Most lives are lived by default

The guy just seems overly-enamoured with novelty to me; and worse, he sees it as a moral virtue to be such.

Thanks for the great insight. I agree on the whole with what you are saying, though I'm wondering why you choose to describe what I'm doing with my life as "running"? I'm not running at all, I'm just looking around for the purpose of learning and adventure. I have nothing to run from.

> What did you find at the end? Was it nothing? Because that's what I found.

I wasn't "looking" for anything, other than to enjoy my life. I enjoyed those 2 years immensely, and without a doubt in my mind, more than I would have if I stayed at work "on autopilot". That's why I did it - because I wanted to. It's the same reason you (or anyone) has ever done anything in their life above bare survival. Because you want to.

>You're not better than them

I've never once thought that for even a second. Actually, I learned on the drive to look at life (mine and others) from a whole bunch of different perspectives. Never do I think in terms of "better or worse", always "different". Just because people are doing something I don't want to, that doesn't make my way "better", not by a long shot. It just means my choices are different than theirs.

> If everyone was going out to do and chase whatever it is they want there will be no room for you. Ordered society will succumb to chaos and nothing will be done

Interesting you should say that. This was one of the greatest lessons I learned on the whole drive: At the start of Latin America (Mexico) I wondered why people were so "lazy" and relaxed all day with friends and family while the roof on their house leaked. I continually thought of ways to try and make stuff better (in the western sense of the development, etc.) After 18 months, and many hours pondering and discussing, my Spanish was finally good enough to have a great conversation about it. A guy in Argentina described it to me brilliantly. The difference is credit. In the first world, when we want for example and iPhone, we go and put it on our credit card (or monthly payments) then work for the next couple of years to pay it back. The connection between how much you have to work for the iPhone and the joy of owning the iPhone is very fuzzy. Our society doesn't want us to make that connection, because it needs us to keep buying stuff, and keep going to work. In the second and third world, nobody can get credit, so if you want an iPhone, you have to go to work for a year, save like mad, then buy it outright. Let's be honest, after a week of full time work any sane person is going to seriously question if they want a stupid iPhone, realize it's not worth it, so they'll go back to working the bare minimum and relaxing with friends and family. The end result is that people in second and third world countries have way less stuff, but have way more time with friends and family. Also it's worth noting that society doesn't "collapse". People still have a roof, food, clothes and happiness. I think about this every day.

> you might find that the steady ones, the one that did everything they were told, might end up being the ones that have the most.

The most what?

As an aside, do you live in Alaska as your username suggests? I live in Whitehorse, Yukon these days.

I was in your situation at 27 and I am a software developer, but I took a different path. At the time, I was doing great in my job and learning a ton but I started focusing on things, anything, outside of work. I started saying yes when coworkers would ask if I wanted to go out, or go snowboarding that weekend. But even as I obtained my post-college friendships, I still kept focus on personal growth and figuring out what hobbies makes me happy. Being outdoors camping and hunting is one of my favorite activities, and I would not have been open to hunting if I was not open to snowboarding. Hunting alone for the first time is what brought me more clarity and self confidence. I can't help but see that your 2 year driving trip may have had the same effect. Perhaps it's not your specific journey, but the choice you made to do something extremely fun and primal that nobody ever talks about. Perhaps you would like deer hunting (spot and stalk on public lands, not sit in a tree stand all day). I doubt repeating your same journey in a similar fashion would be nearly as fun, but maybe you realize you really enjoy the outdoors. For me, I've expanded to fishing, hiking, jeeping, exploring the western USA, and other forms/types of hunting.

Travel is great for this because you are literally taking a journey. It's also possible to get the same experience by taking a figurative journey mastering things that challenge you.

I wrote about this yesterday http://davidolesch.github.com/2012/12/05/how-to-choose-your-...

Perhaps, but I recently read something which suggested they (to be precise, Native Americans) really were happier than the European settlers of the time:

"All of the white people who joined Indian tribes loved it and refused to go back to white civilization. All the Indians who joined white civilization hated it and did everything they could to go back to their previous tribal lives."

http://squid314.livejournal.com/340809.html (There's a lot more on the subject than just the bit I quoted.)