Category Archives: Introductions

Come on over!

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This week, the sea stories on this blog will begin to move. The Freewheeling Freelancer will continue to carry non-fiction about living and working on the road, and about my bicycle travels. Meanwhile, the site jthine.com will host fiction and memoir. Each Saturday, I will post to one site and publish a link on the other.

Sea stories have been favourites on the porch in the evening ever since sailors have had grandchildren or buddies at the local pub. This week, I invite you to read or re-read the account of my growing up as an urban cyclist in Rome during the 1950s and 1960s. https://jthine.com/blog/. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Smooth roads and tailwinds,

Jonathan.

A Christmas greetings to the followers of this blog

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Dear follower friends —

Today is 25 December, which many know as Christmas, but which has a long history among humans as a time to celebrate: Saturnalia, the Winter Solstice, and when the lunar and solar calendars align: Hanukkah, Eid-el-Fitr, and the birth of the Prophet. I, for one, was very happy to see the Winter Solstice come and go, with its dramatic full moon, but also bringing in longer days and shorter nights, even if only a few  minutes at a time.

It is good to give thanks and to appreciate our friends and one another. So please accept my heartfelt thanks for your loyalty as readers and my best wishes for every happiness in the year to come.

Smooth roads and tailwinds,

Jonathan

New York to Virginia: settling down for a while.

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Tuesday, 17 October, I woke up in a pleasant, modern room in the Wyndham TRYP Hotel in midtown Manhattan. With plenty of time to catch a 1415 train, I did my stretches, showered, shaved, and packed my panniers for the last time. Catching breakfast at the Starbucks on the corner of 9th Avenue and 34th Street, I witnessed the Modern American Ballet in full form. Six baristas crammed behind a tiny counter took care of a line out the door with incredible efficiency, never once running into one another.  Continue reading →

Stay tuned: the blog resumes on Saturday, 26 September

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One should beware of promises that one cannot keep. In June, I meant to resume posting after the High School Reunion. Instead, I found that this year’s tour was not going to allow time to write. I took notes, and many pictures, which I will begin sharing in this year’s version of the school exercise, “What I did on my summer vacation.” The adventure took us all over Italy, Sicily, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. The vacation is over, and Europe 2015 will end when I move into my new apartment this week.

Until then,

Smooth roads and tailwinds,

Jonathan

The Freewheeling Freelancer Stands Alone!

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A big shoutout and a public thank you to you all for following this blog. After more than one year, it is clear that this blog is here to stay. This week, I purchased a domain name for it.

Tell your friends to remember this simple URL: freewheelingfreelancer.com.

Stay tuned as the adventure continues and we continue to learn together.

Smooth roads and tailwinds,

Jonathan

Computer down: stay tuned.

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The charger for my computer failed, and the computer ran down. The next three posts were taking shape there. I am clearing email using my phone, when I can find a Wifi connection.

The next two posts will consist of a back-to-school essay, “What I did on my summer vacation.” An extended trip update, it will include lessons learned from the six weeks I’ve spent bicycle touring and camping in Eastern Canada. I will continue working on them when I get a new charger. I hope that will be next week.

Smooth roads and tailwinds,

Jonathan

Midterm Review

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Trip update. Last Saturday, Daniel and Joan took me to Montpelier, to visit the Onion River Sports Shop. I had an annoying click in my bottom bracket, and I was sure it had something to do with the bolts not being torqued properly. I purchased new pedals, and had the bottom bracket serviced properly. Continue reading →

A time of transition

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Florida feels like a lifetime ago, although I was in Jacksonville only last week.

It is too cold here!

It is too cold here!

As I rode to the PACEM rehearsal and concert, I felt like Charlie Brown in the comic strip. On Monday, we had 15-20 cm of powdery snow. Shoveling the driveway, I wondered if the Southern Swing had only been a dream. Only living out of my panniers reminded me that I was still “on the road”. The bounce box from Jacksonville was stuck in the UPS warehouse outside Charlottesville. Continue reading →

It’s your turn: how would you like your blog?

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Trip update: This is the end of the Southern Swing 2013. Yesterday, I rolled into Charlottesville, Virginia on a Greyhound bus from Jacksonville, Florida. Five months, 4,500 km, five States and dozens of towns, large and small. I promised my son and myself that I would devote a full month to organizing my stuff and the next trip, and that meant being back by 1 March. Today, I am singing a concert with the Oratorio Society of Virginia to benefit PACEM, an interfaith ministry that houses the homeless in our city’s places of worship during the winter months (http://www.oratoriosociety.org/concertinfo.php?concert=Mar2014).

It is NOT the end of this blog. Coming up: the Northern Trek 2014. I will be laying out the broad strokes in the coming month, and report out on it as soon as I have something. Posts will continue at 1400 every Saturday. PLEASE CONTINUE READING. Continue reading →