I was never one to believe in the mid-life crisis phenomenon, not at least until my own snuck up on my out of the blue one crisp Fall day. You see, I thought that my simple life of teaching athletic classes at a local University was going to be fulfilling, turns out I was wrong. Though rewarding in its own way, it turns out that playing sports with college kids doesn't allow me to fully utilize what I am passionate about, changing peoples lives. Knowing that I would never leave so comfortable a job if I didn't do so immediately, I resigned my post to work on something that means a little more to me, my writing.
Though I have no idea if I am truly good enough to call myself a writer, I have finalized a golf book and have 3 other books stewing in the back of my mind. "So You Really Want to Break 100?" is the story of how I taught myself the game and went from a 26 handicap down to a 6. It turns out the game is not as difficult as we want to make it and I want to share this knowledge with every golfer out there who struggles with the game. Almost finalized, I need to give it one more edit and get it in front of publishers. Once I finish that I can begin on what I hope to be my life's work, a personal philosophy book called Happy to Help.
Life doesn't have to be as hard as we make it, but people need to realize how much they can help others around them. You see, life isn't about us as individuals, it is instead about us as a collective. We used to live in times where the village truly did help raise the child, but times have changed. Happy to Help is about how to alter one's perspective so we can all see how easy (and rewarding) it is to take advantage of what you have in your life (even things as simple as your time and smile) to help others along their journey.
To accomplish these goals, I need time and limited excuses. Looking at my options, traveling by train and using the experiences and scenery as inspiration, and having the time to write, turns out to be the perfect means. My goal, as it stands now, is to travel across as much of the US as I can afford. I have friends scattered throughout who are kind enough to take me in for a few days, and ideally I would love to get to the East Coast as I would like the time to finalize both books and begin the outline for my third.
As I am certain you have caught on to by now, I am writing pre trip to inquire if there is anyway Amtrak can help to make this a reality. As it stands now, I can afford a 15 day Rail Pass. While something is better than nothing, I was hoping to at least travel for a month and was wondering if Amtrak offered sponsorship of any sort.
In return I would keep a daily blog that I would use to write about the experiences, the people I meet, the comfort and convenience of the trip and the unbelievable scenery I am sure to see. I have attached a picture of myself as well as a couple of my favorite scenic pictures to give you a sense for what I would post.
Thank you for your consideration. Right now, my tentative plan is to leave a week from Th (Feb 6), so if you could let me know whether or not this would be a possibility, I would appreciate it.
If you would like a copy of my book for a better sense of my writing, please do not hesitate to ask.
Take care,
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