…from a computer, at least. If all goes well I’ll be posting this from the van on my new (to me) Treo. No pictures, no links, and possibily more typos, but having access to the internet anywhere I can get a Sprint signal will make some things much easier on the road. No more searching for a library or dragging my computer in to a coffee shop just to check my email. I suspect it will be just about the perfect balance between handy-ness (handiness?) and awkwardness. Handy enough to be useful, awkward enough to be non-adictive.

I also suspect I’ll find the GoogleMaps application quite useful too. A great big thank you goes out to my friend Colin for selling his old Treo to me and helping me get set up on the employee plan with unlimited data.

Today was my first day back in the office at KJAZZ. Have I mentioned how much I love this place? It’s not a job I’ll have forever, and I probably wouldn’t like if it were year round, but it sure is a lot of fun. I think I enjoy the project nature of the job. Tons of random different things to stay on top of to get ready for the pledge drive, (which let’s me indulge in my obessive to-do list making), then with some luck the drive goes off without a hitch. Or at least without a hitch that completely throws us and puts the station under. Sort of reminds me of putting on a play, except afterwards we don’t have an artistic collaboration, we have a small pile of money and jazz and blues still on the air in Southern California.

After just over a month, it’s nice to be back in the van again. And nice to be back in LA. It is definitely a city that grows on you, especially if you’re able to avoid driving 7-9am or 4-8pm. There are people at work who drive 1.5-2 hrs each way everyday. I couldn’t do it. Seeing the streets of West LA at 6pm makes me happy I live in a van and have nowhere to go.

Ok, I’ve been typing with just my thumbs for a half an hour now. I’ll be very annoyed if this doesn’t post to the page like it’s supposed to.

Oh, and The Indie Travel Podcast might give me Lonely Planet books for writing this.  The podcast and website is celebrating their one year anniversary.  If you’re thinking about traveling Europe long-term, give them a listen.

Categories: Car Living
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After about 34 hours of traveling Mom, Dad and I made it from Queenstown, New Zealand back home to San Diego. (My brother is staying in New Zealand a little while longer and is already settled onto the farm where he’s working for the next two weeks.) So I’m back in the states now, but won’t be back into the van and back up in LA until Monday.

I can barely stand to wait. I’ve already gotten the van half packed up, and I’m looking forward to spending the next month at KJAZZ working on the pledge drive. A very busy 1.5 months on and then 2.5 months off might possibly be the world’s most perfect working schedule.

In the meantime I have an absurd to-do list that I wrote up on the flight back home. Taxes to do, a new computer to buy, some changes to the website to make, a couple pieces for This Week in Science to put together, and still boxes of stuff here at my parents to sort through. Slowly but surely, I’m working my way through all my possessions with the hopes of paring down the stuff that doesn’t matter. Living in a van helps to take a second look at what you really need to or want to keep in your life, but living out of a suitcase helps zero in even more.

Categories: Uncategorized
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