What is The Life? Who is living it? Friends and family have suggested that I wasn’t back in the Bay Area given that now, surely, I am.

Where is it found? Is it easy to lose? John Mellencamp sings that “Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone.” Really? Or was that written in a passing low point and embellished to sell more LPs? We likely all know people who move from job to job, relationship to relationship, location to location and so on. Does this mean they are or are not living The Life?

I sure do not miss waiting on a cold and windy platform to board the noisy and crowded train to get to SF. As much as I strove to use the time as an opportunity to practice standing well and saw others reading, watching stuff, chatting or whatever, that trip, over and over while likely standing, is nothing we’d do if we could help it. Yes, the pressure to meet deadlines, help developers develop and keep systems running is not here. Yet I also miss the comforts, company and conveniences which so easily come from that life.

Especially when cooking from the back of a pickup at a hot, windy and dusty rest area or today as we watched as two women set up tents in neighboring campsites and let their dogs run around sniffing and peeing. They came over and, as part of a chat, we learned that more of their crew are arriving in the next few days. We left for town a bit later to get water, catch up on correspondence and restock the cooler with ice.

While the locations, people and specifics may be different, at the end of the day, that all looks very similar to any of the other modestly challenging situations and chores we’ve always had. Seriously, how many of them over half a year old do any of us even remember? In summary, I have truly enjoyed my time as a database administrator.

One other time in my adult life I’ve been, per the popular saying, away from it all. This was between August 2008 and April 2009. We spent 5 months in Brasil, one in Argentina, one in Puerto Rico and one in New England. More or less, you know.

At first it was great, fun and adventurous. Then we found our plan wasn’t going to happen, leaving us with very little money and, even less fun, I got sick. The experience of being so ill and not able to communicate with local medical personnel without a translator was something I’d not wish on anyone. I did get better while we were still away, though being broke continued to be lame. Along with many fun times, I experienced a rekindling of love and appreciation for my former life.

We save plenty of money disperse camping. There is stress though because these sites are always first come, first served and what our neighbors and location will be like is a mystery the entire stay. We also have to bring everything we need. And that means everything. As you may have read, we’ve had major challenges with wind. Is there anyone who enjoys mosquitoes or biting flies? Yet there are long term campers right here and people who’ve spent months and some even years of their lives backpacking. I even know some!

Some say, learn from the animals. Meaning, I guess, be instinctual or something. Or back to basics. And what does that mean? Hummingbirds are certainly quick to fight. Where does the expression “dog eat dog” likely come from? We can’t be “paleo” eating hybridized plants and oversized eggs from chickens bred to squeeze em out so reliably. Perhaps the gist is to be ok with life and, in its course, to find satisfaction. A river is content to flow.

Paul Simon sings, “We work our jobs, collect our pay. We believe we’re gliding down the highway when in fact we’re slip sliding away.” Can this really be true for us all or is he generalizing his experience? Of course being a robot is not living The Life and yet can one not find purpose, self worth and value through a job? Jeff Bezos had conclusively demonstrated online shopping delivered quickly is appreciated.

We are all gracious and generous, unless we’re too hot or hungry or thirsty or lonely or unhappy. From where I sit, once the basic needs are met of course, people who are frustrated are generally so regardless. Alas I am mostly speaking from personal experience. Those happy types, aren’t they also generally so regardless? Half full verses half empty. My own time at different jobs, day to day, week in and week out, as the years passed had less to do with my responsibilities and coworkers than my particular state of mind.

Then is the right thing more along the lines of do what you want to do and everything else will happen naturally? Michael Bolton tells Samir in the terrific film Office Space, “There’d be no janitors because no one wants to clean shit.” I embrace the idea of multiple lives because it means I have infinite opportunities.

I love sleeping under the stars and the time with Mme Awesome has been spectacular. The lands outside of my former world are beautiful and strange. While I’ve driven across the US three times, I’ve missed most of it except for some gas stations and a bit of the Grand Canyon.

After being out amongst the red rocks, laying by Beaver Creek at sunset, writing as Mme Awesome draws, is as sweet as it gets. Really though, by my rating system, in the Bay Area I was also having a wonderful life. Tastes and needs and wants change as we change, which makes it difficult to nail down a solid definition. As Sam, the mountain biking Fruit Loops Tucansays, “Follow your nose… it always knows!”

Today was a slow day with extra servings of time required for everything.

Take care and may you, your family and your friends be happy and content.