Winnebiko-

In 1983 Stephen K. Roberts began an adventure. It was somewhere around that time that I picked up on what he was doing. In the course of the last twenty and more years, I have bumped into some element of Mr. Roberts adventure from time to time. I found it fascinating then, and I find it fascinating now.

Back in ’83 I was really just getting started in my own adventure. I had a young family, and we were making a life together. Though our adventure lacked the scale and romance of Mr. Roberts’s life on the road, it had many rewards. Not the least of those rewards has been the many years shared with my wife, Linda, and our children and grandchildren.

In case you did not follow the link, Stephen Roberts has spent many of the last twenty something years on the road. He has lived on a series of high-tech bicycles, and several iterations of technology laden water craft. He has traveled many thousands of miles, written many thousands of words, and field tested a multitude of mobility related devices. He has witnessed and participated in the development of our interconnected world.

I have worked in a number of jobs I rarely really enjoyed in order to see to the care of my wife, my children, and their children. I sacrificed many of the passions Mr. Roberts has indulged over these many years in order to accomplish what I decided was most important. I do not regret the sacrifice. I made the choices willingly, with my eyes wide open.

In many ways, I have the advantage over Mr. Roberts. Because he documented his adventures so well, I can enjoy the fruits of my sacrifices and also enjoy many of the fruits of Mr. Roberts’s adventures. Much of what he has done, much of what he is doing now, is available to me. It is just a click or two away.

I admire Stephen Roberts. I even envy him, to some degree. To live a life of great adventure, following your deepest passions to their fullest, is a wonderful thing. Not all of us could do it. I am thankful that he is so gifted in sharing his adventures that the rest of us can share in them. He has accomplished many great and interesting things, and there is much more to come. One of his passions seems to be sharing the adventure, and so I have great hope to follow him through his writing and photography.

Perhaps, as I move into the latter part of my life, I can find the resources for a bit of adventure. The kids are grown, and I am more than ready to close the books on my current career. I have a few ideas. It may require some equipment, but I think I will keep it a bit simpler than the things Mr. Roberts puts together.

Until then, I will be following the Technomad with the same interest I had when I discovered him, back in the long-ago ‘80’s.