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I've Moved The Passionate Warrior Blog! Won't You Follow Me?

Dear Friend,

Sorry that you haven't heard much from me in a while, but I've been busy moving The Passionate Warrior Blog to a new server. 

Unfortunately this also means that you will need to re-sign up to receive my free blog posts again.  It's simple to do.  Just head over to http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheWayOfThePassionateWarrior and chose how you'd like to get your copy. 

You can get these posts either via RSS feed or via email.  If you don't know what RSS is, don't sweat it.  Just sign up for the email version.

Either way, it's all free!

Thanks so much for following!

All the best,

Hugh

A Giggle

Dear Friend,

No matter how stressed I get with my kids, when I hear them laugh – genuinely express natural and spontaneous joy – I can’t help but join them.

From the standpoint of parental discipline, this can be a problem.

For example, right now I am typing in the dark – my kids are telling a spooky story – and in our motorhome, that means all lights are off.

Now, they should be taking their baths and brushing their teeth. And they left a mess on the floor, some of which could hurt if I stepped on it.

But, the pure joy that is in the air when kids are just naturally themselves is too precious to disturb – at least until the fighting starts. Then it’s easy to take charge.

These moments only happen on occasion – at least when I can share them. And I suspect that when I witness the raw, innocent energy of a child’s laugh, I am living in a bit of heaven.

I like that.

All the best,

Hugh

Mars vs. Venus - The Male Perspective

Dear Friend,

One of the greatest problems that families have in improving the quality of their lives together is the common reality that the parents themselves don't agree on what the family priorities should be.

In fact, many men find themselves confused and saddened by their family life, especially as it relates to their relationship to their wife.

A common complaint seems to be that, once the children are born, the husband becomes an ignored accessory, whose purpose for existing in the family hierarchy is to do the stuff his wife doesn't want to do (like plunging the toilet), but who otherwise no longer feels a central part of the family in the eyes of his wife.

I like to call this the "sperm donor syndrome." After children are born, many men find themselves marginalized by their wives, who seem to trade in their identity as a woman and wife for the exclusive identity of "mommy." "Hubby is a big boy. He can take care of himself. How dare he put more burdens on me. Why, he's just another baby in the house!"

Any of this sound familiar? Some folks laugh at this stuff. It does seem to have become so commonplace as to be a caricature of married life "after kids."

The problem is, this type of attitude by wives destroys marriages, and yet many women seem to be clueless about what they are doing.

From a man's point of view, when their wife fills her schedule up with every possible activity except spending time with her husband or doing things with him, on occasion, that he enjoys, the wife has abandoned him.

This is the experience of millions of men around the world, but particularly in Western countries. The result is often husbands and fathers who avoid their family rather than face being regularly reminded of how unimportant they now are at home.

I know that some men deserve the negative labels that they receive in their marriage. But I submit that most men aren't pigs, and shouldn't be treated like doormats either.

This is not a popular problem to discuss. And you won't find huge amounts written about it, either. However, until men are fully engaged in the family, there can be no complete family.

I submit that men intentionally disengage from their families after children are born because they are often, in effect, invited to disengage by the women they love. They feel ignored and marginalized by their wives, and no longer identify their family life as a potential source of positive energy.

If you are a husband, then you are probably quite aware of what I am talking about. If you are a wife, perhaps you think I've lost my mind? That I'm a biased male who hasn't a clue?

If you are a wife and mother, and you are serious about taking your family life to the next level, then I strongly suggest that you take some quiet time, perhaps let your husband read this post, and then listen to what he says.

You just might be amazed by what you learn. And you will definitely improve the chances that he will join you in your quest for a fantastic family life.

Talk to you soon,

Hugh

Get Your Copy of Families Without Limits While They Last!

Dear Friend,

It's up!

That's right, the long anticipated first edition of my new book, Families Without Limits, is available right now for immediate download at http://www.familieswithoutlimits.com.

I hope you'll check it out and pick up a copy. This book summarizes my entire philosophy for turning a mediocre family life into something better than you ever dreamed of.

And I am serious about this. If, after applying the principles that I set forth for you there and within 60 days, you are not thrilled with the results, just drop me a note and I'll cheerfully return the purchase price to you.

This is my passion. I am here because I want to help people to understand why their family life may not be what they had always hoped it would be. Families Without Limits is how I intend to help you today.

I look forward to hearing your success stories!

