The Marriage of Cycle Touring & REI

What do you get when you marry a girl's passion for cycle touring with her love for everything REI?

Me -- a girl who loves cycle touring and REI.
(Photo: REI)

Need a hint? Do you recognize the girl on the right in the screenshot below?

I'm Officially Homeless

Someone once said that the days are long, and the years are short. I'm reminded of this today.

I've had so many wonderful, long days over the last few months since I returned from my visit overseas. I crossed two items off my bucket list -- including getting a tattoo (see Sailors, Whores, & Ink) and taking a sailing course. I've spent lazy afternoons enjoying Seattle's unseasonably mild weather. I've spent hours relearning the Spanish language that I haven't spoken since the last millennium. I've started to plan a big bike trip for this upcoming fall and winter. Oh, and I finally met my financial target for early retirement (even though I left my job two and a half years ago, only 75% of the way to my target).

Suffice it to say, it's been a great few months of back-to-back long days. But it's already June 4th, and I am officially homeless!

Let me back up a bit...to October of last year...

Sailors, Whores, & Ink

As I entered the shop, my eyes were drawn to a large sign hanging above the rows and rows of sample artwork. The sign read: "Tattoos -- not just for sailors and whores." A smile spread across my face. And so it was, with that affirmation, that I got inked.

The Before & The After.

People have just as many opinions about tattoos as they do about religion and politics. There's a saying that the difference between people with tattoos and people without tattoos is that the people with tattoos don't care whether or not you've got one.