know the way which you would follow and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured. follow the way by which they began".
WHY have an Airstreaming Expedition?
This channel is more about the 'WHY' than the 'HOW'. Nate and Marissa from 'Less Junk More Journey' are great at the 'HOW'. Same with Sean and Kristy Michael from 'Long Long Honeymoon'. Those are fabulous channels to learn the details of a mobile lifestyle.
I want to dive in below that - on the 'WHY'. Why do you want to have a life of adventure? Why do you want to expose your independence and not be dependent... I believe because you're willing to take personal responsibility for your own awareness.
Example: one of the things we have is a 'key' board. Notice that there are three key hooks and the key in the middle is missing? There's a blue one supposed to be here. Why is the key missing? Here's what Daniel tends to do. He's done this before. Fill up the fresh water tank. Put the hose away. Leave the tank door open and go to Walmart. Yeah - drive with the door open and the key in the door!
Example: not only do you have to continually walk around your trailer and find all the different items to lock down to secure before you take off on the road but you have to think about your mental state and what's going on in here (motions around his head) before you dodge out into crazy traffic or windy roads and bad weather conditions.
Practice Airstreaming at-home in UM
It turns out almost all of the Airstreaming life can be practiced while you are at home in UM. You can gain experience before you acquire the Airstream that you want.
As you can tell we have the evidence now. We are finally in a 30-foot globetrotter of our own, and that's quite the story to come. We're no longer in a 19-foot Bambi. We've got the thing we've really worked for five years for so let's talk about setbacks. (You can 'follow' us now that we have evidence)
Welcome back to Scotomaville!
This episode (and chapter) is about something you're really familiar with, but I've got some insights that you wouldn't have any clue about. This episode is my Onus Probondi. It's pretty awesome to finally have the evidence around me.
Setbacks turn out to be an excellent time to get organized, to develop habits and patterns and muscles and systems and organization. There are all kinds of creative ways that you can use your time while you're [crosswalk signal blasts] Wait. Wait. Wait. While you're experiencing the 'weight' of [crosswalk signal blasts] Wait. Wait.
[6 months earlier]
It's the day after Thanksgiving and all through the house piles of trash need to be taken out. But they don't pick them up. So I get to take them out. I really miss my walks to the dumpster at lake pleasant.
[Daniel walking to dumpster carrying other peoples trash] "yeah that was other people's trash too. You can get to be generous with your gift (of time) once you get past your own liabilities I think."
"In hindsight six months of [crosswalk signal blasts] WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT - waiting with COVID setbacks were not that much of a loss because I was able to focus on doing mundane things like taking the trash out, doing maintenance, trying to stay in shape, and learning who I am. Awareness is a really valuable asset.
Example: I really do not miss all the construction noise that excessively interfered with or interrupted or pressured me during the entire time in Arizona. I don't miss it at all.
Example: You may want to take a really close look [closeup of the expiration date on their truck temporary license plate] at this: the 7th of April 2020. Today is about the 10th or 11th of May 2021. This is over a year expired! [Daniel installs newly acquired license plates and tabs]
Simply AGING vs Becoming MATURE
I want to talk to you about leaving Scotomaville and why a personal Everest is so critical. Think of the distinction between aged and mature, between mature and aged. To age is to get old. To mature is to ripen. The reason why you want to be on a personal Everest ( an expedition - a journey with a purpose) and the reason why, as a mate, you want your partner to ripen not just to get old is so that the quality of your life becomes richer. This subtle distinction will help you get out of Scotomaville.
Let me say it again. You don't want to grow old. You want to ripen. You want to mature - not just age. Setting off on an expedition no matter what your chronological age, is an excellent time to start your maturation - you're ripening - becoming more of who you are and knowing who that is.
I'm 66 now. I think I have a pretty good idea of who I am. I'm pretty confident to share that journey with you in all of its glory or horror! The Airstream's just bait. It's the set. It's the stage. I am very grateful to have it because at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy - the WHY I'm Airstreaming - is that we now have a secure place to sleep (certainty), and fabulous places to visit (variety), and more experiences of who I am (evidence) and all of this to share with Angelina (richness). Life doesn't get much better than this kind of journey.
My explanation wouldn't be complete without Angelina's point of view. It was 2005 when I left on my first Trans-America cycling, and again in 2006 and 2007. Angelina was very supportive.
Angelina: "I needed him to go grow up."
Daniel: "I was gonna say you could tell them the truth"
Angelina: "I was recovering from a traumatic brain injury and I needed space and flexibility to heal from that. The TBI was a challenge in our relationship and he needed to go."
Daniel: "I was extremely frustrated losing everything that we had built - a TV show, a radio show, everything had been happening for us - all the awards, the Street Smart version of 'The Apprentice'. And then: 'boom' - in one day it was all over. I didn't know how to deal with that much of a setback - and that's what this episode's about. As it turned out that setback, which was huge for us. It was over a decade long in the recovery." That became the foundation of our personal growth. It was the pressure that insisted we pay attention and mature.
Angelina: "Yeah go ahead. Go pedal across America. Go grow yourself up. Go grow up."
Daniel: "Yeah I went to find out what I really had, and what I didn't have - like a refined personal awareness and critical listening skills."
Angelina: "I've always been from the mindset of: 'you don't complain you figure out a solution'. We're both wired differently. I knew you needed an adventure because that's what you were hungry for. I needed to heal and I needed the absence of drama so I could listen to how I needed to heal. You needed to go in order for me to hear intuitively how I needed to take care of myself. You needed to go for yourself - to discover what was yet to be revealed. I'm very proud of you for doing that."
Daniel: thank you [kisses Angelina]
Setbacks are really opportunities to get to know yourself better. Try to shift your thinking from setbacks being postponements and delays to them being opportunities. They're actually an express lane to self-awareness. You just have to figure out where in that event or that challenge you have the liberty to explore who you are and what you believe. If you discuss personal transformation and have the 'WHY' firmly in your mind then you'll have the commitment that gains your partners support.
Angelina knew I was not leaving just to go chicky-poo around while pedaling across America but that I was going to go sleep in the freezing snow and travel alone without a cell phone 4,300 miles. I don't want to say it was all suffering but it was certainly endurance.
Angelina: "It was a rite of passage that comes to mind. Young men used to have a tradition as they became men. You were turning 50 years old. That's where things shift in men biologically."
Daniel: "Yes, it was a rite of passage and andropause was just beginning. once again look to setbacks to accelerate your maturation and not just endure them for the age."
Angelina: "I get excited about who we become through a setback, and in the process, who I am going to become through this challenge or unexpected journey that I need to now navigate through like Chris's death - who I am going to become through it."
Daniel: "Spoiler alert. They don't know about Chris yet."
Jim Rohn used to say the book you don't read won't do you any good. "It's a mystery"; he said, "a grand mystery why people don't take the action necessary". They think 'yeah I want to' but then they don't take action.
One of the distinctions I want you to make is the difference between a dependent and an independent person. An independent person takes responsibility for their welfare and for their wellness and not just by thinking 'yeah I should do that - that's a good thing to do'. No. Taking action is the distinction. What we're saying is that the ACTION YOU DON'T TAKE WON'T HELP. It's the actions that you do take that make a difference. Incrementally, little by little, you get up your personal Everest by making small changes and sticking with it.
Angelina: Yeah agreed.