The Warrior crew is in Central Washington State at a fairly cozy RV park with great Internet, so perhaps we'll hang out awhile here until the wife get's itching to move on.

It's late here so I'll wrap this up now. I hope to have a regular blog post up tomorrow.

As always, all the best,

Hugh

Are You a Rock?

Dear Friend,

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." ~ Oscar Wilde

I posted this quote on Twitter.com recently.  I found it to be one of the most true statements that I have ever repeated. 

I hope that in following this blog, and in reading my books, that perhaps I will spark the flame of living that so many of us no longer find burning within.

Rocks exist.  Their purpose is to do no more.  So in existence they carry a dignity all their own.

Humans, on the other hand, are meant for so much more.  Otherwise, why would we have so much more to offer the world than a simple rock?

If you believe that you are merely existing in this world, then you are.  And since you are not a rock, I propose that you start making some changes to your life today to rectify this situation.

Humans just don't make good rocks.  So don't be one!  Start creating a life worth living right now.

All the best,

Hugh

Bison Crossing - The Proof

Dear Friend,

In case there was any doubt about my Bison traffic jam reference in last night's post, here's the evidence:

All the best,

Hugh

Warning - Bison Crossing

Dear Friend,

The new Families Without Limits book will be available for sale online in a day or two. I hope that you'll pick up a copy! I'll give you more details as I have them.

Today we toured Yellowstone National Park. We rented a big SUV and a little GPS device that acts as a tour guide within the Park. This device actually has way-points programmed into it and as you approach a point of interest a narration is broadcast over the FM radio. Very cool, considering taking a live narrated tour would have cost us hundred of dollars.

One thing I like about Canada is that they often have a "family rate" for admission to sites, which saves me substantially over paying six separate admission fees. I don't see this in the States.

I understand that on a tour bus a kid takes up one seat the same as a full paying adult, but I just can't justify spending $300 for a couple of hours when I can spend $200 for two and a half days of fully-narrated touring in my own, huge, rented SUV.

Anyway, my wife continues to take breathtaking photographs. I hope that she will finally put together a portfolio so that the rest of the world can enjoy her considerable talent. Perhaps she'll let me post a few here? We'll see.

We spent quite a bit of time today in a Park traffic jam as a herd of Bison decided to sit down in the only road in or out of the Park. Always an interesting experience. We have seen so much wildlife in its natural habitat during our journey. I hope that this bodes well for the state of our environment.

I'll continue to keep you updated on the book release. Thanks so much for following the travels of the Warrior crew!

All the best,

Hugh

Victory!

Dear Friend,

Tonight I helped to wipe out the forces of Greece. I was allied with my Roman counterparts in a coordinated campaign of utter destruction.

Yes, I played Microsoft's "Age of Empires" computer game with my two sons tonight. It's an old game that allows the players to work as a team by utilizing the wireless router we have on board the Warrior (appropriately called "RoadWarriorNet").

I have always enjoyed playing computer games. Especially games like Sid Meier's Civilization and its progeny. This is not a Sid Meier game but it's of the same genre.

I have also found that the time that I spend playing these games with my kids is not simply a collection of mindless zapping noises or brain-numbing blather, as some fear. I actually feel a closer bonding with my kids when I share these electronic experiences with them.

I think that my kids really like the fact that I am able to interact with them in ways that most adults cannot. And yet I can be an adult, too, when I must.

So tonight was a good night.

We are in West Yellowstone, Montana, where the temperature is ten degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it is back in Missoula. Of well, we headed South to cool off, I guess.

We have really been in a quandary as to whether we should continue on to Vancouver, British Columbia (our original destination), or just keep heading South. At this point we would have to back-track quite a bit to get there.

But my eldest son pointed out something that had a big impact on my thinking. He said that we simply had to finish what we started. Otherwise, our whole trip, no matter how fascinating, would have the air of failure about it.

I had no response to that line of reasoning. So it looks like we'll spend a good part of this week here in Yellowstone, and then head off to Vancouver as originally planned.

When will we return to the East Coast? I really don't know.

Don't really care either.

All the best,

Hugh

Death of a Spirit

Dear Friend,

Today I sat on a lonely hill in southern Montana, overlooking a broad valley.

Behind this valley were high and rocky mountains. They were quite beautiful. The sky stretched far and wide above me. I understand why they call this "Big Sky Country."

