Trip update: It is a good thing that I like to travel. This has been a wonderful week and a wretched week. Continue reading
Where is home?
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Tag Archives: planning to leave home
How I have changed: gear
This week I get to show you just how clueless I was when I started out a year and a half ago to live on the road. When bike packing, nothing gives you away as a newbie faster than your gear. Continue reading
Cross-Border Checklist
Trip update: Since returning to Charlottesville, I have been working (editing and translating), preparing for Christmas, and moving material around in the house. I have promised my son, Daniel that I would clear out the entertainment/TV room and the porch before I leave. Continue reading
Haute-couture for the freewheeling freelancer
Trip update. This week tested a very important aspect of living on the road: leaving my bicycle to take a short-term assignment at a distant location, then returning to my bicycle. I have written about this in past blogs in the context of an interpreting assignment, but this opportunity was different. JPD systems of Fredericksburg Virginia, hired me to facilitate an all-day seminar on revision. Revision is often called editing or proofreading, but in the translation industry, it is a special service performed by a second translator, namely, reviewing the translation for errors. Obviously, the reviser needs to be bilingual, and as competent in the subject matter as the translator. Thus, high-quality human translations actually require two professional translators, in addition to the other professionals on the project team. Continue reading
What to leave and what to take: testing a new paradigm.
Trip update. The Northern Trek 2014 started on Monday with a 110-km ride to Richmond. 
I enjoyed the hospitality of Couchsurfing host Jessica on Monday and Tuesday nights, allowing me to recover from my first century ride in more than two months. Wednesday, I rode to Williamsburg (85 km), and Thursday to Norfolk (42 km), where I stayed with my niece Clara and her husband Ben for two nights. Today, I am attending a mini-reunion of friends from the US Naval Academy Class of 1969, and enjoying the hospitality of Dennis and Emily until I catch the shuttle over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel next week. Continue reading
Looking ahead: the Northern Trek 2014
This week, instead of a sea story, I lay out the Northern Trek 2014 in broad strokes. If I will be passing through your neighborhood, I invite you to contact me off-line (freewheeling@scriptorservices.com). Continue reading
A time of transition
Florida feels like a lifetime ago, although I was in Jacksonville only last week.
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
Deciding where to go.
When contemplating a life on the road, one of the first questions is “Where do I go?”. Once one is out there, this question becomes “Where do I go next?” Continue reading
Staying in touch on the road.
Trip update: The presentation last Saturday at Florida International University went well, in my humble opinion. The crowd was small, so with all day to cover the topic of running a freelance business, we could answer everyone’s questions in depth without giving up any of the planned material.
These classmates are now also friends.
Sunday, I sang my last service with the choir at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church. Tim Lester and my friends at that church made feel truly welcome. Public worship, especially with music, restores my soul and recalibrates everything for the coming week.
On Monday, I rode to Boca Raton via Fort Lauderdale. An excellent Italian lunch with Rosanna and Tommaso preceded my checking in with Ruth and Robin, who hosted me for two days while I waited for a front to pass. The time allowed me to send out estimates that I had promised, and to start this article. Wednesday, I rode the 146 km to Stuart, almost all on US Route 1, with bike lanes almost the entire distance, a warm sun balanced by cool air.
I am still in the Stuart/Fort Pierce area, hanging with world traveler Josh. For three weeks, I enjoyed warm sunshine. It is turning colder now, but worse is yet to come.
Are we home yet? More pros and cons of living on the road.
Trip update. Still living in Pinecrest, Florida, with my colleague Giovanna and her family. This week has been devoted to preparing for the presentation today at Florida International University. It is called Getting down to business: Management accounting for T&I Professionals. I designed the course to teach break-even analysis and basic organizational skills to any kind of freelancer. I will be presenting on this topic again in Philadelphia in April. Today’s program is an all-day workshop with hands-on exercises. Continue reading
The Freewheeling Freelancer 