Amtrekker

Hey Team,

I know how stressful it can be to be scrounging around for a costume idea at the last minute. So, in an effort to make all your lives just a little bit easier I was able to dig up this pattern for a Halloween costume circa 1936. I’m here for you Team, call me a problem solver.

Glad I could help.

I’m done.

Brett.

If you enjoyed the last minute costume idea then feel free to provide some funds for my own costume!

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Thanks for all the concern. I got a lot of emails and messages over the last twenty-four hours about last night’s double-failure. It kind of gives you one of those warm fuzzy feelings when you realize so many people are rooting for you.

But for the record, you don’t have to worry about this kid. Yes, I jumped into Amtrekker headfirst not know what to expect. But that’s kind of par for the course. Where’s the fun in life if everything is expected. And despite my ridiculously overdeveloped optimism I didn’t go into this so blind that I don’t expect the occasional disaster. Besides, disasters make the best stories, right?

I’m sure that won’t be the last frustratingly terrible day, but I recover quickly. It’s what I do. Plus, I have the added bonus of being the luckiest man alive. Somehow things will manage to work themselves out. My grandpa taught me that it’s not worth stressing over something you can’t change. So, right now all I can do is keep moving towards the next adventure. Which, after a little bit of downtime tomorrow to catch up on some editing so I can get that Three Card Monte podcast out, will involve some Halloween action in our nation’s capitol of creepy, Salem, MA.

Thanks everyone for writing in with your Halloween recommendations. Salem won hands down with New Orleans in a distant second and the Florida Keys rounding out third place.

In other news: Turns out I’m kind of a big deal…in the Netherlands. At least I was today. Go figure.

Okay, Team, thanks again! You all rock!

Brett!

If you still don’t believe I’ll survive you can always take this time to donate and make my life that much easier!

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

Yesterday was pretty rough. I spent almost twelve hours either on a bus or waiting for a bus and didn’t have my first bite of food until 10 o’clock…at night. I also had my first big Amtrekker failure. And lucky you, you get to watch! Hope you enjoy my misery.

As always if you have problems with the player or with Quicktime you can head to iTunes and download it there our click here and watch the youtube version.

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked this video why not buy me a better sign?

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

When I was in Orlando the other day I got to go through the Magic Kingdom for the first time since I worked there almost five years ago. I had a good time, but something was just a little off the entire time I was there.

I wouldn’t necessarily call my time at Disney World life changing but it was a pretty important era in the life of Brett and I made some really good friends while I was in Florida (A few of them have even made appearances on the podcast). And as I walked around the park something seemed to be missing. The “weird” was driven home when I visited Big Thunder Mountain, the ride I worked on while doing my college internship there.

Everything still looked the same…but all of the faces were wrong. It’s not even like I expected everyone to still be there but I still felt kind of uncomfortable. Uncomfortable enough to attempt to express the feeling in a text to Shawn, a good friend of mine that I worked with on the mountain (you guys know him from the firefly podcast). He summed it up better than I could so here’s a direct quote:

“There’s nothing worse than going back to a familiar place and seeing strange faces. When we left we took the magic of Thunder with us.”

So, once again, what it really comes down to is people. That mountain feels like it was such an important aspect of my life but really it’s more like a mental container that holds all the memories of the people I connected with and moments I shared with them.

It’s reassuring to think that, sad as it may be that you can never go back to those times, at least those mental containers exist and the people you experience those times in your life with will always be there, not just in the past but in the present.

Maybe it’s a function of being a nomad right now but it makes me happy to think that the people you meet can make such a lasting impact even over the amazing sights there are to see.

So, thanks for all the new friendships I’ve made along the way while amtrekking and I hope I make half the impact on you that you’ve all made on me. And thanks for all the longtime friendships that have helped me get to this point.

I have a feeling this trip is going to end up becoming the world’s largest mental container.

I’m done.

Brett.

P.S. Yeah, that’s a REALLY obscure title, but I’m sure someone will find the connection.

–

Welcome to the wonderful world of kindness to strangers!

Why NOT be a kind stranger?

Hey Team,

I’m in New York right now waiting to go to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey this weekend with one of the girls who 1. HAPPENED to be staying with the same people I was in Orlando and 2. HAPPENS to work for Six Flags. It was important to make it back up here this weekend because Kingda Ka, the fastest roller coaster in the country (#36!), only has two more days of operation between now and April. Today and tomorrow.

In the meantime I’ve been slowly exploring more and more of New York and, reluctantly, I have to admit that this place sucks less each time I visit.

Yesterday I wandered past the New York City Public Library and felt compelled to check out the scene. From the outside it had the typical Greek architecture of a hundred year old building made to impress people (which it did). And as I walked up the marble steps I could feel the deep troughs worn into them by years of people questing for knowledge.

Granted, my shoes are wearing kind of thin.

Honestly though, it kind of gave me that warm fuzzy feeling to know that so many people had walked up those steps looking for some sort of answer and knowing they could find it in a book in those walls.

On the inside, in the grand lobby, an intricate security system of bag checks and guards is all that stands between you and exploration. Or, in my case…nothing stood between me and exploration. Apparently, I was so enamored by the grand lobby that I walked right past all of the security without so much as a “Hey, that looks like a backpack full of technology, can you check that before you wander through our beloved city’s icon of knowledge.”

I could have stopped and waited in the line by the time I realized what was going on but, frankly, I didn’t wanna. When it comes to going places you shouldn’t be. Ninety percent of getting in is having the confidence to look like you’re supposed to be there. So I went about pretending I was important enough to be there.

That may be the longest intro to an Amtrekker story ever written. Because, originally I was thinking, wandering past New York style security seemed liked the perfect set-up for talking about the Three Cs. The Three Cs is an important philosophy I’ve insisted on the veracity of for well over a decade now and I’ve yet to talk about it on the site. (And after such a long intro I will CONTINUE to not talk about it on the site.)

In a nutshell: You can do ANYTHING you want to in life if you have enough Confidence, Creativity and Charisma. Details will have to wait for another day because it’s late and…

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked this post, why not buy me some knowledge?

What? I finished my book.

Hey Team,

Here it is! One more step closer to home! Biketoberfest was quite an experience, I’m glad I get to share a little piece of that with you.

#39 Motorcycle rally. Enjoy.

Thanks for watching. If you like the podcasts be sure to head over to iTunes and subscribe…and write a glowing review.

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked this post, why not buy me some leather chaps?

What? I bet I’d look hot.