As the sun set, the colors on the mountainside changed to varying shades of red, and the wind, which never ceased to blow at a steady pace, grew cooler, and had a bit of a bite, even this early in the season.

In the valley below me were cattle, quietly grazing.

To my left stood a dozen black specks, heads down, as they grazed contentedly on the plentiful grasses.

To my right stood one lone bull. He was behind a fence that divided him from the others, but he stood right at its edge.

This bull's head never went down. He didn't graze like the others. He didn't move much, either. He just stood there, and gazed into the distance, towards the cows.

He stayed that way for what seemed like an hour, but was probably much less time. He just stood. And watched.

It was a very lonely sight. And as the breeze grew cooler, even cold, it was a hard sight.

Perhaps that is the way a bull's life is supposed to be. Perhaps he has no real thoughts or meaningful dreams. No desires beyond the most basic or instinctive.

Yet the image in my mind of a bull is a proud and powerful image. An image with so much power to move people that it adorns everything from sports jerseys to Wall Street brokerages.

The bull that I saw today was not living that image.

Perhaps, deep inside, the spirit of the bull moved in him. That spirit that we all find so powerful.

But in his life, in the only reality that he has, that bull had no life at all.

I can only wish him a swift trip to the butcher's shop. For his own sake. And for his dignity.

All the best,

Hugh

Pain

Dear Friend,

Pain. It's a subject that most of us would rather not hear about. And others, less fortunate, cannot get out of their minds.

Of course, pain comes in many forms. Physical pain is the most obvious form. I am not a physician so I will not address the physical or psychological issues associated with that affliction.

Emotional pain is something altogether different, and something that all of us at one time or another have been confronted with.

Why do we experience emotional pain? And what can we do to minimize this unwelcome guest in our lives?

Some say that emotional pain is actually our own resistance to what is. Our failure to simply accept the fact that what is is not what we previously desired or expected.

Others say that emotional pain is not within our intellectual control. That it is deeply rooted in human instinct.

Many who experience this pain report that it seems to originate more in the trunk of the body, rather than in the head. Interestingly, there are more neurons (brain-type cells) located in the trunk of the human body than there are in the brain itself. Some scientists have even speculated that in our primitive, worm-like ancestors, the main neural control for the body was located in the gut.

Perhaps this is why people often report a sudden emotional shock as "gut-wrenching," or feel strong chest pain when faced with sudden emotional trauma.

So much for the science.

And what does emotional pain have to do with living the life of your dreams?

The reality is that most of us have to face some emotional pain in order to make the changes to our lives that we need to live authentically. In fact, it is easy to live your life authentically. It comes to each of us naturally. And it is relatively easy to continue to live our lives in denial, avoiding the changes that might transform our lives.

Successfully making the transition from a life of denial to a life of authenticity, and overcoming the struggle within that transition, is the heart of what I teach.

And within that struggle, most of us will find emotional pain.

How should we confront this pain? Is pursuit of our dreams worth risking inviting such pain into our lives?

I cannot cover such a big topic here today. However, I do plan to continue to discuss this aspect of your journey to a new and better life in future posts.

For now, just be aware of it and know that you can and will overcome it.

The first step is to find courage within your own self.

Talk to you soon,

Hugh

Family

Dear Friend,

Sometimes, even when you do what you love, something is missing.

As humans, we are, by nature, social creatures. Yes, some of us may be perfectly at peace living alone in a mountain cabin. However, most people need human companionship to feel fulfilled.

The people we hold close to us, I call our "family." These may be friends, distant cousins, or a traditional, nuclear family, it matters not to me. Whomever you feel good being around on a regular basis, that is your family in my eyes.

Sometimes, the folks that we hang out with are not those who make us feel good. We feel forced together by the accident of birth or otherwise.

My oldest son complains often about having to hang out with his younger siblings. My younger son can't stand my youngest, who effectively dethroned him as the baby of the family. No matter what, in his eyes, our youngest can do no right.

I think that this difference in definition of the word "family" has a significant impact on the way most folks initially react to the concept of Families Without Limits.

Yes, most of my writing does assume that a family is of the traditional, nuclear sort. Nevertheless, the core of what I write is not meant to preserve any particular family structure. I am not on a mission to protect the sanctity of the nuclear family, although if I help to save some of these, I will be happy.

My mission is to encourage individuals to pursue their dreams regardless of the nature and status of their family relations. Sometimes, that actually means that I encourage individuals to pursue dreams in spite of their traditional family's influences.

