Author Topic: Forrest Gump, Kung Fu, and Pulp Fiction... What do they have in common?  (Read 7904 times)

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GreenForce82

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I am really down and thinking about just hitting the road with a bag and a backpack fulla some things and just riding... South obviously, but I am really thinking I might just try to ride around the country for a while and (maybe) blog about it to try to finance some of the costs.

I am really disillusioned with, well, everything these days. I would ride til I got to a town and was tired, find a friendly face, and ask for a couch to crash on and a meal to eat. I'd try to find ways to help repay them for their kindness by helping them around their house or farm... and I'd move on when I felt like it.

Maybe I'd find myself out there, maybe I'd find a reason for 'things'... maybe I'd just get tired of it and say, I think I'll go home now... I don't know, but I am sure tempted.

Has anyone here ever just gone walkabout or in this case rideabout? If so and you feel like sharing the tale, please do.

Forrest Gump did it, Caine did it, and Jules from Pulp Fiction was gonna do it... It just seems like a better way to live, to just go where the day takes you.

maybe... just maybe...
"Counted his friends in burned-out spark plugs
and prays that he always will.

But he's the last of the blue blood greaser boys all of his mates are doing time:

Married with three kids up by the ring road
sold their souls straight down the line.


Chuck D

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Which of us (of a certain age) doesn't yearn for a "Then came Bronson" style vacation?
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GreenMachine

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SoaSoaS82: Not a good idea IMO..Depression is a clouded mindset and requires professional evaluation and treatment. Taking off on a tempermental enfield and getting away isn't the answer IMO...My Buddy's wife was just diagnosed and is seeking answers to why she can't sleep, lives in fear and swallowed  30 some pills at 4:00 in the morning  (2 days in the hospital)...Been through depression  with my own wife and after 4 months she was able to find a psychiatrist who figured it all out....The biggest problem is it takes financial resources to access a professional who can evaluate and treat your problem. Then their is the issue of finding a good psych that knows what he/she is doing and are you comfortable with them...If u were just feeling the blues and just wanted to get away and try something different than I would say "Go for it" but in my experience, a person who has true depression isn't thinking clearly and needs medical help and should see their primary doctor to get the ball rolling...  GM
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mattsz

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Sound advice, GM.

But, and I'm just sayin'...  SoaSoaS82 didn't say he's thinking of downing a bottle of sleeping pills, he's thinking of packing a bag and hitting the road.  For some, it's bound to be a better treatment than spending months (and serious money) bogged down in the medical establishment.  Who is which?  Your mileage may vary...

I can't answer the original question, since I've never done it, and can't imagine I ever will - too many medical issues in my house.  I do take the occasional walkabout, but they last about 2 days...


barenekd

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I just jumped in the car one morning with no particular place to go. And drove around for a couple of weeks just cruising, It wasn't like I was broke, but I was between jobs. But I just went off to maybe see some old friends, old girl friends, museums, etc. But it was a very random holiday and great fun. Mostly drove around the upper midwest; Iowa, MN, IL, MI, IN OH, KY, TN and back to OK. Went to the EAA museum, Deusenberg Museum, Indy Museum, Air Force Museum, etal. Stayed with old GFs, and old Navy  buddies, and sometimes just sacked out in the car. It was a good vacation! Gets you out of the dumps!
Made some life changing decisions while I was out there.
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« Last Edit: February 12, 2013, 07:26:44 pm by barenekd »
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GreenForce82

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All good points, ALL. I am not quite ready to "pack it in" but like I said, I am just ready to "pack and roll". I am too damn young and useful to, well somebody someday, to just give up and end it. Besides I've been through a few of those in my life and I couldn't do it to my friends and family.

The truth is, my back problems would be the biggest hindrance to a good time. but I am betting with some miles under me Id start exercising like I used to. and maybe Id finally break loose whatever is fucked up in my back.

It is something I have wanted to do for a while and if some things don't come together soon for me I just might go for it.

As far as professional help goes, I have insurance through my girlfriend and I have seen some people but I just cannot 'bond' with them even after a number of meetings, at least not enough to make me feel like they can help.

I know what most of my problems are and I think that I just need to find some direction in life, and learn to deal with the fact that society as a whole, government, and "the Man" are just out there and I cannot fix them. I sure as hell hate dealing with them though. Among other problems. I think that I will try to 'seek help' one more time and if that doesn't produce results then... well hopefully I can find the balls to just pack on and "roll me away" as Bob Seger said...
"Counted his friends in burned-out spark plugs
and prays that he always will.

