A New Chapter

If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing 'real' was at risk, what would you do? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do - all the exciting things they no longer can. 

- Chuck Palahniuk 

My life so far has been a random hodge podge of very distinct yet inter connected chapters. The food service chapter, the cafe manager chapter, the Oregon chapter, the girlfriend chapter, the farmer chapter, the carpenter chapter... The list goes on. Some of the chapters I leave behind me while others I whittle down so I can take them along to the next adventure.

Most of this blog has been dedicated to two major chapters in my life: car dwelling and college (round #3). Vehicle dwelling was the initial reason I began The Tuckerbag blog, to reach out for advice from those with experience and to pass along some of my trial and error conclusions to those who would come next. It was kind of like adding to the collective body of knowledge for a new culture. That culture is growing and, more importantly, shifting. People come in, they leave, they change vehicles and locations. This culture is more than one of mobile dwelling: it is one of freedom and discovery.

The Jetta that I called home for fourteen months is sitting at the top of my parent's driveway in New Hampshire. I'm sure she'll be road worthy again, I'm just not sure it will be me driving her. Vehicle dwelling was one of my favorite chapters, but for the time being it has ended and I have started, for better or worse, on a new adventure. I know that I'm going to get a van or RV the first chance I get, but right now I am more concerned with exploring this new chapter.

I live in a small city, I teach pre-K, I will (as of Thursday) live in a little apartment with a girl named B who likes renascence fairs and crocheting. I have gone from a car being my life and home to having no vehicle at all and that has lead to a new set of challenges.

A tuckerbag is a sack carried by hobos and swagger-men  It holds food, supplies, and most of their possessions giving new meaning to the term minimalist living. It is both the product and means of a mobile lifestyle. For me the tuckerbag has come to represent a life well lived, one that covets the accumulation of experiences rather than possessions and rejects the conventional norms of a sedentary society. In other words: The Tuckerbag has become more than a car.

The blog and all the information I have collected will still be here, but as I transition into this new chapter of my life so will the blog. I hope you stick around for the continuing adventures