My goal is simple. First and foremost, I want to help people to find personal peace and happiness. I want to help them to understand that they can achieve this by taking steps in the right direction, no matter what their situation in life currently is. And I do not shy away from encouraging people to change the makeup of those around them that I call "family" if those others truly represent obstacles to personal happiness.

Here's to families - those built around the healthy happiness of all of their members.

Talk to you soon,

Hugh

The Bear

Dear Friend,

As my family and I innocently walked among the prairie grasses of Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Park, Alberta, Canada, we were suddenly confronted by an image that no one wishes for. Directly ahead of us were the gleaming eyes of a curious, possibly hungry, black bear.

The bear was walking slowly but persistently towards our little band of explorers. The question was, who was going to give in first in this dangerous game of "chicken."

Suddenly, and without warning, a crazy lady in a flowery dress ran in front of us with a camera, apparently intent on personally introducing herself to this wild creature, or maybe just getting a photo of her and the creature paling around.

Next, and just as suddenly, an entire hoard of tourist types, cameras in hand, began charging the poor creature (for I felt sorry for it now).

The once formidable predator had now become the hunted, and turned tail and ran quickly into the distant brush.

Honestly, if I had been he, I would have run too. That lady's dress was really ugly.

That is the story of our now famous run-in with the Black Bear of Red Rock Canyon. It was a moment that I shall never forget.

All the best,

Hugh

Ancient Answers to Modern Questions

Dear Friend,

I had the pleasure of re-tweeting (repeating) a Twitter post by Colin Lewis (twitter.com/colinlewis), a respected European writer and philanthropist.
This post consisted of a list of the "Six Mistakes of Man", as written by Cicero, the great Roman writer and philosopher who lived about 2000 years ago.

Although these are very old rules for life, it is amazing how timely they remain. In fact, I question whether we have added anything to these after so many other great minds have considered the same Great Questions.

Cicero's Six Mistakes of Man are as follows:


1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.

2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.

3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.

4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.

5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind (not reading & studying)

6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.


Can you improve on these? I can't.

If only more folks would take these to heart, imagine how much misery could have been avoided in our world.

Wishing you all the best,

Hugh

P.S. I WILL tell the rest of the bear story. I promise.

Grin and "Bear" It

Dear Friend,

Just a very short note as we head back into uncertain Internet territory.

All is going well after our run in with yesterday's black bear (more later).

The children are experiencing more here than they could ever experience back home, living a conventional life.

Your's could too. Why don't you join us?

All the best,

Hugh

Heads Smashed In

Dear Friend,

Today my family and I enjoyed Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

No, it's not a punk rock band. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Museum in southern Alberta, Canada, that preserves the ancient history of the Blackfoot Nation, and one of the methods that the Blackfoot used, before the introduction of horses and guns into their culture, to hunt the Buffalo herds of the north west plains of the US and Canada.

In the days prior to horses and guns, it was no mean task to hunt the fast moving Buffalo herds. Many techniques were used, with varying success. Eventually, one technique gained popularity. This involved a complex, coordinated effort to stampede a herd of Buffalo over a cliff, where the fall would kill them, and the tribe could then butcher the animals and preserve their meat and other resources for the coming winter.

A successful buffalo jump could mean the difference between a healthy winter and one of starvation and death for the Blackfoot.

Once European colonists brought horses and modern firearms to the plains, however, the Blackfoot found easier ways to hunt the buffalo, and the buffalo jump technique, apparently utilized for millennia and a defining component of Blackfoot culture, was quickly abandoned.

Today the Blackfoot still respect and revere their old tradition, even though it is no longer a part of their lives.

When I study history, and particularly ancient history, I am struck by how much energy went into simply obtaining food. In every culture, and especially in those cultures that eked out an existence closer to the polar regions, huge amounts of energy went into acquiring, preserving, and storing food.

Animals, too, dedicate a huge portion of their own resources to just obtaining a meal.

In poorer regions of our planet, people still starve. But for many of us today, and our numbers are quickly growing around the world, hunger can be satisfied by a quick stop at a local dining establishment.

In other words, one of the primary historical driving forces of human existence, and of animal existence, is simply no longer an issue in the lives of many people today.

One of the less recognized impacts of this change has been to make the survival instinct a less important factor in the lives of many. In fact, many of our old instincts are today actually detrimental to our future survival.

