********************

Somewhere in Harlem, New York, NY. September 5th, 2010

11:45 PM

D Hussain

“CRASH!”

I winced as I felt the frame of our 1989 Fleetwood Flair shudder above yet another massive pothole. It felt funny to be so protective of “The Freedom Mobile;” I could barely believe it was mine to care about in the first place.

The driver and 1/3 owner of The Freedom Mobile was Dan Hussain, or as many call him, “D Hussain.” Actually, I’m not sure exactly where that nickname came from, but it stuck.

Dan rounded another corner at break-neck speed. I began to wonder if we would reenact the scene in “Speed” where the bus takes a sharp curve on two wheels at over 50 MPH to prevent a bomb onboard from exploding.

“You’re a f***ing crazy driver!”

Dillon was loving the ride as much as I was, but I’m sure he was just as concerned about the fate of our new home on wheels. The three of us had been taking shifts driving the behemoth from downtown Pittsburgh, PA to the heart of New York City. Dan got the last leg…

I’ve always wondered what kind of overconfident person it would take to drive a fire truck straight down the insane streets of New York City. Now, I had an example. Dan was the perfect man for the job. Unorthodox in just about any meaning of the word, D Hussain is famous for his ability to see what he wants and charge at it with absurd energy and boldness.

Five years early, after graduating from MIT with a degree in engineering, Dan shocked his family by choosing not to pursue a standard career pathway. As he puts it, he was no longer interested in “building someone else’s house” – not when he knew that he could build his own. Dan had taken the entrepreneurial plunge, and as many will tell you, most people never go back after making that choice: a choice to own themselves and the work of their hands.

Things certainly weren’t cake after Dan made his decision. He’s the only MIT grad I’ve ever met who has literally weeks sleeping on park benches, homeless… That was AFTER graduating from MIT! Typically, MIT grads are expected to quickly land a rock star position somewhere in engineering, science, or business. Dan easily could have, if he had wanted to.

It took five years and multiple failed and quasi-successful ventures for Dan to ultimately build his first very successful company, The American Patent Agency. In a way, Dan’s story reminds me of my own, because it took him until the end of his undergrad to realize that he had no interest in the standard career progression. He wanted something more authentic to him. He wanted something more interesting. He wanted to write his own rules and live on his own terms. After graduation, he finally had time to get his hands dirty, fail, learn, and eventually, build something pretty damn cool.

Perhaps Dan’s seemingly impulsive nature is a weakness, but that’s just a surface-level analysis. The truth is that he is decisive. He calculates just as much as the next guy; he just does it a lot faster and actually acts on his big visions. I should know: That’s why he funded my tour.

Dan had a strong hunch, not so much about the tour itself, but rather, about my team and me. He saw something in our “meeting of the minds,” and that “something” compelled him to take decisive action. He knew that he needed to be involved with this crazy team of young entrepreneurs as they set-out to change the world. The truth is that Dan hoped to be a part of a movement that would pave the path for other dreamers. I don’t think he wanted to remove all of the bumps along the way – just the homeless nights on park benches!

Plus, as he puts it, Dan “only gets involved in interesting projects.” Whatever your thoughts about a skating adventure across a continent to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit, you must admit one thing: It is particularly interesting.

“    Hilarious! Hilarious! You guys didn’t plan a place to park this beast in New York, did you?”

Dillon and I looked at each other with a dumbfounded stare. Neither of us knew whether to feel irresponsible or proud of our decision to wing this part of the plan. The preparations during the week before our send-off were simply too overwhelming. With all of the chaos, we didn’t have time to worry about such silly things as finding a place to park a motor home in New York City.

In the last four days before leaving alone, we closed the deal with Dan and APV, picked up the motor home, worked out insurance and registration issues, prepared the motor home for a very long journey, made preparations for a send-off party, contacted about 20 news outlets to spread the word, rebuilt a website (long story), said “goodbye” to friends and loved ones, and hopped into The Freedom Mobile to start the journey of our lifetimes.

Hell, the graphics weren’t even on the side of the motor home until midnight on the night we left. We owe a huge thanks

to our friends at SIGNARAMA Brighton for making that happen last minute.

Dan saw the dumbfounded expressions on our faces and laughed.

“    That’s perfect! Everything’s exactly what it should be for this tour. Hilarious! I can’t believe I’m involved with such a nutty venture! Just in time sponsor… Just in time motor home… Just in time planning… Just in time everything… Right when it’s needed! You guys are amazing and are gonna do great on this tour! We’ll find a spot somewhere…”

********************

Downtown Howell,MI. September 4th, 2010

6:00 PM

I was skating so fast that, as I rounded a sharp corner, my cell phone actually flew out of my pocket and skidded 50 feet before grinding to a halt on the concrete. “That’s not gonna be good for the phone,” I thought, “but no matter. I’ve gotta get to her before she goes.” I’m certain that I set some kind of record for getting from one side of the courthouse in downtown Howell to other.

As I rounded the northwest corner of the courthouse, I was relieved to see Haley’s car still parked there. She was just sitting there, preparing herself to leave. She was obviously contemplating the fact that she might never see me again. She was crying.

“Haley! Wait!” I panted, as I brought my body to a rapid and not-so-graceful stop by planting my hands on her windowsill.

“    That didn’t go the way I wanted it to when we said goodbye back there. I don’t want you to leave before telling you what I’m really thinking.”

I could see the pain and frustration in her eyes.

“    Yeah, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to either.”

She was obviously fighting back the tears.

”    I just feel so stupid. I mean… You told me about this from the beginning, and I knew it would come to this. I guess, somehow, I just didn’t believe THIS was really gonna happen ‘til now.”

Now I was the one holding back tears. This was all just so surreal. One minute, you’re meeting some cute blonde for a first date and telling her about your big plans, and the next, you’re saying goodbye to her, possibly for good. I guess what surprised me the most was that I actually cared so much. It’s no secret that I was not too serious about the girls I dated between summer 2008 and summer 2010.

During that time, I was out to have fun and meet as many cool people as I could along the way. I wasn’t out to find love; I was out to learn and experience. Getting too emotionally involved was a “weakness” from my point of view. I felt happy and strong being me and only being me. Every time someone started to get too close, I could feel my internal warnings going off. I wanted lots of options, and exclusivity doesn’t really lend itself to options. I figured it was easier to break it off early on. I guess I thought it made me stronger. Maybe I thought of it as emotional exercise. Regardless of how that sounds, it made sense to me then.

”   Obviously the next year is gonna be crazy, and I can’t predict what all will happen after I go. I think we both know we can’t be together now.”

“    Yeah, I know, it wouldn’t work. I’m just… gonna miss you is all.”

“    There’s more I need to say: I know it’s been so crazy ever since we met this summer, and this tour has clouded everything. I just want you to know that I do care for you, Haley… more than you know.”

“I care for you too, Austin… a lot.”

One last kiss, and it was time to say “goodbye” for real. Watching her drive off, I remember feeling a strange conflict within. How many times had I broken off a relationship, very early on, because I knew it didn’t fit into the path I saw for myself? I was used to it, but somehow, this felt different. Maybe it was because I’m a sucker for cute blondes with a sweet demeanor and puppy dog eyes. Maybe I didn’t really know why, but I found part of me wishing this whole thing had not worked out.

“Stop it!”

Yet again, I found myself yelling at myself in a public place, but again, I was not concerned about it.

“    Of course this is hard, but it was never meant to be easy. People don’t attempt to SKATE ACROSS A CONTINENT because it’s an easy thing to do! That’s not the point. I’m off to do something big and to find something. I’m committed to this, and it is an exciting adventure. We’ll see what happens with her, but I’ve made this decision. No fear now.”

It was time to head back to the party, and show appreciation to all of the other guests who had also come to see Dillon and me off. The turnout was not what we had hoped for. The combination of our last minute stresses with Bob and our sponsor and the uncharacteristically cold weather really thinned the guest list down. However, those who did come were the ones that needed to be there.

I began skating slowly back toward the party. I needed to collect and reassemble my cell phone. I also needed to hurry over to be among a very small crowd gathering to rock-out with “The Guest Stars.” Actually, by the time the band really got going, I was the only person in the crowd. I was an audience of one.

Something about this small-time band out of Lansing, MI inspired me. They were expecting to play for a crowd of perhaps a thousand people. Instead, it was just me, sitting there in my skating outfit, holding my American flag, and shivering in the frigid wind. Some people don’t believe me when I tell them this, but I couldn’t be more sincere when I tell you that I’ve never seen a more passionate and genuine performance than the one by The Guest Stars on that fall evening.

Maybe it was just the mood I was in, or maybe it was a combination of everything: the experience of the moment. Most of all though, I think it was because they showed up. Big crowd, small crowd, or no crowd at all, The Guest Stars came to rock, and rock they did. The sound of the guitars and drums echoed brilliantly through the empty outdoor amphitheater. I remember thinking that this would make an amazing music video. Theirs was the attitude I needed to get this journey started; it wasn’t just a small crowd for The Guest Stars…

The chorus of a song I would never hear again seemed to capture the moment perfectly:

     “It’s still a long waaaaaaay… to New York Ci-TAAAAY!”

****

“SLAP!”

I smacked myself right across the face like an indignant woman smacks her lover who has been untrue! The stinging pain was barely enough to ensure my eyes stayed open for a few more seconds… “I might need to do that again, shortly,” I thought.

“    Gotta stay awake… Gotta stay awake! Lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu LAAAAH!… Wheeeeeew!”

