It’s hard to boil down all the experiences I am fortunate to have had since I last wrote in November 2023, so I will do my best to summarize in a few bullets.

On Tuesday, I head west to San Francisco for my final speaking event of the year on Wednesday morning. Then, while trying to avoid whiplash, I will immediately turn around and travel to Gardiner, Montana to begin training for a winter in Yellowstone National Park as a snow coach driver. Fun!

This couple lives in a beautiful rustic home that Dick built himself by hand years ago - it has all the features and details that he and Kathy wanted to make it their own: plenty of windows and skylights for natural light, rooms for music and creativity, a wood stove matched with a fairly open floor plan to allow efficient heating, and a guest room for cyclists rolling through.

When I returned to the U.S. via JFK airport after this semester, I was stunned. It felt like entering a much less-developed country: heavy traffic, cars honking, people rushing around to get to their own vehicles. Buses were the only public transportation in sight and the ones I saw were dirty and empty. What was going on? How was this home?

The idea for this project was born in May 2022, when I was introduced to a member of the Maxxis Tires marketing team in the auto division. A fellow Kenyon College alum who had been following along with the Eyes Up journey works in the polymer world and connected us after the common thread of tires and the positive mission to fight distracted driving crossed his mind.

Back in 2020, I was furloughed from my job for about six months. For a portion of that time, I was living at home, collecting unemployment and with plenty of unstructured time. I spent a week going through everything in my childhood room.

When the director picked up the phone nearly at the end of business hours, I was somewhat shocked. Shortly into the conversation I asked if he was still looking for a speaker.

Competitive play is something standard adult life lacks. It doesn’t exist unless one intentionally adds it back in through races, club sports leagues, or playing games with friends.

We’ve all seen or experienced distracted drivers in some capacity. Maybe your experience has been while driving on the highway - you pass a car that’s driving oddly slow and slightly weaving between lane markers. Maybe you’ve seen distracted drivers from the side of the road while on a walk or on a bike ride.

I quickly settled into the reality of what my week would look like and learned that the fun didn’t have to come from the live music or beer gardens as I had imagined. The premise of RAGBRAI on its own is ridiculous and so much fun simply to be around. Riding a bike among thousands of strangers on wide open roads in America’s heartland is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.

At most of the previous junctures in my life where the path of certainty bends onto a road of unknowns, something has either crossed my mind or an opportunity has clearly presented itself and has resonated. I have yet to have a moment like that so far in this process.

At 3:06, we started climbing our first lap of Greylock in pure darkness. We each had handlebar-mounted lights beaming a path forward and the adrenaline of the morning kept spirits and energy high.

I am writing this up in Williamstown, Massachusetts - a place where I’ve spent the majority of the last 5 years. It’s fantastic to be back up here with familiar faces, familiar roads to ride and drive along, and a feeling of home.

When we ask ourselves “when will I start living life?” we are likely not fully content with our situation, which means we’d benefit from revisiting our values and what’s important to us and see if we are aligned in that moment.

It wasn’t until I started my project with Maxxis that I became intentional about making sure every person I spoke to got a bracelet and we took a selfie together.

As I have worked through this process and gained experience, networking opportunities, and space to reflect, I find myself coming back to the same question regularly: what’s beyond awareness?

“I learned so much from making and committing to that decision and having both feet in the boat.”

On March 21st, I deleted every app on my phone except for those I deemed essential: WHOOP, Headspace, Garmin Connect, Strava, and my credit card’s app.

“You know, my parents never do that when I am talking to them. They’re always on their phone or have their computer out when we’re talking. You’re actually paying attention to me.”

As we paddled out, we could see dozens of kayakers and a few whale watching boats gathered in a couple of areas much farther out. All around us we started hearing the whoosh of air in and out of whale breathing at the surface.