When I wrote “Families Without Limits,” I wanted to reach people with the wake up call that we, as humans, are still living by instincts and traditions that were originally based on the survival instinct, but that today only serve to insure our continued unhappiness.

Today, perhaps for the first time in human history, our human generation no longer pines for food. Instead, we pine for a deeper sense of purpose, of satisfaction. It is this new drive to find our place in the world that requires us to learn a new approach to living our lives that is designed around this new goal. It also requires us to reject many, perhaps dear and cherished, traditions that are, unfortunately, built around a survival lifestyle model. Today, we must create new cultural traditions that specifically help us to find the deeper meaning and fulfillment that we all seem to crave.

Rejecting aspects of your native culture and consciously choosing new cultural traditions is a rare event in human history. It can be accompanied by great turmoil as many traditionalists resist change, and other folks simply wish to force a careful examination so that worthwhile traditions are not forever lost in the zest to pursue a new, apparently healthier way of life.

Might I suggest that we look to the Blackfoot Nation for a successful model of how to quickly adopt new traditions when they are clearly superior to our old ones, while we still revere those old traditions for the critical role they played in our culture's historic development?

Just something to think about.

Talk to you again soon,

Hugh

A Study in Cultural Understanding

Dear Friend,

During my family's time here in western Canada, we have noticed some subtle, and not so subtle, "cultural" differences between the people of my home town in Virginia and the people here.

First, what shines out about the people of both places is the basic decency and gentle kindness that I find in people all over.  Practically all of the people that we have interacted with personally have been both pleasant and helpful.

We have always heard that Canadians are famous for their politeness, and their courtesy.  In our travels in eastern Canada, this reputation held up well.

However, in western Canada, perhaps because of this reputation, we have been surprised to run into a rather strange phenomenon of aggressive middle-aged male drivers in pickup trucks.  Yes, these guys in pickup trucks seem to have no turn signals, move around other traffic like it is a fixed object, and otherwise just chip away at the old courteous-driving reputation of Canadians generally.

Being the overzealous researcher that I am, of course I did some Internet research at our next campsite on this subject of "discourteous western Canadian drivers."  Believe it or not, I found a recent survey that supported our findings.  Apparently, Albertans were more likely to agree with the statement that, "Aggressive driving is on the upswing," than folks from any other area of Canada, while people surveyed from the Atlantic Provinces (the area of Canada that we had last visited, where drivers seemed to us to be generally courteous) were least likely to agree with that statement.

Another phenomenon we have run into is the habit of folks to ignore, or at least to not acknowledge, strangers in their midst.  We even experienced a few in-store body-to-body collisions where the other party just went on and did not say "Excuse me," or whatever else might normally be expected in my home town.  In some places, such a bump without acknowledgment might be considered a threat or a bullying act.  This was not the case here.  I have observed by myself several incidences with ordinary strangers where attempts to make casual eye contact or verbal "excuse me's" and other courtesies were not acknowledged or were met with blank stares.

In these incidences I never saw intentional rudeness.  In fact, whenever a person's attention was successfully captured, people have been universally pleasant.  It has been the casual, stranger-to-stranger interface, or rather the lack of it, that has taken us a bit off guard.

In my Internet research, I came across a document from British Columbia that was meant as a guide to Canadian culture for foreigners recently in the country.  This document clearly talks about the importance of acknowledging strangers and using the courtesy phrases "please," "thank you," and "excuse me," liberally.  In fact, this document could have easily been re-labeled a "Guide to Virginia Courtesies."

So I don't really have an answer to this phenomenon.  Perhaps I am observing a cultural shift that has not been fully recognized?  That would be cool.

Nevertheless, the longer we spend here in western Canada, the more it becomes apparent to me that this cultural idiosyncrasy is at odds with the general cultural attitudes here.  In fact, I think that most US residents, and especially those from one of the southern states like myself, will fit in quite well here.

As an example of what I believe is a truer reflection of the Canadian culture, I relate the following incident.

Last weekend we dropped our friend off at the Calgary airport around 5:30 a.m. so that she could catch her flight back home.  She had been traveling with us but had to get back home.

We drove her to the airport in our RV, and when we arrived at the terminal we followed the traffic up a narrow, one-lane ramp to the "Departures" area.  As we approached the drop off area, I happened to notice a walking bridge that crossed over this drive just beyond the ramp and in front of the airport, attaching the airport terminal to a parking garage.