My antics were just barely enough to keep me conscious. I don’t know why it’s so difficult to listen to simple good advice sometimes. It just is. My parents begged Dillon and me not to try to cover the entire 304 mile trip from Brighton, MI to Pittsburgh, PA that night. It was a reasonable request, considering that we didn’t leave Brighton until about 12:30 AM, but we were “tough guys.”

The Freedom Mobile began to sway left, and I had the unmistakable feeling of driving in more than one lane. Dillon was in a stupor on the couch behind me, half asleep and covered with Mountain Dew. It was probably the same logic that told us to go for the gold on the drive that told Dillon he could sleep while balancing the can on his chest. Oops!

As anyone who drove The Freedom Mobile will tell you, it’s something of an art. If it begins to sway out of the lane, as it often does, one doesn’t just sloppily jerk the wheel back. That could result in some impromptu aerobatics. No, one must coax and “float” the beast back into position. Usually, it’s better to take something of hands-off approach to the whole ordeal. At this stage in the game, I was just happy the highway leading into Pittsburgh was so empty and that I was still on four wheels.

As the skyline began to fill my view ahead, my brain began to drift back to the craziness of the day, and especially, the end of the send-off party.

**** 9 hours earlier

“    They told my aunt that the graphics on the motor home will be finished by no later than midnight.”

Dillon seemed a bit frustrated, but I was just glad to hear that the guys from SIGNARAMA Brighton were coming through last minute like this; we weren’t able to pay them very much to do it.

“    Alright, then. Let’s do dinner with our families and take off once it’s done. Where’s everyone talkin’ about going?”

Dillon looked as though he was stifling laughter.

“Umm… I think they want to do Red Robin…”

I don’t know if it felt like a cruel joke or sweet vindication that our “farewell dinner” was taking place at one of my least favorite places in the world. Don’t get me wrong: I love the food. I’m just not sure I’m cutout for waiting tables. Let’s just say that I get bored easily, and have a little bit too much of a mind of my own.

“    Alright, whatever. That works, I guess. Not like I’ll ever be working there again anyway.”

I hopped in my parents’ Expedition, and Dillon hopped into the back of his uncle’s grill trailor… I guess we must have been short on seats…?

Halfway there, my phone rang. I was surprised to hear my old college roommate’s voice on the other end.

“Alex! What’s up man?”

“AUS-STEEN!!!”

His Arnold Schwarzenegger impression wasn’t bad, but I contend that mine is still a tad better. Again, long story.

“    Where are you right now? I have someone with me who really wants to see you before you go.”

“What? Who?”

“    Dass ist nicht wichtig… Austeen! Wo bist du? Ich bin jetzt in Howell.”

(translation: ‘That’s not important… Austin! Where are you now? I’m in Howell right now.’)

Alex‘ sudden switch to German had me very interested in who this surprise visitor might be. Let’s just say I had my suspicions.

“    Ok, ok – You win! Just bring whoever this person might be to Red Robin in downtown Brighton. We’ll be there in like 10 minutes. You guys should join us!” 

”    Ok! Bis bald! (Ok! ‘See you soon!’)”

By the time we arrived at Red Robin, I was obnoxiously curious about my surprise visitor. It was pretty late, so we were seated pretty quickly. One of my former co-workers was serving us, and I explained that Dillon and I were about to take off on the adventure I’d been telling the whole world about for the last three months.

A few minutes later, whilst most of us discussed the craziness of the day and the upcoming adventure, Alex barged in the door. It didn’t take him long to find our party. He started walking toward me with a huge grin on his face. He stepped his 6 foot one inch frame to the side, and my suspicions were confirmed. Following close on Alex’ heels was Petra.

****

Now’s a good time to fill you in on some quick history. Shortly after leaving Germany in July 2009, and During my 8-9 hour flight from Amsterdam International airport to Detroit Metro, I made an interesting decision. Sitting there, taking in everything that had just happened, I decided that I did not want to let that be my last adventure in Europe or Germany. I had enjoyed the culture and people too much to never return.

Rather abruptly, I decided that I would teach myself German and return to enjoy that place again in the near future. I didn’t know how to learn a language, but my gut told me that it had little to do with spending countless hours studying vocabulary lists and grammar rules in a classroom.

For the rest of the summer, I was completely obsessed with learning German. Everywhere I drove, I was playing an audio set which featured my favorite polyglot (learner and user of multiple languages), Michel Thomas. The grumpy old man actually made learning the mechanics of speaking German fun. If I wasn’t driving, I was listening to free German radio over the internet, monkeying around with automated spaced-repetition systems (computerized flash cards), bothering the hell out of my friends and family by sending them texts in German, and generally obsessing over the language. Yeah, I typically go all out when I go for something.

By the time I got back to campus for my last semester of college in the fall, I had actually progressed to a pretty impressive level. Turns out I was right about the classroom being a shoddy place to learn a language. That is, if you’re actually excited about becoming fluent. This was another exercise in re-writing the rules; in three months of teaching myself, I had progressed to a level beyond what most 4-6 year students of the language will have reached. The primary reason: I wasn’t afraid to do it differently, and more importantly, I was actually excited about learning.

By the beginning of my last college semester, all I needed to reach fluency was some real experience and interaction. Being the proactive type, I took it upon myself to nominate myself as the… AHEM…  “Unofficial Ambassador to the German Exchange Students” for that semester. That’s a title I’m still pretty proud of. The responsibility list looked something like this:

• Introduce the Germans to all of the cool stuff happening on campus and bring them to social events.
• Actually go out and party more than usual on weekends, but do so with Germans.

• When drunk with Germans, be sure to only speak in German, or you will be forced to get drunker by taking another shot.
• Generally, have fun with Germans.

Turns out my self-appointed position afforded me unprecedented access, not only to the German language, but also to real culture and really cool people. I had more fun that last semester than any other semester on the Kettering campus. I also learned more. I was conversationally fluent by the time it was all said and done.

Coming back to Petra, and the point of this whole diatribe (Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it!): Petra happened to be my closest friend out of all the German exchange students. Ok… let’s be honest: She was the cutest and the one I was chasing after! We hit it off really well, because a friend of mine from Germany had actually introduced us before I ever left Europe.

I learned a lot from my little micro-relationship with Petra. All of the partying aside, it was cool to have a slightly deeper connection to someone from another culture. You learn the strangest little things that you wouldn’t expect. They’re subtle little facts, ideas, and insights, but they give you an intimate look into what it’s like to live as a real part of that culture. Petra gave that to me, and I owe her a lot for it. Plus, she is “whol kool!”

****

I couldn’t believe what my eyes where seeing. Petra had a huge smile on her face as she walked over. I was a bit dumbfounded by the situation, but managed to introduce her to everyone as “A good German friend of mine who had studied at Kettering during my last semester.”

It turns out that Petra was visiting the States to see friends and “do some shopping.” From what I gathered, she was planning to visit anyway but decided to schedule her trip such that she could see me off on my journey. I honestly don’t remember much about our conversation that evening. I was just happy to see her again, but not in a romantic way. The whole situation just felt so perfect. The day definitely had its difficult parts, especially saying “goodbye” to Haley, but overall, the send-off was exactly what it needed to be. It was perfect.

****

Parallel parking The Freedom Mobile in front of Dan’s apartment in downtown Pittsburgh was surprisingly easy. I wasn’t sure if we were going to get a parking ticket, and I didn’t particularly care. It had been an oversized day, and Dillon and I were tired. As we prepared for bed, our conversation centered on this Dan Hussain character.

We weren’t sure if it was a good thing that Dan wanted to ride down to NYC and join us for the first part of the tour. Obviously, he was checking on his investment.

“I hope he’s cool and not super uptight or anything.”

Obviously, Dillon had no idea who he was talking about. Obviously, neither of us did.

********************

2nd Avenue and 81st Street, New York, NY. Near the northeast corner of Central Park. September 6th, 2010, 12:05 AM

“Are you sure we can park here?”

Dillon sounded moderately concerned, at most.

”    Yup. Just Googled it. You CAN park on the side of the street in downtown Manhattan on Holidays.”

Regardless of what the rules said on whatever website I was reading, it was obvious that all of us felt pretty ridiculous. We were about to campout in downtown Manhattan in a 26 foot motor home.

I laughed to myself. I was thinking about how different my life would look had I taken the more standard and “responsible” path after leaving college. I could have and “should” have landed some kind of engineering position paying something like $40,000 – $70,000 per year. I should be enjoying a brief long weekend before heading back to the office for another week of drudgery.

Looking at it all, I was not jealous of the life I was “supposed to have.” Can you blame me? Look how much adventure I already would have missed out on. I sighed and let it all soak in: What an incredible adventure I was somehow getting away with living!

“    Well, at least it’s good advertisement. My face and our website are plastered all over the sides of the motor home. Maybe it’s vane. I dunno, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now! We’re in New York!”

***IF YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER: Please “Like” this post below to share it with your friends!

Copyright 2010 – Austin Szelkowski – All Rights Reserved

********************

Harder Mountain, Interlaken, Switzerland – April 24th, 2009 – 4:15 PM

“Oh ho! Ho! Austin’s crazy! You crazy, man! Just realize that we’re not gonna rescue your crazy a**, if you fall down this mountain!”

