i am happy to be unstuck. the price that i pay for that freedom, at least in the form that i have chosen, is disconnection. life on the road is often solitary, and those connections that i do make are usually fleeting.
i think that psychologists agree: connection and gratitude rank amongst the greatest sources of happiness. so, in a further attempt to ‘hack’ the nomadic lifetyle, i am creating this ‘wall of gratitude’ (well, ‘sidebar of gratitude’ which is populated by comments to a hidden page on the site) with the hopes that i will occasionally go back through the comments to relive the gratitude and to feed connection by helping me to reconnect with those to whom i am in debted.
so, look to my sidebar (or the comments on this post, which are used to populate the sidebar) to see the most recent people for whom i am grateful..
aaron b freed 
thank you to the guys (sam and sean) at the bike shop in thurso. you helped to sell my bike in less than 24 hours.
thank you to emmanuel at bazpacker hostel in inverness for taking the time (and money) to send me my charger.
thank you fiona and sarah at the ferry inn in scrabster for a ride back to town, help finding a boat, and their warm and generous hospitality.
Hey, Aaron, or should I say aaron? Don’t know how I stumbled upon this, but I’m glad I did! this is totally random, but just wanted to say how i love that you don’t capitalize i. i’ve often been uncomfortable with capitalizing i. i’ve never searched the history on why this decision was made, but to me, this capitalization really shows how much we think ourselves and how little of others. Maybe from now on i’m gonna start capitalizing You instead. The real trouble will be re-training my typing fingers . . .
angie – someone sent me a lowercase email a long time ago…maybe 20 years ago. at least 15. i loved it…a new aesthetic for a new medium. i later learned that the person hadn’t intended to use lowercase or even make a habit of it. but it became my ‘thing’, much to chagrin of pentagon staffers. fortunately, when i was wing exec at mcguire, the cc didn’t mind; he thought that it was distinct and that it helped people know that the email came from the head office. not everyone was so supportive. i had some folks challenge me and say that it was against air force regs.
Hey Aaron. I didnt get to say goodbye when you left Ness…where are you now? I wish you joy and enlightenment on your travels. And don’t forget that sometimes the best things happen when you are lost. 😉 Julie
hello, julie. i’m glad you found me. as i think you’ve discovered, i’m in lerwick. i arrived today and will be here for at least until the new year, after which i stand a better chance of finding a fishing boat bound for norway. i hope that you’ve gotten settled in inverness. merry christmas.
thank you to ann and robbie leask in lerwick for sharing their christmas dinner and family with me.
thank you to adam guest of the shetland times for telling my story and giving it form.
thank you to jake skorheim and dori monson of KIRO 97.3 for sharing my story on air in seattle, the city that i call home.
thank you to pete at scotland fisheries on lerwick for being persistent in helping me find a ride off of shetland.
thank you to andy at LHD in lerwick for asking the captain of the altaire if i could hop aboard for a ride to norway.
thank you to the captain of the altaire (chris duncan) for allowing me to hitch a ride to norway. and thank you to the crew of the altaire for making me feel so welcome.
thank you to hilde who gave me sanctuary in oslo for almost two weeks.
thank you to otto segerros in grisslehamn (www.allagolv.se) for giving me a free ticket on the ship to åland.
thank you to klaus and juliana for the ride from mariehamn to hummelvik and for the impromptu tour.
thank you to dan mcmanus for hand carrying cereal and beef jerky from the states to helsinki so that i might have a taste of home.
thank you do the staff and doctors of avicenna in novosibirsk for providing me with excellent, friendly, and patient medical care.
thank you to mahbuba kahharova, director of nuri khirad ltd, and her mother, for helping me find a way from the marshrutka to the shared taxi stand in khujand.
thank you to eda, mustafa, and a third person whose name i’ve forgotten for the warm welcome to trabzon. and thank you for taking me to mcdonalds.
thank you to cihan for the warm welcome to ankara. and thank you for the coffee.
thank you to eren for the warm welcome to istanbul. and thank you for the coffee.
thank you to the giulia and giuseppe and giacomo and gabriele for hosting me in pordenone and to cary for helping me get a package to italy.
thank you to one mr higgins, whom i met in york, for traveling some distance to give me a personal tour of cambridge.
thank you, luther of anguilla, who helped me look for my dinghy.
thank you, chris and jo-anne of anguilla for the generous gift of a dinghy (and dinner)!
thank you, jacques of guadeloupe, for the all the help, the meals, and the company.