Now, all measurements in Canada are generally listed in metric units.  However, the City of Calgary apparently thought that the height listings posted on their bridge overhangs should also be in feet and inches.

So, as I drove up this ramp, and sleepily headed to the gate drop-off point, my eyes glanced up just in time to notice the printed "12 ft. 9 in." on the fast approaching overhead walkway.  I instinctively hit the breaks a few feet away, as my brain reminded me that our RV had an overall height of thirteen feet, two inches.

At that moment I realized several disturbing facts.  First, we had just narrowly avoided a very close haircut and untimely removal of our two roof-mounted air conditioning units and TV antenna.  Second, we were now trapped between a low-overhead bridge and a one-way, one-lane ramp that now boasted a continuous flow of early morning airport traffic.  We were stuck.  And good.

Our friend just bailed out and gestured goodbye as I contemplated how many tickets I was about to receive and whether we would all be on the nightly news for single-handedly stopping-up vehicle traffic at the Calgary airport.

However, despite having been asleep minutes before, my wife characteristically jumped up and out of the RV, flagged down a security person, and within minutes we were being courteously escorted the wrong way down the one-way up-ramp, and out of the airport.

We received no ticket.  There was no posturing or threats.  There was no passing the buck.  There was just, "No problem, eh."

The "problem" was solved and all was well.  There was no measurable slowdown of airport traffic.  No threats.  It was painless.

I am certain that, back home, in some major city, some very bad, very tough, ex-special forces type who was working the streets of Kandahar last week would be dealing with me in a much less civil or friendly tone than I experienced here.

At our local, small-town airport in Virginia, I hope that I would have been treated well under similar circumstances. Nevertheless, even there I have had a run in with well-meaning but, in my opinion, way over testosterone-filled security personnel.

At the very end of my family's "fun-filled," multi-day, sleeping-in-airports return from Buenos Aires two years ago, I was verbally manhandled by several policemen at my home airport who made me feel like I was, at that moment, a student in today's Tehran instead of simply a dad from an old and respected local family.

Totally exhausted as I was at that moment, I was not allowed to approach my car.  I was told to keep my hands in sight.  I was being eyed as if I might have a bomb under my crumply traveling clothes.

I still have no idea why these guys thought that I was so scary.  In the end, they didn't even charge me with anything.  I wonder if perhaps they had watched too many Hollywood movies or had attended just one-too-many security briefings that prepared them for "worst-case" scenarios.  Perhaps their hyper-vigilance was turning even casual interactions with ordinary people like me into that worst-case scenario, "just-in-case?"

Travel opens your eyes.  No place is perfect.  Good and bad is everywhere.

I have discovered that, by far, the good outweighs the bad, and the bad can generally be handled as long as you don't over react to it.

If you watch the nightly news and think that, just maybe, those foreign countries are too dangerous to travel to, think again.  Sometimes the most dangerous place that you can be is in your own backyard.

Talk to you again when I get a good Internet signal!

All the best,

Hugh

Time

Dear Friend,

As I was driving the mountains and valleys of the Canadian Rockies this week, I started to think about time.

Now in my life these days, time isn't much of a factor.  However, early tomorrow morning we will be dropping off our friend and companion-to-date at the Calgary, Alberta, airport for a long flight back home.

You see, she has a "regular" life, and that requires that she limit her time on our journey.  In truth, she has an elderly mother who wants and needs her at home.  And our friend is a willing source of comfort for her mom.

We will all miss our friend.  However, I must admit that I will not miss the looming deadline of her flight tomorrow.   After this, we have no agenda, and that suits me just fine.

One of the thoughts that I had while I was driving was how slow or fast time seems to pass, and why.  I came to the following conclusion:


Time passes to the degree that you are focused on the moment.  More focused on the moment?  Time moves slowly.  Unconscious?  Time passes instantaneously.  Walking around in a fog?  Time passes quickly.  If you want to slow time down in your life, you only need become aware of the moment.

It seemed like a rather simplistic conclusion, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me.

It also opens an exciting possibility.  Perhaps we have the power to speed up or slow down how fast our life passes before us, simply by consciously choosing to focus or not focus on any particular moment in our life?