Twain was laughing and scolding me, but it was obvious that he was entertained by the spectacle and hoped I would continue with my craziness. He was absolutely right: What was I thinking? Who RUNS down a mountain? Had the mountain air gone to my head? Perhaps, but it seemed more likely that the air of the entire European continent had gone to my head. Maybe my behavior was a little risky, but I couldn’t imagine the risk of never feeling as free as I felt right then and there. I couldn’t imagine the risk of not having this memory and this story to relive countless times for the rest of my life.

My foot caught on a rock. For a fraction of a second, it must have looked as though I would plunge hundreds of feet into the ravine just half a yard to my left. I was calm, too calm. It seemed strange that my body was so at ease. Every motion was too fluid. I could feel every rock, root, and twig that cluttered the path down the side of this 2500 foot slope. I could feel the energy of each impact travel through the sole of my foot, trickle into my ankle, bounce up my calf and leg, and disperse through my nimble body. Every obstacle was taken so perfectly in stride that I felt as though I could never fall. I was too light, too precise, and too focused to fall.

I saw the stump coming, as I rounded another corner of the zig-zagging footpath. It wasn’t a very large stump, but it had a nice flat platform top, about 16 inches across. It seemed like an awkward place for a 120 foot pine tree to have once stood. Situated just three feet off the footpath, the stump stuck straight up out of the dangerously steep mountainside. The slope the stump rose out of fell perhaps 500 feet down. It would have been too steep to walk or stand on.

As I neared the next corner, I could see that the top of the stump was perfectly level with the foot path. I knew I could jump and land on it, and it looked solid; however, there was danger. What if I did miss? What if the stump was not as solid as it looked? What if my foot slipped? These questions flowed through my mind because of duty more than natural desire. I felt obligated to be responsible and ask them, yet I didn’t really feel them. I can’t explain it, but I was safe. I was not afraid.

By the time I was 15 feet from the edge of the slope, I was sprinting. Not wanting to overshoot my target, I slowed a bit. Six feet from the stump, I felt the muscles of my right leg contract in sequence: first the foot, then the ankle, followed by the calf and leg. By the time my hip contracted, my body had launched into the air. As I flew toward the stump, I knew my aim had to be perfect. If I merely landed on top of the mossy platform, I could slip off and plunge to my death on the slope below. If I undershot, my legs would catch on the stump, and I would tumble over it and down the slope.

********************

Kettering University Campus, Flint, MI – November 29th, 2008 – 1:30 AM

Friday Night

Kettering University is one of the most interesting schools in the world. Known for producing some of the best engineering graduates in the US, the real value of the school is in the unique challenge it offers. From the moment they step foot on campus freshman year, all students are enrolled in a cooperative work program. This means that for the next 4-5 years, they will habituate themselves to a lifestyle that requires them to up and move every 11 weeks.

Throughout the entire course of a Kettering University education, a student rotates between accelerated class semesters and real life, on the job experience at a paid internship. Any Bulldog knows all about what it’s like to have a “co-op job.”

Perhaps the whole process makes for a restless graduate with wheels on his or her heels, but I see it a little differently. I suppose I would describe Kettering graduates as “prepared for the challenge.” They’ve had more real-world work and even leadership experience than any other students in the country. And that’s the true value of it all: the experience.

Studying abroad is perhaps the most important experience a Kettering student can elect to have, and so it’s not surprising that many of them take the opportunity. Most will plan their study abroad semester very early on, as early as freshman year. This makes it easier to ensure that the semester flows naturally from a student’s educational plan. Primarily, it ensures that classes offered by Kettering’s partner schools, primarily in Germany, are the ones the student still needs to take when the semester abroad begins.

I made the choice much later than normal, as in: three weeks before the end of my first senior semester. My reasoning was fairly simple; I was in the middle of a transition in my life. To make a long story short, let’s just say that my mind was opening up to see the world as a place of infinite opportunities. No longer was I seeing life as a difficult and boring drudgery. I was learning and growing, and I wanted to absorb as many new places, experiences, ideas, and perspectives as possible.

Blah, blah, blah! That’s some great inspirational fancy talk, but the real reason I made the decision to study in Germany was more interesting. It was Friday night of the 8th week of the 11 week semester. My neighbors were throwing their last major bash before finals set in and everyone got “serious.” It was easily one of the biggest, independent, non-fraternity parties of the year.

As I forced my way through the dense crowd of my classmates, I remember thinking that we must have been violating some kind of “maximum occupancy” code. I was getting seriously claustrophobic and was seeking oxygen and wide-open spaces. I thought I was just going outside to catch some fresh air. Actually, I was going outside to be given an ultimatum that would forever change the course of my life.

When I reached the porch, I saw a familiar face, Scott. Scott was a well-liked member of a big fraternity on campus, “the Pikes.” He and I hit it off pretty well when I first met him in freshman year, but I wouldn’t have called us friends. We could have been very good friends, had we actually hung out more often. We pretty much thought alike. But no matter. That’s not the point.

After I pushed past the last couple people trying to crowd their way into the house, Scott and I started talking. The conversation quickly turned to his recent semester in Germany.

“    Dude, it was awesome! I’ve honestly never met so many cool people or had so much fun. And yeah… there was the scenery and all too.”

Scott stopped to take a swig of his beer from the red party cup in his hand. He suddenly seemed a little less impressed by the party we were crashing. I instigated…

“    And I’m assuming the parties there were pretty cool too?”

“    Are you kidding me? Dude, I’ve never seen anything like it. You wanna talk about big f***ing parties. You gotta see Munich… October fest!… But it wasn’t just that…”

Scott’s eyes narrowed, as if he was about to share something he didn’t share often. It was like he’d told the story about Europe a hundred times but always left this part out. Sure, he’d told all of the condemning stories of crashing wild parties, boozing with Germans, “meeting girls,” and “things you shouldn’t tell your mother.” Somehow, though, I had the innate sense that he had kept this part for himself, until now. The combination of the booze and the excitement of recalling his adventures was working on him.

“    It was the adventure, man! Waking up every day, not knowing for sure what’s coming next, but just going with it. I’ve never had anything like that. I seriously didn’t want to come back here. Honestly, I want to go again. I miss it.”

Sh*t! That’s what I wanted to hear. I paused for a second to take it all in. Then I said:

“    Dude, I’ve been thinking about going. I’m just not sure about the details. I mean, it’s gonna cost me a little more overall than a normal semester.”

“    Yeah, so? Totally worth it. When else will you have an opportunity like this?”

“    Yeah, I know, but I don’t even know how I’m going to work out the classes. I’ve waited way too late to plan this.”

“    Come on, man. Don’t make excuses. You know you want to do this.”

“    For sure… If I could just find a school offering the classes I need to take… And if they even had a single opening left. For sure I’d go. I’d have to, after hearing that.”

Scott looked like he was about to say something really insightful again. Instead:

“    Austin. If you don’t go to Germany… If I see you here next semester… I’m gonna punch you in the face! That’s how serious I am about you going. You have to. The details will work themselves out. Just commit to doing it. Just go.”

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that I spent the next week scrambling to get all of the necessary paperwork in order, applying for a passport, and figuring out just how the hell I was going to make this work.

As fate would have it, one school in southwestern Germany, Hoschule Esslingen, had a few openings. They had openings for students studying “Maschinenbau” or in English, “mechanical engineering.” Of course, that’s what I was studying. That was a rare stroke of luck, since the programs are usually full much earlier than three months from departure date. The magical part, however, was that the school just happened to offer the exact combination of courses I needed for the next semester.

Indeed, the details had worked themselves out. 

********************

Harder Mountain, Interlaken, Switzerland – April 24th, 2009 – 4:20 PM

The ball of my foot made perfect contact with the corner of the stump, exactly as I had aimed. The firm planting of my foot allowed me to easily slow my momentum and settle my weight above the stump. I turned to face the others, who had only kept up because I had been running back and forth each portion of the trail. Essentially, I was running up and down the mountain at the same time.

“Wewh!”

I shouted and held my hands out to feel my balance.

“You’re seriously chasing your death down the side of this mountain.”

Melissa was clearly amused, but also less than impressed with my antics. No way was she going to join me in my enthusiastic crusade down the mountain. Honestly, no way anyone was.

I smiled at Melissa and the others. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I was chasing my death, but I’d never felt so alive. It wasn’t just this mountain. It wasn’t just Switzerland, Germany, or even all of Europe. It wasn’t just the train rides into unknown countries and cities. It wasn’t the parties. It wasn’t just my care-free and fairly low-responsibility life during that semester. It was that I could do all of these things. It was that I had made a choice to leap into an undefined and possibly dangerous world, and I wasn’t just surviving; I was thriving.

Every day wasn’t always fun, and I was often stressed out about the language barriers, culture shock, and general difficulties of being this far out on my own. Nonetheless, I had taken the chance, and I was here figuring it out step by step. My confidence was growing, and it was a beautiful thing.

I leapt from the stump back to the path. Continuing down the mountain, I could again feel the perfect flow of my body. Every rock, pebble, and crack seemed to simply flow by. If I began to trip, the trip only made it half way up my leg before the rest of my body would effortlessly correct and continue down in one smooth motion.

If you’ve ever had a dream in which you could glide and nearly fly everywhere you went, you basically know what it felt like to run down this mountain. It seemed the only real danger would be to actually focus on the fear, to give it credit for existing. I had no such intention.

********************

Later that evening, laying in my bed in the Balmers Herbege hostel, the oldest and most popular private hostel in Switzerland, I found myself deep in thought. This adventure was profound and powerful. It had changed everything. Not only had I experienced the bliss of following every whim and traveling to any part of the continent that I desired; I had also learned something. I’d learned that I could, given enough motivation, do or experience anything. The rules that had once bound me were falling away like broken chains.