But he's the last of the blue blood greaser boys all of his mates are doing time:

Married with three kids up by the ring road
sold their souls straight down the line.


Sunbeem

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I'm new here,  due to an interest in the Enfield Cafe Racer, but this post reminded me of my own feelings when the urge to go on the road became unbearable. So I hope you'll forgive a stranger blundering in ...

Disillusion can be a disappointing business, painful too -- but at least you've let go of the illusion. What I want to point to, is the fact that when we realise we have been entertaining a false picture of the world, we are at last able to see things more clearly.
Not that I think the world to be a bad place, quite the contrary, but I do think there is much truth in the old saying,  "Seek and ye shall find."
If we look for corruption, greed, dishonesty and hatred, we will find it. It will colour our lives.
If we look for beauty, selflessness in relationships, nobility in hardship, courage in adversity -- we will find that too. 
I hope you get plenty of good advice as a result of asking this question, and I hope it won't sound impertinent if I suggest that once you have asked others, you also ask yourself.  By this I mean repeatedly push yourself to answer the question in greater depth.
 I'm sure you know that mere geographical change doesn't hold the key, but if it gives rise to a state of mind where you can resonate with all the world's positive aspects, then rather than going off to find something, you will be able to go and contribute to the beautiful ongoing saga of life. Others will sense that you have something to give, and be encouraged in turn.
Travelling is a state of mind, whether we are bound for Calcutta, or the compost heap at the bottom of the garden.
Have a pleasant journey.
Sunbeem.


GreenForce82

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I really appreciate what yo are saying and you are more than welcome to jump in. I am open to all advice. I also fully get what you are saying, But I prescribe to the
"Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude" School of thought.
As well as there being some things I just need to get away from for a while, and potentially permanently... When I figure out step one, I'll let everybody know!
"Counted his friends in burned-out spark plugs
and prays that he always will.

But he's the last of the blue blood greaser boys all of his mates are doing time:

Married with three kids up by the ring road
sold their souls straight down the line.


High On Octane

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SoaSoaS82 - I've been reading this thread since the morning you posted it.  And I just now clicked on your profile to see where you were from.  And now I completely understand where you're coming from.  Excuse the irony there.   ;)  I was born and raised in Janesville, WI and have lived my whole life in that area, and also suffering from depression.  And I personally think that part of the country is just a depressing area.  I too, always wanted to just get away when I lived there.

One day I decided on a whim that I was going to go to Denver for a week to get away and maybe look for a job.  Low and behold I got a job offer 2 weeks later at a Hot Rod shop as a body and paint tech.  I put in my 2 weeks noticed and moved to Denver with $500 to my name.

3 1/2 years later I'm an assistant manager for Advance Auto Parts making good money, in the process of starting my own Hot Rod shop, engaged to the love of my life, FINALLY on the proper medications to manage my depression and anxiety and I'm the happiest I've ever been in my whole life.

So when the time is right for you, absolutely go on a journey and just see what the world has to offer you.  I did, and it changed my life and I couldn't be happier.   :)
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AgentX

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If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.

However, you can't really wander if you're running away from something. 

Make sure you know the difference.


Sunbeem

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Thanks Frank, I'm not always so gracious when given advice!



 I have a feeling that everyone who reads your initial post will realise they have shared your experience, and come through it with varying degrees of success and pain. We are all on a journey, no? And I agree with you about journeys -- they focus the mind on things other than the usual trivia, and it's not always the most enjoyable ones that do us the most good, is it?
My first memory is of a journey, 3 years old, running away from home. I got about a hundred yards.
Then, a little later on, came the journey that shaped my life more than any other event --

I wasn't old enough to know I should be hurrying.
That these interruptions in my education were frowned on.
The trip down the yard, bounded on one side by the rising Victorian bulk of the school, and across the narrow space the towering wall which held back the hillside, was a voyage of discovery.
At the far end,  the dim outhouse with the big metal milking-bucket that had once seen better times with the cows.
Now relieved of any distractions the return was more significant still.
It shaped the rest of my life.
I was six.
 
Over the top of the wall, black against the bright morning sky, brambles hung dripping in icy cascades as the sun found all the colours in the stones, ferns and moss, and brought them to shining life.
I can't remember what I thought, all those years ago, but the feeling is still with me.
It was the sort of feeling which can make you waste the rest of your days on Earth looking for God. The sort that hurts when you have it,  and even more when it leaves you

The knife-edge in her voice cut me out of Paradise like skinning a fish, her small figure in the tall stone doorway almost vibrating with anger, oblivious to the beauty which seemed to me so much more vital and worth seeking ...
than everything she represented.
Teachers, authority, grown-ups, twisted hymns and gentle Jesus meek and mild, she put it all up against the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
Well, if I had to choose, I was six - but I wasn't stupid.
Neither was I any longer the child who had gone down the yard. I'd seen too much, I'd had a glimpse.