Life not going so good?  Just do what you have to do, but don't focus on it too closely unless you absolutely have to.  Want to spend more time with your kids?  Make sure that you are especially focused and conscious during those times that you are together.  Your life today may make it difficult to spend time doing the things you love.  Perhaps you can make up a bit for this by focusing your conscious thoughts during the moments that really matter.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Hugh

Climbing the Rockies

Dear Friend,

It's been a bit since I've posted. And in that time our crew has driven quite a ways across western Canada. In fact, we've finally reached the Rockies!

We are in Jasper, Alberta. This is a Canadian National Park area, and it's easy to see why.

The scenery is breathtaking. And wild animals abound. In our short time here we have seen mountain sheep walking along a shear cliff-side, and a large male elk grazing along some railroad tracks, right beside a busy tourist area.

My wife has been disappointed to have missed these photo ops, but I am sure there will be more.

We brought a friend along who up until now has been helping with the kids, but she flies back out of Calgary, in southern Alberta, on Friday morning, so we have a deadline to reach that city before then.

That's a small achievement, considering we are just about there. However, it puts a bit of a crimp into my relaxed travel style (I hate deadlines). And we have been running a bit from scenic site to scenic site, without being able to stop and dig-in a bit at any one place.

A fast paced travel schedule feels too much like a vacation to me. Time is limited on vacations, so most folks try to squeeze as much as they can into that time.

When you live on the road, however, time is, essentially infinite. There is no need to rush. And you can always go back to some place you like if you want to. There is no particular route, because the road itself, and all of the places along it, are home. Your travel path may resemble the flight path of a bumble bee, but it doesn't matter. You move when you want to, because you want to, in any direction that you wish.

This is freedom in its truest incarnation. Now if only I can get my wife to understand this...

Talk to you soon,

Hugh

Mountains Ho!

Dear Friend,

Tonight my family and I are taking in the beauty of one of Canada's many National Parks. We are in Western Manitoba, and just finished climbing the first mountain range (or the first hill for that matter) that we have seen thus far in Canada.

The Warrior is running like a champ. Her diesel didn't even warm up while climbing these hills. That gives me confidence as we look west towards the mountains of Alberta and British Columbia.

The gang headed out in search of dinner, and to give dad a few moments rest after a long drive.

Incredibly, there is excellent cell coverage here - the best we have experienced thus far in Manitoba, even though we are literally in the middle of nowhere.

So Internet connectivity is great, but expensive.

I am using my Verizon Air Card here in Canada. It sends and receives Internet via the cell phone network. Our US and Canada mobile Internet plan is running us $220 per month. That is in addition to the $89.95 for the US and Canada cell phone coverage. And God help you if you go over your allotted minutes/megabytes for the month. Last month's bill, with overages, was over $600.

There aren't a lot of Internet options for the boonies that are available in North America.

Satellite Internet for RVs is available, though from very few vendors. The mainstream RV supply companies do not offer it anymore.

Now if you want to watch the boob-tube while driving down the highway, there's no problem there. Plenty of options to choose from. I guess that the industry is still focused on the 70+ year old crowd, who still actually seem to hang on every word of the nightly news. I feel very sorry for them. They are being terrorized into their grave every night so that the networks can sell a few more bars of soap.

Anyway, satellite Internet equipment set-ups for RVs run about $1,700 US for a portable tripod that you can set up in a campground, or about $5,500 for an automatic system mounted of the RV's roof. Monthly service runs $60 to $80 for decent bandwidth. And you have to have a clear view of the Southern sky for the system to work. Even trees cause significant interference and will block out your satellite Internet signal.

Satellite Internet has other weaknesses, too. The "lag", or delay time caused by the time the signal takes to go into space and bounce back, causes echos that ruin VOIP (telephone) services, so you can't count on saving money there. Cell phone service will still be needed. Also, anything that requires real-time responsiveness, like some video games, just don't work well on satellite systems. Not important to us but my oldest son would disagree vigorously.

If you are "digital nomads" like us, you have to be connected. We continue to run our business everyday. Without Internet, and particularly without cell service, we are sunk. We just might be wandering paupers. So this is an issue close to our hearts - and wallets.

Anyway, we'll see what we do. This is an important and apparently little recognized market. It is the Internet that makes my mobile lifestyle possible. In urban areas worldwide there is no issue. But the boonies, even here in North America, may just be becoming the 21st century's version of the Third World - disconnected and forgotten.

We never know when we can be in touch, so don't worry if you don't hear from us for a day or two. I'll post whenever I can.

All the best,

Hugh