Adjusting my position on the bed, I felt a creeping thought enter my mind.

          “What will I do when I go back?”

How could anyone go from this incredible adventure back to “normal” life? What was normal life compared to this, and how could anyone bare it? I knew I had to return to a final semester of my co-op job, researching biomechanics at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. On top of that, I had to both start and finish a thesis. A thesis at Kettering is supposed to be a multiple year endeavor; I had six months… Long story.

From there, all I could see was a miserable ease. I would graduate and get a decent job, probably in biomechanics. I would make decent money. I would find a wife, buy a nice car, have 2.5 kids, and get the “family dog.” Life would be predictable and typical. Needless to say, I was not compelled.

Laying in that hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland, I realized that the trip had changed me. No longer was I waiting for life to come to me. I was running headlong into it so fast that my hair was on fire. It wasn’t just my hair though; I could feel that every part of my being was now on fire. I was a burning man, and I burned for something more.

Peering into what I understood of the vision I had for my future, I knew something had to change: It needed to get bigger and more interesting.

***IF YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER: Please “Like” this post below to share it with your friends!

Copyright 2010 – Austin Szelkowski – All Rights Reserved

********************

Dillon’s House, Howell, MI – August 28th, 2010

Approximately 3:00 PM

Sick

The frog in my throat was making it hard to talk. Worse than that, the shaking of my hands made me question my ability to drive. As Dillon and I sat in my car discussing what we were about to do, I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach. I was about to hurt somebody, and it was not going to be pretty. Such is the life of an entrepreneur at times.

Bob Piesz was a part of the Freedom Team from the end of June, 2010 all the way up until this moment. He was the one who spotted this crazy skater carrying a flag and wearing a cape skating against traffic down the busiest road in Howell, MI. He was also the one that sent me that first email that changed everything.

******************

From Bob Piesz to Austin Szelkowski 6/30/2010, 8:03 PM:

I run a business with my partner and we specialize in content management websites that incorporate social networking tools.  We’re interested in donating our time and efforts to your cause by building and hosting a custom website for you, for free.  If you are interested we would love to meet up at our office and go over stuff!

Thank You,

-Bob

I was literally two seconds from deleting that email as I perused Bob and Dillon’s website. I don’t know why my brain thought it was spam. It just did. Just as I was about to delete the email, I saw the area code in the phone number on their “contact us” page: (810). That’s when it sunk in: This obviously wasn’t spam. That area code was local, and these guys wanted to get involved and help make my dream happen!

This is the part where it would be conventional to say, “And the rest, as they say, is history.” I’m not going to say that, because this is not a conventional story. Yes, Bob and Dillon began to get more and more involved, and yes, it was decided that they would be a part of my company. Finally, yes, it was decided that these two young entrepreneurs would throw all caution to the wind and come along for this larger than life adventure. The only problem was that everything didn’t go as planned.

Real life is messier and far more interesting than fairy-tales. At this point in our story, Dillon and I found ourselves on the brink of the hardest decision of our lives; Bob was not holding up his end of the deal, and he had to go. We had to cut Bob from the team. We had to do this, in spite of the fact that Bob had told everyone in his life that he was coming on this grand adventure with us. We had to do it, in spite of the fact that Bob was a longtime friend of Dillon’s and now a good friend of mine.

To make things worse, this felt more like a huge betrayal than a standard firing. Bob had been doing me a favor and was planning to leave all of the comforts and “certainties” of normal life behind to make my dream happen. All I had to offer him was a dream. It was a dream that we, an inexperienced team of young entrepreneurs, could somehow pull off the impossible. We wanted to launch this crazy tour, speak to thousands of students, raise support from thin air, and start a movement.

I had no money to offer Bob, just vision and commitment. All I had was the promise of what could be. That promise was good enough for him, but now, I had to break it.

********************

Westbury Apartments Complex, Howell, MI – August 28th, 2010

Approximately 3:15 PM

As we pulled into Bob’s apartment complex, Dillon and I were running through the checklist one last time: Had we secured our online presence fully? Did we change all passwords, backup all data, and remove Bob as an admin for the Facebook fan page? I couldn’t believe we were about to do this. Honestly, I would not have been so resolute about this decision, if it hadn’t been for what Dillon told me the night before.

********************

We were up until about 3:00 AM, discussing (arguing and yelling, actually) what was then “the Bob problem.” The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Dillon told me that Bob was almost certainly heavily involved with drugs still. I knew Bob had a pretty serious drug problem in the past, but I didn’t know it was still a problem. We were about to embark on a difficult cross-country journey to promote a positive message of entrepreneurship to the youth, and now I was dealing with a drug addict.

Never mind the PR disaster this could cause for a tour meant to be a positive inspiration to students; I knew the problems we’d had with Bob lately would only get worse. Bob was a huge liability, and I had to make the call.

********************

There was no turning back: We’d already told Dan, our new sponsor, what was going on and that we would remove Bob from the picture. We’d pulled the trigger, and the tour could no longer go forward with Bob involved.

********************

Howell, MI – August 28th, 11:00 PM – One Week before Departure

“It’s done.”

Dillon and I were on our last night skate before we would leave for New York and I would begin my skate across America. It had been an exhausting day in every way. The preparations we made before telling Bob of our decision were tremendous. It was messy business cutting someone like Bob from the tour. We knew we couldn’t trust his response. We’d just ripped his heart out pretty much, and he could do anything at this point. Worst of all, we knew that Bob was very smart.

I was relieved to simply be on the skates. I think most endurance athletes could relate to this: Even though what we do can be incredibly difficult and grueling, there is at least one thing we can usually count on: It is simple. When the hill keeps rising, the pavement gets rougher and rougher, and the wind blows harder and harder, there’s only one thing to do: keep moving forward.

I don’t know how many miles we skated, and it doesn’t matter. We just needed to clear our heads. The meeting with Bob had been even harder than I expected. I’ve never felt so much like I was crushing someone. As soon as he realized what I was saying, his hands had begun to shake uncontrollably. I’m a pretty masculine guy, but in the right situation, yes, I can cry. I was crying because I felt like I was betraying a good friend. I’d rather feel this kind of pain than be the one to cause it. I’ve never felt more like a monster. I’ve never felt more obligated to be a monster, but I was serving a cause that was more important than my own emotions. It sucked, but it was necessary.

****

As I glided through downtown Howell for the last time before the tour, I remembered something I said to Bob early through my own tears:

****

“    Why did you f**** this up? Why? This tour was going to be huge for you. It was going to change everything. You could have done anything after this. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I wish I could just know that you’ll turn this around, that you’ll do what you promised. I wish I could believe you won’t destroy this tour.

Maybe this is crazy, but if I could know that, I’d say, f*** the sponsor and f*** the $15,000. We started this as a team, and that’s how we’re gonna make it happen. If I could know that, Bob, we’d go down to New York with or without a sponsor and make this happen. But I can’t know that.”

****

Dillon and I skated up to the Burger King drive-thru to see if they would give us a couple waters. You’re really not supposed to skate through a drive-thru, but we were thirsty, and I’m kinda good at sweet-talking… It worked.

Skating away from Burger King, Dillon said the words that I needed to live by during this extremely difficult time:

“    It’s done. We’ve made this decision, and even though it feels like s***, we know we had to. We’ll do what we can to make sure Bob’s friends and family are there for him now. But we have to leave this thing behind. It’s the only way to make the tour happen. We have to focus on what we’re doing now and move on.”

***IF YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER: Please “Like” this post below to share it with your friends!

Copyright 2010 – Austin Szelkowski – All Rights Reserved

Fort Worth, TX – April 20th, 2011, Approximately 2:00 PM

     “This can’t be the end!”

I panted to myself as I lay helpless on the side of the I-30 Frontage Road just west of Fort Worth, TX. 1897 miles into the journey of my lifetime, I was surprised to find my body failing me. Until that point in the tour, I had essentially considered myself invincible to just about anything short of a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler. I suppose I believed I was invincible, not because of any special physical qualities, but because of the power of the cause I carried. That belief wasn’t logical; it was necessary.

Sometimes, we must convince ourselves of pleasant impossibilities to maintain the courage necessary to finish a great journey. Sometimes, those impossibilities have to come true. Nonetheless, there I lay, wondering if I would survive my newest challenge.

As my heart pounded at over 200 beats per minute (160 is pushing it for intense exercise), it felt as if my chest was going to explode. I could feel my pulse pounding against the headphones in my ears. As fast as my heart was racing, my mind raced a hundred times faster.

I was thinking back all the way to the beginning: Before all of the challenges, life experiences, failures, and triumphs that had brought me to this place, there was the idea. I thought back to the moment when this dream was born. In my dream, I would skate over 3000 miles across America to inspire entrepreneurship and rediscover the American spirit of courage, creativity, and freedom.

It was a beautiful dream, and it had changed my life and the lives of so many others forever; yet now, it seemed that dream may be cut short. As I lay in the cool grass under the relentless Texas sun, all I could do was try to remain calm and breath.

********************

Brighton, MI – Memorial Day, May 31st, 2010

Insights

On May 31st, 2010 the Insights Group in Brighton, MI hosted its annual Memorial Day party. I was enjoying the weather and sharing a moment with friends. As I sat surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs and dreamers, a powerful idea began to take root in my mind.

