Let’s explore how to live a more meaningful and joyful life. I’m Scott Stoll, Author, Artist, Adventurer and a work-in-progress. My claim to fame is that I rode a bicycle around the world. For 25 years, I’ve been posting monthly stories, life experiments, worksheets, and more. Join me, and let’s live the best lives possible.
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Let's Go Exploring! #179. From backpacks to panniers to housesits.
Published about 1 year ago • 4 min read
Dear friends,
In this newsletter:
A quick survey to help me build create a better website and newsletter.
A new story by some guest adventurers: From backpacks to panniers to housesits.
A new deleted chapter from Falling Uphill: What's the grossest thing you ate?
And more. But first...
...A quick life update
It's been a tumultuous time here in the States. It's been hard to watch this artificial dichotomy of left/right, good/bad play itself out. So, I've turned off the news and turned to working instead.
If you've stopped by my website lately, hopefully, you've noticed all the beautiful changes I've made. That's the curse of being a graphic designer by trade — I default to just making things look pretty. But I'm quite proud of my website if I do say so myself.
Besides making things look pretty, I've also been working on a new emphasis of my formula for turning dreams into reality Dream > Plan > Do.
And I've been slaving away on the backend of things, trying to appease the Google website gods. It's all part of my 25th-year anniversary as I try to keep my brand fresh and my career as an author flourishing.
So, please take my survey below to help me continue improving things.
Anyway, this month, I have a story by two guest adventurers who have evolved from backpacks to panniers to housesits. And I've recently posted a never-before-seen chapter from Falling Uphill called, "What's the grossest thing you ever ate?" which I think you'll find funny if you have the stomach for it. Haha.
Next month, I plan a new worksheet. These are quickly turning into my most popular subject.
Cheers, Scott
A quick survey
Please take a quick 5-question survey to help me create better content.
From snow to sun. The before and after pic from Tim and Sharyn's Canada to US bicycle tour.
From backpacks to panniers to housesits
Our midlife adventures
I don't get to say this often, but Tim and Sharyn are an inspiration to me. They've gone from backpackers to bikepackers (bicycle tourists) to housesitters. They housesit in some of the most beautiful and expensive cities in the world. Over their long decades-long travel career, they figure they've saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. In my distant future, when I restart my adventures again, I plan to take a page out of their book.
They've just created their own online course — Housesitter's Roadmap: A Beginner's Guide to Getting Your First Sit. — to teach you all their hard-earned wisdom to help you get your first housesit. I'm not getting paid to promote this — I only promote what I actually believe in — but my subscribers can get a 50% discount until December 2nd. That would be only $48.50, which I think is a bargain price.
Anyway, even if you aren't ready to do a housesit, I think you'll enjoy this story about their transformation from backpacker to bikepacker to housesitter.
Tripe (stomach) and intestine soup at a lunch stop in Tanzania.
What is the grossest thing you ever ate?
A never-before-seen chapter from Falling Uphill
Author's note: Here is a fun bonus chapter from Falling Uphill that I thought I would post online as part of my 25th-anniversary celebration. My book was getting long, so I cut this chapter because I didn't think it matched the tone I was going for. However, I do think it is one of my funnier stories, and it showcases just how odd we humans are.
I also updated this story with a recent culinary adventure. During my world travels, I've eaten a lot of gross things, as you will see. So, I thought I was prepared for the challenge of eating a tarantula. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I found this book in Kathmandu while having my own adventure in the Himalayas. Maybe that led to the excitement because I read this book in two days. Can you imagine launching an expedition for a mountain whose exact location is not even known!? In 1950, the Himalayas hadn’t been completely or accurately mapped. It’s hard to imagine not being able to find an 8-kilometer tall mountain, but this was only the first challenge, followed by icy cliffs, blizzards, and the slow deterioration of the mind brought on by the hazards of high altitudes never before experienced. As Herzog describes, even descending the mountain was a challenge: “Every inch was a torture I was resolved to ignore.” He was the leader of the nine-man French expedition and only one of two to reach the summit. This is as dramatic a story as you’ll ever read.
They’d never toured by motorcycle until they set off, but Lavi Scholl and Ollie Gamblin are now the youngest duo ever to go around the world on the same motorbike. Read the story on CNN.
Thanks for tagging along
As always, hit reply to share any thoughts or questions or just to say hello. Hearing your stories is one of my biggest rewards.
I make most of my work free to entertain, inspire and educate. If you enjoy my stories, books, blog or worksheets, please share this newsletter with a friend. It helps keep me motivated, and more importantly, it helps other people.
Let’s explore how to live a more meaningful and joyful life. I’m Scott Stoll, Author, Artist, Adventurer and a work-in-progress. My claim to fame is that I rode a bicycle around the world. For 25 years, I’ve been posting monthly stories, life experiments, worksheets, and more. Join me, and let’s live the best lives possible.
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