It's been the same ever since, Frank -- we all get intimations that there's more to Heaven and Earth than we ever get to understand. Some of us bury our feelings and just get on with the business of living, others, like me, face an inescapable quest. Our external wanderings mirror our internal wanderings, and it's never finished. Because we all have to find our own path, there's a limit to how useful we can be to each other -- for me, the links between Quantum Science and ancient religious philosophy, are the source of the most useful information I've come across -- but each to their own.

Some view life as an opportunity to get rich, others dance to a different tune.
I came to dance.

Sunbeem.



GreenMachine

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What's that famous line "Enfield people are good people"...Hope your day is a good one..
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GreenForce82

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Quote
SoaSoaS82 - I've been reading this thread since the morning you posted it.  And I just now clicked on your profile to see where you were from.  And now I completely understand where you're coming from.  Excuse the irony there.   ;)  I was born and raised in Janesville, WI and have lived my whole life in that area, and also suffering from depression.  And I personally think that part of the country is just a depressing area.  I too, always wanted to just get away when I lived there.

One day I decided on a whim that I was going to go to Denver for a week to get away and maybe look for a job.  Low and behold I got a job offer 2 weeks later at a Hot Rod shop as a body and paint tech.  I put in my 2 weeks noticed and moved to Denver with $500 to my name.

3 1/2 years later I'm an assistant manager for Advance Auto Parts making good money, in the process of starting my own Hot Rod shop, engaged to the love of my life, FINALLY on the proper medications to manage my depression and anxiety and I'm the happiest I've ever been in my whole life.

So when the time is right for you, absolutely go on a journey and just see what the world has to offer you.  I did, and it changed my life and I couldn't be happier.   :)

I agree, this area, Rockford, Beloit, Janesville is just another toilet of the world. It just feels like there is a black cloud hanging over this area. That's why I really want to get away. You wouldn't have a position for a sales associate at your Advanced Auto Parts, would you? I have a current application on file and a reference from my former boss in Grand Haven Michigan. He works for the Advance auto there... I have a friend in Denver that might put me up for a bit if I had a job. (unless you have a couch available) I am pretty serious, I would be willing to move this weekend if I could. I need a job... Bad.

as for the rest of ya, thanks for the positive thoughts... I hope and Pray something good comes my way soon.
"Counted his friends in burned-out spark plugs
and prays that he always will.

But he's the last of the blue blood greaser boys all of his mates are doing time:

Married with three kids up by the ring road
sold their souls straight down the line.


tooseevee

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as for the rest of ya, thanks for the positive thoughts... I hope and Pray something good comes my way soon.

             To my "Brother in Arms" SoaSoaS82:

              Reading this whole thread makes me feel we are kindred spirits; I'm looking at my 75th birthday during the Ides of March & I "itch" all the time, too..

               No depression here - don't allow it -, but I agree with your reasoning. Things out there really suck now with no improvement in sight & as Dylan said "People just get uglier & I have no sense of time". I have Tangled Up In Blue tattooed on my fingers.

                I, too, can't relate at all to young yuppie drug-pushing "therapists". They have no clue "where I'm coming from".

                 I have not been on a road trip of any kind since my mother died in my home town of Cheyenne Wyoming in 1989 & I drove her perfect 318ci Spitfire Orange 1976 Plymouth Volare Hardtop back to Rhode Island. More & more over the past few years I've had the urge to just jump in my 1995 Taurus, which I've maintained in perfect condition since I bought it new, and drive to Cheyenne. Three or four times during my life I have driven old Rt. 30 (The Lincoln Highway, the Original Road) its whole length East to West & now it's all crashingly boring freeway. I long to drive through some of those little towns "out there" again. Towns that are nothing but a feed store, a grain elevator, an "EAT CAFE" with one neon letter always blinking & buzzing, a John Deere dealership & maybe, just maybe, a Pitcher Show Theater & a Woolworths Store from the Nanci Griffith song.

             And I want to drive through Alliance Nebraska & go see Carhenge. And maybe find that World's Largest Ball Of String.

            Good luck to everybody out there who wants to "just go".
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