**** two hours earlier:

I was on the way to the party: I was thinking excitedly about the movie, “Forest Gump,” and Forest’s run across America. Somewhat haphazardly, I had connected the idea of vagabonding across America with the prospect of sharing my message of freedom and entrepreneurship with youth across the nation. I wasn’t taking the idea too seriously yet, but I didn’t entirely dismiss it either. As the thoughts lingered, a plot started to formulate in my head:

“What if I embarked on an epic coast-to-coast journey to inspire people to believe that we can still do big and great things in this country? What if I could prove to them and to myself that any dream is possible, as long as we have the courage to take the first steps and the conviction to keep pushing and see the dream through to the end? Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

My mind was preoccupied by the prospect of this larger than life adventure, as I arrived at Bret Blair’s beautiful country home, somewhere in the woods outside of downtown Brighton. Sure, it was absolutely insane, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

****

The party was a lot of fun, which is standard fair for Insights Group gatherings. The highlight that I remember most involved someone daring Al Curtis, one of the Insights Co-Founders, to backup one of his common truisms with action. Al was known for saying things like “Money is just numbers, but vision is everything.” This person wanted to show that Al was hypocritical and wouldn’t actually hold to this high ideal. He dared Al to burn a $100 bill to prove his commitment to his ideals… Needless to say, it wasn’t long before Al was holding a lighter below a $100 bill that he had pulled from his wallet. He was literally about to burn it! (Illegal, I suppose… Oops!)

Just as Al was raising the flame to the corner of the bill, a woman stopped him. She suggested that Al just give the money away, rather than completely wasting it. After a second of thought, Al walked over to the woman, handed her the $100 bill, and said, “Here, it’s yours then!” I thought to myself, “Only Al Curtis… Only Al Curtis!” You have to understand Al and his Co-Founder, Sandi Maki, but we’ll get to that later.

As the party continued, I was randomly reminded of my idea multiple times, and by the end of the day, I simply had to bring it up. I was in the right place. The Insights Group was a gathering place for people who encourage each other to think big and act big. In this place, being “responsible” meant having the guts to leap at the seemingly impossible while being fully prepared to engage in what most would call “irresponsible.” My kind of place.

As the party drew to a close, I sat on the porch under an overhang and watched most of the guests rushing to their cars to avoid the rain. As if calmed by the steady roar of thousands of gallons of water dumping on the roof above, the seven of us who remained sat on the porch and began to reminisce. About a half hour in, my friend, Victor Banta, decided to tell a story about a vagabonding journey he had embarked on in South America shortly after graduating from college in 1989. It was a fascinating tale of random plane rides, jungle treks, impromptu hosts in hidden villages, and unexpected encounters. It sounded like a grand adventure. I saw my opportunity.

“Victor, you have no idea how ironic it is that you’ve waited until today to tell us this story… I actually just had a similar idea today.”

I prepared myself for the possible embarrassment of a rejected idea. I mean, it was pretty crazy.

“This is gonna sound… a LITTLE nuts, and it’s probably too big… But on the way here today, I had an idea for something similar. Here’s the thing, though: This would actually be a speaking tour, where I would cross the country on foot, while stopping to speak about entrepreneurship and living freely.”

I paused to gauge the general response. It was hard to read.

“I’m not saying I’m gonna do this or anything. I’m just saying that I think it’d be pretty cool if I did.”

After my admittedly sheepish explanation of this nutty idea, I sat quietly, waiting for the inevitable laughter and the “WHAT?!?.” To my surprise, I heard none. Instead, six sets of inquisitive eyes fixed on me in the pouring rain, almost as if everyone was intrigued by the idea but wasn’t sure whether to believe I was serious. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure that I was serious. My friend, Todd List, who was relatively quiet until that point, was the first person to say anything:

“No, Austin, it’s not too big or crazy. This is… amazing, and it’s going to be huge for you. I wish that I could up and down something like that, ‘cause I would in a heartbeat. You NEED to do this. It’s going to change everything for you.”

We spent the rest of the time talking about the possibility of this adventure. We were brainstorming ideas, and people kept reassuring me that I simply must do this. As the remaining guests finally began to make our way to our cars, I walked next to my friend, Victor, who had told the story of his vagabonding adventure in South America. As if he had been contemplating the idea deeply the entire time, Victor finally spoke up as we neared our vehicles:

“You should just do it, if you want to. It will work out. You’ll find a way… It will be a once in a lifetime experience and an amazing adventure.”

     ****

As I drove home that night, the insightful words spoken by Todd and Victor lingered in my mind. I knew something had changed in me, and that life truly would never be the same. As the decision solidified, a strange sentiment began to form in my mind, almost as if a small, yet resilient, seed had been planted.

In the days following that party, a growing belief and knowledge began to take root: Somehow, I knew that one day, I would feel the triumph and vindication of high achievement, as the waves of the Pacific lapped against my battle-hardened body and the American flag waived in my hand above me. It was an intuition and certainty that I cannot explain. I’ve never felt anything like it before or since.

It was only a dream, and I had no practical means of making that dream into a reality. As a recent college graduate waiting on tables at a local restaurant, I was more of a “wanna be entrepreneur” than an actual entrepreneur. I had no money, no support team, and in a certain sense, I had no clue. Somehow, in spite of all of these marks against me, I knew.

I would carry my message of freedom across the country, and I would find or create everything I needed to do so along the way. With my quest, I would prove that we truly can turn any dream into a reality, no matter the size, so long as we have the courage to start and the conviction to see it through to the end. All I needed to do was work out and “allow” the details. As Al Curtis, likes to put it, “The Devil’s in the details, so stay out of ‘em and keep charging forward!”

Perhaps Al’s wisdom runs counter to the accepted norm. Certainly it does, but it hasn’t failed me so far. In the weeks and months that followed, I would learn just what it meant to “charge forward.”

********************

Money from out of Thin Air: The Mystery and Gift of Sandi and Al

To hear Sandi Maki and Al Curtis talk about how they founded the Insights Group is a bit like listening to a real life fairy tale. Lifelong friends, in late 2007, they both had a vision for a co-working facility and community that would provide local visionaries and entrepreneurs with a support system that would accelerate their growth and the growth of their companies. Through masterminding, community events, and innovative marketing, they would create an ecosystem for local innovation.

The only problem was, they had no money and needed to come up with the funds to cover a six figure, three year lease on a 6000 square foot facility, along with over $5000 in monthly overhead expenses. They weren’t really sure how their current finances or the new community could cover such expenses. Nonetheless, the Insights Group Entrepreneurial Support Community officially opened in January of 2008.

This is the part where the story gets frustrating for most. As Sandi and Al tell it, the funds they needed to pay for rent in the 6000 square foot facility, to remodel the interior, and to cover their monthly expenses seemed to begin appearing out of nowhere. Once the decision to build the community was made, what they needed somehow began to find them. In no uncertain terms, it was as if they had spoken their will into the universe.

The frustrating part is that neither Sandi nor Al can really explain it. It wasn’t like they were taking monthly donations or knocking down the doors in the Brighton community to raise the funds they needed. They weren’t necessarily even looking for investors or selling a specific product. The money wasn’t there, and then suddenly, it was. Like many friends and business associates, I used to pester them to no end to explain how this happened. It was simple math! The dollars must have come from somewhere! Were these two insane? Were they just cleverly duping us by hyping up a fairly easy to explain source of cash flow? Were we insane? Where did the money come from? How? Why?

Over time, as I began to recognize Sandi and Al for the people of integrity that they were and are, a new thought surfaced in my mind: The reason why they never explained where the hundreds of thousands of dollars came from was that they actually couldn’t!

This is not the part where I get all hokey and start trying to indoctrinate you to start following some “Secret” Law of Attraction, so stay with me. Instead, this is the part where I ask you to join with me in performing a mental experiment and making an interesting observation. Do this: Try to account for each one of the pennies that entered and left your possession in the last two weeks, every last one. I bet you can’t do it. In your version of reality, a penny is a pretty small increment of stored value. It can come and go without you even being aware of how.

Now do this: Think about a vision or dream that is incredibly important to you. When you have your dream or vision in mind, make the following statement. Make it both to yourself and out into the universe:

“My vision will happen, because I believe in it very deeply and choose to make it happen no matter what. I am open, capable, and worthy of receiving and using everything necessary to make my vision into reality.”

You probably aren’t ready for this yet, but if you are able to fully accept what you just said and are prepared to stick to your conviction through thick and thin, then you have actually changed something. If it is truly a statement and not a question in disguise, then you have just discovered a way to profoundly alter your reality and the reality of the world around you.

Here’s why: With this statement, you have changed your mental paradigm. What you previously understood as an impossible amount of money or an impossible challenge can now behave like the pennies you couldn’t keep track of in the past week. What seemed impossibly huge can now flow in and out of your life without you giving it a second thought. Just like any wealthy, powerful, or influential person who has learned to play in a bigger game with bigger numbers, you are also prepared to play a game with higher stakes.

Furthermore, you’ve redefined reality itself. You’ve altered your potential, just like Sandi and Al did. Why do you think they still cannot explain where the hundreds of thousands of dollars came from? They were operating on a higher plane.

It wasn’t just that money was equivalent to pennies. The new reality was greater than that. The money truly was just a number, but the vision; it was alive, beautiful, and free to grow, just like the very people in whom it was born.

What you just did, is exactly what I needed to do, when I began preparing for the “Freedom Skate.” I needed to create a new reality.

