Hi there,
Welcome back to Rambler, a newsletter you subscribed to that finally has a format and a purpose. I’m Alex Eaton, the -er in this ramble.
Rambler is a bi-weekly crinkled postcard, sealed with cheap lipstick, delivered on foot to your well organized, definitely not over-saturated digital mailbox. If I can make it there I can make it anywhere. Your postcards will arrive twice a month until the end of this year-of-our-supreme-leader-Elon 2021.
At that point Rambler will end and something new will begin, or I’ll disappear and you won’t hear from me until you sit down and order a nice red at that trattoria on the Almafi Coast and see me at a table across the way with my girl. We’ll trade knowing nods and smiles and you’ll leave with the knowledge that I indeed did make it.
Five months on the road
Well if you can’t tell, I’m deep in the rush of feeling and excitement of travel and new horizons. Last Sunday I tetris’d every physical belonging, including my pup Scout, into my Ford Escape, and closed the door on my Boulder home and a big chapter of my life.
I’m writing to you today from Durango, Colorado, the first leg on a five month trip that will also hit southern California and New Mexico. The trip may end with the calendar year and me settling in a new place for awhile, it may not. But this first five months felt like the perfect structure for Rambler. (Thanks, Craig)
I’ve had a lot of time to think about how necessary, both fortunately and unfortunately, change is in our lives. Often to become who we want to be something drastic has to happen to force us along. Many times, change also helps us figure out who that person is.
Change has been thrust on me in the past and while I think I ended up making the most of it… it sucked. Tragedies, breakups, job loss, pandemics, all examples of events that make us take a hard look at ourselves. I decided to find a way to proactively keep pushing myself forward instead of sitting complacent until something rocked me again. Hence, the move from Boulder.
So while self-discovery is a main theme on this trip, it won’t be that serious all the time. I can only take myself seriously for so long.
Soundtrack to a move
I spend an unhealthy amount of time creating and curating my Spotify playlists. To me the right music in the right moment is one of life’s great joys.
Certain songs were hitting the right note on my drive from the front range out to Durango last Sunday, so I decided to put together a small playlist of a few of the best. Throw this playlist on during your next road trip and let me know what you think, it’s a mixture of summer energy and nostalgic wistfulness.
If you dig this, I finally put together a post on my site listing all my main playlists. Have at it.
All right, I’ve rambled enough. Thanks for reading. If you’ve got friends who want to ramble along with us feel free to share this with them, would love to see more people hop in. If you’re looking to create some change this year, big or small, write back and let me know what you’re up to.
Next time… there’s always a tree. See you in two weeks.
—Al