“What to say…”. That’s a hard one really. For me, the most formidable barrier to starting a blog has been, “Who gives a shit?”. Some version of that inner voice has probably stopped a lot of people from doing a lot of things. But for some reason tonight I thought I’d try whispering, “I give a shit”. That feels like enough for now, so here we go.

What do I give a shit about…

Ok maybe that’s for another blog post. I’m just getting started here, “Pump the brakes, me!”. I suppose introductions are always a great place to start. So let’s see…I’m Mike. I’m 36 years old. I love adventure (right up until the moment I don’t). I’m a creature of habit with a bad memory, inattentiveness, and a proclivity for boredom. So, that makes forming healthy habits pretty hard.

*Sidenote on why I chose this aesthetic for my blog: It has a very ‘Oregon Trail’ vibe. And in a way that game feels like my life. It’s a journey borne of an unwillingness to settle, headed to an unknown destination, rife with minor inconveniences that FEEL like catastrophes (with a couple of actual catastrophes sprinkled in there).

What to expect here…

Adventure! Intrigue! Mystery! If you want those things, I’m sure you can find them on Netflix. On here you can expect me to write on a range of subjects ranging from my thoughts on the day, to weekend trips I take, to creative writing pieces.

SO, why follow this blog? My inner voice is screaming, “Don’t. It’ll be garbage”. But I’ll just go ahead and whisper, “But maybe it won’t be…”. If you’re a friend of mine, I’m not selling this to you. Follow the damn blog. But if you don’t know me? Follow me if you want to read about a guy who has the ambitions of a superhero but the talents of an extra in a superhero movie. Think, ‘Janitor who stares in disbelief at Superman as he flies off’, or ‘Businessman in coffee shop #4’. Related to that theme I’ll leave you with this picture. It was after a gravel bike event I did in Floyd, VA. I signed up for the 70-something mile ride and I finished 50-something miles of it. Why does it look like I cried before taking this picture? Because I did, obviously.

Welcome to ‘Mike Off Trail’!