When I first started working the numbers for the skate, I figured out that I would need at least $15,000 to get things started off right. My problem was that I only had about two and a half months to raise it. Up until that point in my life, I had always worked hourly jobs, and most did not pay very well. A certain amount of time worked meant a certain amount of money earned. Simple numbers, simple math. I had never been one to raise funds for anything, and this was completely outside of my comfort-zone. To be frank, it would have been impossible for me to raise the kind of money I needed without changing my understanding of my reality and my potential.

********************

Howell Michigan, MI – August 4th, 2010

Reckoning

I will never forget sitting in my Ford Focus outside of the Howell Fitness Center in early August 2010, contemplating a conversation I had with my parents the night before. The gist of the conversation went like this:

They loved me and wanted the best for me. I was over six months out of college, and with my potential and degree, I should already have landed a $40,000 – $70,000 per year job. I was wasting time and working a dead-end job, while working on a dream that was not “reality.” I was being irresponsible to myself and to the commitments I had made.

As I sat in my car, taking in the beautiful summer weather, I was not soothed by the cool breeze that passed through the open windows or soft rays of sunlight that crept across my dash. I was on edge, toying with the radio dial and thinking. I was contemplating my answer to a question that my father had asked later in that same conversation the night before:

“I hope, Austin, I truly hope, that if you get down to the date you have set to leave for this tour and you have no sponsor, you will do the responsible thing, get a job, and delay or cancel the tour. You will do that won’t you?”

Now, understand that my father is an amazing father and has always believed in me and encouraged me to believe in myself. The truth was that his point of view made perfect sense. I was trying to do something that seemed impossible. It was 100 times bigger and 100 times more uncertain than anything I had ever done before. I was preparing to SKATE ACROSS AMERICA!

Forget about the physical danger and difficulty of this endeavor; from a practical standpoint, I had no foreseeable financial means of making it happen. None of us had yet grown to the level of long-term confidence in a vision that this journey would require. For that type of confidence, I reserve the word, “faith.”

I hadn’t answered my dad that night. I couldn’t, because I was afraid of what the answer that was brewing in my mind might mean. Actually, it would be more accurate to describe the answer as boiling up in my mind. For a month and a half, I had been living this dream, doing everything I could to keep believing and raising support. I had worked countless hours and endured incredible doubt and scrutiny; yet, I had failed to connect with a single viable sponsor.

Somehow, in spite of this, my passion and certainty for the journey only grew stronger by the day. The answer that was turning my brain into a tea kettle about to explode with pressure went something like this:

“No! No, I will not just get a job or ‘be responsible!’ This dream was born in me, and it is bigger than me. It carries me. I don’t care if I am forced to hitch-hike my way alone down to New York City to start this journey with nothing but the skates on my feet and the vision of the California coast in my mind. On Labor Day, I will be in New York City, and I will be skating.”

I hadn’t stated this yet. I hadn’t made the promise to the universe or myself. That is why I was fidgeting and toying with the radio dial that August afternoon. This decision would change everything. I couldn’t just make a promise like that and then go back on it. This was a defining moment in my life, and I would live and die, based on my choice right then and there.

****

I have an interesting side story about this tour that fits here nicely. From within days of the onset of the idea, as if by providence, a certain song had appeared in my life that seemed to embody the journey from beginning to end. In a way, it seemed as though the song was written for the journey and defined it. The song, “This is War” by 30 Seconds to Mars, is a powerful and passionate song. To me, it’s about a choice not to be passive or to allow your life to be defined for you. It’s a wild and bold crying out to live and become who you are meant to be. It’s about total commitment to your passion, your dreams, and to your life.

Though it was popular at the time, I would literally go a week without hearing the song on the radio. Strangely, just at the right moments, when I needed encouragement the most, it would play. It was almost magical…

****

As I sat in the car that August day, I told myself that I wanted to make the promise that I would complete this journey, no matter what. It was time to jump, ready or not. For some reason, just before saying the promise, I told myself that I wanted to hear that 30 Seconds to Mars song as some form of confirmation. Again, I’m not trying to be hokey; I’m just reporting my understandable emotions and telling you what happened.

“DAMN IT! I’m tired of this! In and out, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – I can’t take it any more! I’ve been on the morning and evening news, my story’s been featured on the front page of the county paper, and I’ve told thousands of people that I’m going to do this. Yet, somehow, I’m still doubting it. I’m still fake. I can’t do this anymore… I won’t! I don’t care if it’s irresponsible. I don’t care what anyone thinks of this. I’m making this decision now. I will do this. I will skate across America, and I will carry this message. To hell with the consequences! I’m going.”

As I screamed the words to myself in the car, I must have looked and sounded like a crazy person, but at the moment, I didn’t particularly care. It was such an incredible relief to simply make the decision. After releasing this insane pressure, I physically felt lighter and more at ease.

Finally, I stopped fidgeting with the radio dial and turned it on. I flipped to my first preset. I can’t describe the emotion that overwhelmed me as the music came through the speakers. Need I tell you that the 30 Seconds to Mars song had just begun playing? Shocked, I decided to flip over to the second preset. Need I mention again that the song was also playing there? I’d never felt emotion or elation like that before. The weight of uncertainty was lifted. I had made my decision. The details would just need to work themselves out. Magic song or no magic song, I knew what I was going to do.

********************

Brighton, MI – August 21st, 11:00 PM – Two Weeks before Departure

An unexpected Connection

My business partner, Dillon Norton, and I were enjoying a night skate through downtown Brighton as we sometimes did. I was thinking about the comic nature of our initial meeting.

**** a few weeks before

Dillon’s business partner, Bob Piesz, had spotted me skating against traffic down a busy road in Howell, MI, wearing a cape and carrying a giant American flag. Though Bob originally thought that I was some drunken nut (the drunken part turned out to be false.), I was fortunate enough for him to find my page on Facebook later that evening.

Bob and Dillon (I know, I know… Bob Dylan!) just so happened to be strapping young entrepreneurs themselves. They ran a local online marketing company, NP Designs, and wanted to build me a professional website. After meeting with them and realizing our shared vision, I accepted the offer promptly. I needed people who could help me carry this vision, and these genius-level high school dropouts were exactly what I was looking for.

Bob and Dillon didn’t bring money or even credibility to my cause; they brought something more important: the energy, talent, and sweat equity I needed to make this thing happen. As they became more and more involved, it quickly became clear that they would be my primary business partners for the skate.

****

As Dillon and I glided through the dark and then quiet streets of downtown Brighton, Dillon mentioned that an old friend of his had recently connected him to the President of an interesting company. The President of American Pioneer Ventures (APV), Dan Hussain, was interested in working with Dillon on an innovative new online content-syndication system. Through a stream of emails, Dan had somehow become aware of my plans to skate across America to promote entrepreneurship and freedom. He wanted to talk.

Intrigued by this new development, I was feeling a strange combination of certainty and urgency. The deadline was approaching, but my stride was steady. We continued skating through the dark.

********************

Howell, MI – August 22nd, 11:28 AM – 13 Days before Departure

When the Impossible Becomes Reality

When I checked my email the next morning, I found an interesting string of messages. Here is the text from the most significant string of emails I’ve ever participated in:

From Andrew “Dru” Erridge to “Freedom Team” and Dan “D” Hussain, 8/20/2010:

I greatly apologize, gmail grabbed the wrong austing from my contacts the proper austin is now attached with the original email below

——————————————————————————————————————–

Hello Dillon and Austin,

I’d just like to put you in touch with with my boss and mentor Dan Hussain, as well as his advisor Steve.  Dan is quite the entrepreneur having been involved with 5-6 startups just in the past few years, and I thought would be a great addition to the documentary you will be making about The Freedom Skater, Austin, roller-skating across the US to promote entrepreneurship and american ideals.  I think it would be mutually beneficial if you could meet up with Dan in Pittsburgh sometime during or before your trip. I know you plan on leaving in the next week or so, and beginning your skate in NYC on Sept. the 5th, so I hope you can work something out. 

-Dru

From Dan Hussain to “Freedom Team,” 8/22/2010, 11:28 AM:

Austin!  Great to meet you!

I’d love to join you on your skate through a few blocks/couple of miles when you get to Pittsburgh.

I think what you’re doing is great, and let me know anything APV can do to support you. I will probably be in NYC on Labour Day weekend. so I can meetup there too.

In fact, Chad and I are writing a book on entrepreneurship in America, and how it can help our economic recovery.

-   Dan

– 

Daniar Hussain, President

American Pioneer Ventures

American Patent Agency

www.American-Pioneer-Ventures.com

www.American-Patent-Agency.com

From Austin Szelkowski to Dan Hussain, 8/22/2010, 11:45 AM:

Dan,

Great to meet you as well! I love your idea about skating with me through Pittsburgh. My support team and I are leaving from our big send-off party here in Howell, MI on the evening of Sept. 4th. We’re driving to NYC from there, which is where the skate begins. We absolutely want to stop to meet you in Pittsburgh on our way to NYC. I know Dillon mentioned the possibility of an interview with you to Dru. We’d love to get you in the documentary.

I want to hear more about APV. It sounds like we share a common vision. I absolutely agree that entrepreneurship must play a significant role in our economic recovery (that is central to my message). My goal is to get American students to start thinking about new opportunities that are presenting themselves for trailblazers. I want to show them that the determining factor for their success will be in the form of “sweat-equity.” Do they have the commitment and passion to make their ambitions and dreams a reality?  I know your a busy person, but I’d like to speak with you on the phone for a few minutes if possible. When would be a good time to call?

