Ride And Abide

Today's post backgrounded by "On My Own - Ulrich Schnauss" (Sorry the video is not *actually* a video...) Today I was informed that I would be receiving a raise with my recent promotion.  I am not surprised that I am getting a raise, as it seems only natural that I would, but... my excitement of my new job was not hinged on the financial aspect... period.  So, a raise: well that's kind of awesome. Anywho... that's not what this post is about (but it kind of is...) "Stop "chasing happiness".  Be who you are and chase that." -- I am trying to process what that means in execution.  After spending a significant portion of my adult life trying to fill my life with distractions to mask unhappiness, I am left with some good memories and even more resentment.  I did some cool shit, to be certain... but now left to my own devices and a more grounded approach to life, I am no longer seeking BMWs or a big house.... I just want to mountain ...

Alveg Út Að Aka (Totally Out Driving) If somebody is acting crazy or is completely off about something, Icelandic people say that that person is totally or completely out driving. Sentence: “Am I right to do this or am I totally out driving?” Iceland is next on my list.  It will not be my first time to visit, but this trip I want to plan an adventure and do some exciting things. I am going to rent a caravan and drive around the island KuKu Campers Seriously... how could you NOT rent from that guy? I would like to Mountain Bike as much as possible...  add a Helicopter ride, why the hell not? Heli Bike MTB Volcano Adventure - No shit. Hot Springs - I'll figure this out later.. a bit clich'e... whatever. Sólheimasandur Beach, Iceland I would like to visit the  Airplane Wreckage

Open Your Eyes... Today's blog produced by the inspiration of: Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye and Decades - Can You Love Me Now I have discovered that it is not very pleasant to wake up from the primal calling of a bunch of howler monkeys.  JFC.  Even still... an experience I am glad to have been through.  I have been sleeping only 7 hours per day here... and still feel great all day.  Perhaps due to being so close to the equator? :-) Last Goodbye, as a concept, is something I ponder occasionally.  As-in... there will be a last time that I hear Jimi Hendrix... a last time I drive a car... and ultimately... the last time I wake up.  But... I am practicing some top-level avoidance by not addressing what those songs both were really written about - the end of a Love.  The human brain is pretty amazing... and amazingly annoying at times.  I'm positively broken - and that's OK. Which brings me to my next song... this song is my "I'm kicking as...

Today I blog to Radiohead...  Everything In It's Right Place Yesterday was interesting.  I met a guy who opened a Coffee Roasting Business after losing interest in the rat race near San Diego while living there with his wife and child.  I believe he still exploits his US connection for income (consulting of some sort) but has now lived in Tamarindo, CR for 2 years now and as he put it "[he] doesn't see returning to the states any time soon". When in Rome... A post shared by James Radtke (@rideandabide) on Jan 22, 2018 at 2:34pm PST I then met some folks at dinner.  Interestingly they engaged *me* in conversation, as I have been pretty low-key this trip.  Somehow the topic got fairly deep and the patriarch of the wacky pair kind of called out my situation fairly accurately... "just got out of a long relationship... wasn't married though...  and everyone told him to take this trip to find himself".  So... nobody told me to take this...

Listening to a favorite tune while I am blogging this morning. Film School - Two Kinds Muy Cansado despues surfear una hora - Very tired from surfing for an hour (my Spanish still sucks, even after 2 days). It turns out surfing is like riding a bike.  Albeit, I was riding the equivalent of a tandem, by myself and the waves were analogous of a flat parking lot.  But... First set, first wave... Up. I really need to get my life figured out.  Destressing myself out of my normal routine is almost painful and uncomfortable.  And as I consider this, I am unable to rationalize why Americans live the stressful and overwhelming way we do.  To be clear, there are some folks here that also chase the same dream (nice cars and the idea of presenting an image.)  There is just so much life to experience and we seem to fret over the dumbest shit.  While it might seem ironic that I am documenting/complaining about the exact thing I seem to be doing - and tha...

I had visited Santiago, Chile in 2000 for work... and that trip solidified my feeling that I had a "thing" for the countries south of the US border.  Trips to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Ensenada... all left me with fond memories and very deep emotions about the place. This trip to Costa Rica so far has been over-the-top amazing.  The people have all been so nice and friendly and accommodating.  The landscape is unimaginably beautiful.  I really had no idea.  And the food... they seem to have a flair for making amazing dishes here. So far I have not done anything particularly exciting... unless you count getting lost because there are no street addresses here and GPS does not work on "guesses" ;-) Saturday - drove to a Walmart to get sunscreen and Off (I had forgotten about the whole "Zika" thing).  That was a cool experience.  Some folks spoke English fairly well.  Other folks.. not so much (no mucho).  My trivial amount of Spanish see...

Ataraxia (pronounced AT-uh-RAX-ee-yuh) is Greek for “undisturbed” or “untroubled.” It’s a kind of inner peace – the ability to remain calm despite fear, anger, sadness, or stress. A person who with strong ataraxia has mastered the emotions and can rise above the ordinary difficulties that we all encounter in life. Ataraxia is the ultimate form of “keeping an even keel.” http://philosophyterms.com/ataraxia/ This too shall pass... a constant that has not changed throughout my life.  Regardless of the immediate stress that occurred in the past, they are all history and are all-but-forgotten now. This is close to what I see when I attempt to meditate. It might seem odd that my vision is dark and ominous... but... that's where my head goes.  Back to the mountains near Cooke City, MT... with a storm rolling in.