Sincerely,

Austin Szelkowski

“The Freedom Skater”

Founder & Creative Marketing Director

The Freedom Skater LLC

From Dan Hussain to “Freedom Team,” 8/22/2010, 12:34 PM:

Let’s talk.

I’d like APV / APA to sponsor you.  How much would it take to be the lead sponsor?

Dan

I was numb. Remembering my resolution from a few weeks before to make this journey happen no matter what, you can imagine how I felt. I’ve never been so shocked or excited about an email. The phone conversation that followed was among the strangest conversations I’ve ever had. It was as if I had picked up the phone, dialed a number, and reached myself, except… a nuttier and more experienced version!

Dan was born in Soviet Russia right in the middle of the Cold War. His father was a Russian doctor, and his mother was an Indian woman. The family moved to the States at the age of 6 when his father was at a conference in New York. It wasn’t easy to even get into the States at that time, during the Cold War.

Dan has lived and traveled all over the world. His accent is something like a mix between Indian, Russian, and… a good old fashion east coast accent! One of the most energetic and enthusiastic people I’ve ever known, Dan was amazed by my project and couldn’t help but get involved. Primarily, he was amazed by our shared vision.

Though we had never talked before this call, we both shared a passion for bringing entrepreneurial education to the youth and eventually building an academy for entrepreneurs. This was to be a place where people didn’t just come to learn about business; they would come there to actually build a business and launch a dream!

After talking to Dan and his right-hand man, Steve Malarias, one more time on the phone that evening, I knew we had found our sponsor.

The next day, Dillon and I drove about 300 miles, over halfway from mid-Michigan to Pittsburgh, PA to meet Dan and discuss sponsorship. During that first meeting, we discovered that Dan was not only every bit as energetic and… nutty as we had hoped; he was also decisive and true to his word. Over the next week and a half, we finalized a deal with APV to provide $15,000 in startup funds for a used motor home, filming equipment for a documentary, and for initial expenses. APV also agreed to provide some monthly cash-flow, while we worked to make the tour self-sustaining.

From the moment I saw that partnership and $15,000 materialize practically out of thin air, just days before my departure date, I knew anything was possible. My support team and I had had beaten the odds and made our dream into reality. We felt as confident as if we had just conquered the world and believed we had faced down the biggest challenges of the tour. Little did we know that our newly-found confidence and faith in the cause was to be tested and grown a hundred times over from that day until the end. Little did we know that we were to learn a far more powerful

lesson before it was all said and done.

*******************

Fort Worth, TX – April 20th, 2011, Approximately: 2:10 PM

Resolution

As the ambulance approached, with sirens blaring, I could feel the weight of the journey and my cause bearing down on me. I could feel the magnitude of what we had set-out to accomplish and to prove. One thing was clear in my mind: The story was not over yet. The journey still had lessons to teach, and I still had much to learn. If it ended here because of my untimely death or because of my physical inability to continue, the greatest lessons would remain hidden.

As I contemplated the possibility that this truly was the end of the road, I suddenly felt a new surge of confidence enter my racing mind and shaking body. It was different than any feeling I had yet experienced on this journey. I couldn’t die or stop here. This couldn’t be the end! If it was, everything my team and I had fought so hard to create would be stopped short. I couldn’t stop, and I wouldn’t stop, because I demanded that this journey give up its final lesson and ultimate gift.

In the face of previous seemingly impassible obstacles, I had been tempted to almost wish they would remain impassible. We can usually create the solution we seek, but we don’t always want to know how. In the short term, when times are hard, it’s often easier to stop short of the goal. My character and courage were by no means perfect from the beginning. Part of the reason for this skate across America was to grow me as a business person and as a human being.

This time, however, something was profoundly different. It was as if a voice inside me was screaming out, “No! Not yet! It can’t end here, and it won’t end here, because I’M NOT FINISHED!” It was a turning point in the journey, and the 1515 remaining miles were no longer enough to keep me from seeing the coast. Suddenly, I didn’t just believe that I would finish; there was more. Instead, I resolved that come pain, danger, fear, injury, or any obstacle under the sun, I would cross that finish line. My team and I would rend the promise, the secret, and the gift straight from the heart of the journey. We would find our strength by overcoming and passing through the impossible. We would be free.

*******************

Where You Are – Now

An Invitation

You hold in your hands the account of a journey. This particular journey was the path that transformed some boys with big ideas into men of courage, vision, and conviction. Like me just a little over a year prior to writing this, you stand on the cusp of greatness, but it is not just outward greatness or fame. It is the inward greatness of knowing with unwavering certainty how to answer the hardest questions:

“Who am I, and what do I believe? What do I stand for? Am I strong enough and do I love life enough to follow the dangerous and winding road? Will I become the person I’m supposed to be? Can I live my dreams? Can I be free?”

Like all great journeys, yours must begin with a simple step, a courageous step. As you turn this page, I invite you to take your first step into a larger world: the larger world where you are the strong, courageous, and resolute person of vision that only you can see in your mind’s eye. I invite you to take your first step into your freedom.

***IF YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER: Please “Like” this post below to share it with your friends!

Copyright 2010 – Austin Szelkowski – All Rights Reserved

Out from the chaos of thoughts, I could still here the engine of the freight train churning within me. I was overwhelmed by one notion: “There are no limits. We truly can do anything, when we are free.”

Never have I felt more alive than when my knees dropped into the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I felt the wave of a thousand emotions pour over me in the same way that the ocean waters rushed over and almost through me.

This journey had been the most enormous undertaking of my life. It had required every ounce of energy and focus I had. In fact, it had required more, and so, I was forced to grow. No amount of forethought could have prepared me for the experience of completing the Freedom Skate. As my body swayed forward from the force of the drop, I could feel the momentum of the American flag I had carried the entire way as it lurched forward. It was as if the incomprehensible force of will and tenacity that had carried me across a continent was actually separate from me and suddenly needed to be brought to a halt at the shore. It seemed as if even the vast ocean that lay before me would not have been enough to stop that flag from moving forward. I had to choose to stop there. I knelt on what felt to me like holy ground and thought, “Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible.”

As the waves crashed into my body, my mind raced through a thousand memories of the places experienced, friendships forged, challenges overcome, pains born, fears faced, doubts turned to dust, and triumphs lived. It was the culmination of a journey that was truly larger than life and larger than me. Gasping for breath with tears and sweat pouring down my face, I felt a groan bellow up from deep within me, almost like a roar.

As the wild cry of absolute elation went out from me, I physically felt lighter, for the burden I had carried across thousands of miles was suddenly being lifted. We had done it! With the tireless support of a tight-knit team, an unlikely sponsor, faithful families, and thousands of fans and friends met along the way, I had blazed a trail and carried a message of entrepreneurial inspiration 3410 miles across the country on in-line skates. My support team and I had faced more physical, logistical, financial, relational, and emotional challenges than I can even begin to count. This journey had turned three boys with big ideas into men who had actually done something big.

Out from the chaos of thoughts, I could still here the engine of the freight train churning within me. I was overwhelmed by one notion:

“There are no limits. We truly can do anything, when we are free.”

The 411:

Distance Since last Update: 46 miles
Final Distance for Tour: 3412 miles
SKATE LOCATION: The Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, CA!
STATUS: Elated!

If this journey has inspired you to believe that you truly can do anything you set your mind to, then I would love for you to come out and celebrate with my crew and I at the finish! Could be a first opportunity to exercise that newly found belief! I have provided the basic information you need below. Dillon will be there filming for the documentary, so anyone who makes it out will be seen in the documentary. Also, Bob and I are working on setting up a LIVE cast for the end of the tour. We should be able to pull it off. If all goes well, it will air here on the website, beginning around 12:00 PM PST.

Celebrate with Us!

We’re asking anyone who wants to celebrate at the finish to meet us at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd in Santa Monica at 12:00 PM PST on Wednesday June 15th. There’s a sidewalk on the ocean side of the intersection, which I will be taking out to the ocean. It’s difficult to predict exact times on this skate, but we’ll do our best to be there right at noon. You can see the map of my last day’s skate here. The images below should make it easy enough to find:

Ending at corner of Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd.

Street View of Finish Location

June 13th, 2011

When I first had the idea to skate across America, I didn’t really conceptualize exactly what that meant. We frame what we expect from the future, based on what we’ve already experienced. So, drawing from my experience at the time, I guess I pictured myself skating through thousands of miles of small to medium size towns and suburbs, punctuated by stretches of farm land. I was picturing myself skating through mid-Michigan over and over again! Obviously, that was not an accurate representation of the journey. The real picture should have included long stretches of desert, mountains, swamp areas, forests, big cities, and everything in between. The real picture was far more interesting.

Freedom Hiking to Banning!

A Day of Everything

There have been a number of days on this journey that presented unique and memorable challenges. For that reason, they stand out in my mind. Interestingly, there has really only been one day that was representative of the entire skate. June 11th is a memorable date for me, because my skate between the southwestern edge of Desert Hot Springs and Loma Linda, CA included just about every single type of obstacle I’ve faced on the tour, in one day!

I started off in the desert, as I finished my descent of CA State Route 62. Unfortunately, 62 ended by running into I-10, and there was about a 7 mile section where I was forced to skate on the freeway. Bob went on ahead, since he really couldn’t follow me on the I-10 shoulder. I made slow progress, as the venturi effect created by the mountains to the north and south of the highway basically make that section of I-10 into a wind tunnel. I was facing 30-40 mph winds, but still made it about 6 miles without any really problems.

When I heard the familiar sound of police sirens behind me, just about a mile from my exit, I knew it was going to be a long day. At first, I thought the officer was going to arrest me, as he was all business, but he was just trying to keep the situation safe. To make a long story short, he was kind enough to give me a break, but I did have to ride the last mile of I-10 in his cruiser. I’m not feeling too bad about that, as I did everything I could to skate the full distance.

After getting dropped off on Railroad Avenue, I met back up with Bob and started to work toward the small town of Cabazon, CA. This was the single most windy section of road that I have skated on the tour. I would estimate the winds I was skating into between 35 and 50 mph. I was skating as hard as I could, but was only able to manage an average speed of about 3 mph. It wasn’t until about 5 miles past Cabazon that the winds returned to what I would consider to be reasonable levels (below 20 mph). That’s when things got more interesting.

To get to Banning, I needed to cover one last section of less than adequate service drive along I-10. The civil engineers who designed this section of freeway had the audacity to actually give the service drive a name: Johnson Lane. Johnson Lane is actually a crumbling, pothole filled trail that features an interesting surprise for anyone brave or foolish enough to cover its whole length (about 3 miles). Thankfully, I’m pretty used to nasty pavement, and with the giant wheels on my LandRollers, I made quick work of the first 2 miles. Unfortunately, whoever designed Johnson Lane did not see fit to pave its whole length! For whatever reason, the last mile was nothing but sand and rocks on a very narrow pathway. Of course, I was foolish enough to have Bob continue following me in the “Freedom Mobile,” even after the pavement stopped.

Oh the places you'll go!

As I marched my way across the sand and rocks, Bob had his first real RV off-roading experience! There were several times when I was concerned that Bob wouldn’t be able to squeeze past the trees and one time when I actually thought the RV could roll. Fortunately, Bob handled it like pro and was able to keep the motor home upright by plowing through some bushes and tree branches a few times. He was going around holes in the road that could easily roll a motor home. I almost fell over from laughter, at one point, as I watched Bob freaking out trying to make it through an absurdly narrow section of trail. After he made it through, I marched up to the window (still in skates) and said the one liner that really captures this entire tour:

“Oh the places you’ll go!”

Oddly enough, once we finished that section of trail, we were suddenly in full-blown city with roads, sidewalks and cheering fans! Once into Banning, everything became simpler. The pavement was pristine, and there were two lanes, so we weren’t impeding traffic. I was still finishing a 1400 foot ascent that began while I was skating down the shoulder of I-10, but I was not concerned about that. At some point, you’re just happy to have reasonable pavement and not be skating through a wind tunnel!

At one point, in Beaumont, Bob stopped me because he thought he had a flat tire. Hilariously, a large rock had wedged itself between the dually tires of the RV, no doubt a souvenir from our previous off-road escapade. I kept it.

Upon leaving Beaumont, we entered San Timoteo Canyon, and I was treated to about 15 miles of primarily downhill skating. It was pretty wild; somewhere between Cabazon and Beaumont, the desert rapidly transitioned into lush, green farmlands. Skating through San Timoteo Canyon was like entering a tropical oasis, after over 1000 miles of desert. The only difficulty came as a result of the winding road. All of those blind curves made for a dangerous situation with a few impatient drivers who decided not to wait until rounding the bend to pass. Unwise. Thankfully, we made it through without incident, and I skated a couple miles through the southwestern part of Redlands to reach that day’s destination in Loma Linda, CA.

What an adventure! The next day was more tame, as I skated through the eastern edge of the LA metro area. I’m just 44 miles from the finish, as I type this post.

The 411:

Distance Since last Update: 433 miles
Total Distance for Tour: approx. 3366 miles
SKATE LOCATION: Walnut, CA (just east of LA)
STATUS: Preparing for the end of the tour!

Update:

A lot has happened since my last post. The most important highlights are in the video above. One important and unfortunate note: I climbed about 1200 feet to the top of a mountain just west of Miami, AZ, only to get stopped by a state trooper at the top. To make a long story short, the trooper basically told us that we would likely be arrested, if we continued as we were. Even if I had dared to skate down the 6-8% grades with no follow vehicle, there was no shoulder, and we were told that I could be arrested for skating in the road, even without the motor home impeding traffic.

In short, I had to make an executive decision and have us drive down the mountain and start back up 15 miles later. Even though I’ve certainly taken the long way across the country, that didn’t sit to well with me. The only other place I had to do that was for a couple miles crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana. Another situation that would have most likely resulted in me getting arrested. In both situations, I subtracted the miles from the running total of the tour. Well, we did what we had to; let’s just hope nothing else like that comes up. We should have a lot more options heading through Phoenix tomorrow, and the roads after Phoenix are pretty lightly trafficked, all the way to California. BTW: I expect to break 3000 miles somewhere in or near the Phoenix metropolitan area!

The 411:

Distance Since last Update: 288 miles
Total Distance for Tour: approx. 2933 miles
SKATE LOCATION: 1 mile east of Gold Canyon, AZ
STATUS: Gearing up to skate into Phoenix and cross the 3000 mile marker somewhere in the metro area!

Yesterday, I skated from Hatch, NM to just outside of Deming, NM. There were some pretty serious hills toward the beginning, as I increased my elevation by about 500 feet in the course of roughly 5 miles. That, however, was not the big challenge of the day. The wind was back in full force, and I essentially skated 39 miles head-on into 20 MPH winds. Anyone who has ridden a bike into heavy winds would have a pretty good idea about just how fun that was. Except carrying a 3’x5’ American flag is much like dragging a parachute through the wind.

As I was preparing to get back on the road after my first pit-stop, about 13 miles in, I was trying to mentally prepare myself for the next 25 miles of punishment. With wind like that, skating with that flag is comparable to running under normal conditions. I was essentially preparing myself for a marathon effort after having already skated 13 miles.

Just as I stepped out of the RV, I had an interesting thought: “What if, for each of the next 12 miles before my next pit-stop, I celebrate?” I decided that the natural tendency in physically difficult situations like this is to think about how negative and difficult the circumstances are. It was clear to me: I would have to create my own strength and happiness for the next 25 miles. I would start by defying all negative thoughts for the first 12.

For the next 12 miles, I would get myself as hyped and pumped as possible each time I crossed a mile marker. My plan was to get progressively more excited the higher the numbers got. It wasn’t easy, and I even thought about scrapping the idea a few times, but I kept it going. “I promised myself 12 celebrations, and I will have them!” I told myself with resolve.

There’s something remarkable about the human spirit: It is not so important how difficult or painful a given task may be. The real important factors are the motivation, the energy, and the “why” behind what we do. We can put up with almost any “how,” if given the right “why.” I needed immediate inspiration and strength to press on, and I found it by creating positive energy around what I was doing. In case you were wondering, the 12th celebration did in fact bring an incredible sense of accomplishment. I will never forget my “12 Celebrations” in defiance of the blasting winds on highway 26 between Hatch and Deming, NM. I’ve never felt so strong in the face of true difficulty.

The 411:

Distance Since last Update: 122 miles
Total Distance for Tour: approx. 2646 miles
SKATE LOCATION: 8 miles east of Deming, NM
STATUS: Enjoying a much needed day off in Deming, NM

FIRST THINGS FIRST: A HUGE “thank you!” to the Super 8 Motel in El Paso for donating a room for two nights while I take my day off here in “the Borderland!” We had a chance to meet the owner today, and on top of being a really cool guy, he gave me a tip to checkout “Chico’s Tacos,” which is a phenomenon that can only be found in El Paso. I’ll be sure to give you guys a full report on that soon.

A lot has happened since my last update after my speech to the high schoolers in Monahans, TX. The basic updates are below, but first: Here’s a news story that we landed in El Paso:

Basic update

After my day off in Monahans, I picked up where I left off and skated about 45 miles from Pyote to Toyah, TX. We ended up staying the night in Pecos, TX. After some quick research, I realized that continuing to follow my path from I-20 to I-10 would be a disaster. I was looking at about 40 miles of skating on the expressway where the speed limit is 80 MPH… Not good! I made the executive decision to take the motor home down to Marfa, TX and skate 74 miles northwest on US 90 to Van Horn. It’s the first time I’ve had to do a “jump” on the skate, and I didn’t really want to do it, but I had no other option.

Taking the US 90 route actually added about 5 miles on some of the roughest roads I’ve had yet, so I’m feeling more than justified in that decision. Sometimes, you have to be “the boss” and make a difficult decision. Ironically, I still ended up having to do a 10 mile skate on the side of I-10 one day and 21 miles the next day. Thankfully, those portions between Van Horn, TX and McNary, TX included large smooth shoulders.

I took one day off in Van Horn and skated 120 miles into El Paso over the next 3 days. I’ve officially decided to adjust to a 3 days on and 1 day off schedule for the time being, as it only adds about 2-3 days to the total length of the tour. I need to do everything I can to prevent stress fractures.

I arrived in downtown El Paso yesterday and was able to land the NBC 9 news story above. I’m taking a day of rest here in El Paso and working on some details for Motor City Challenge back home. Just 812 miles to go!

The 411:

Distance Since last Update: 238 miles
Total Distance for Tour: approx. 2524 miles
SKATE LOCATION: El Paso, TX
STATUS: Catching some much needed R&R at the Super 8 Motel in El Paso, TX