MeatSpace Adventures

Welcome to MeatSpace Adventures!  My name is Colin, and I am very excited to launch this multifaceted lifestyle/travel blog.  My wife Tassa and I recently decided to sell our house, give away almost all our possessions, leave Southern Illinois and move to London, England.  MeatSpace Adventures is the story of this journey.  I hope this blog ultimately develops into an interesting and engaging commentary on living life to the fullest, making huge life changes, embracing minimalism, living healthy, and the joys of traveling.

What is meatspace?  Meatspace is real life and experiences.  I first came by the term in Thomas Pynchon’s novel Bleeding Edge.  The term was used as the antithesis to the virtual world of cyberspace and has resonated with me because for anyone old enough to remember what life was like pre-smart phone it is astonishing and honestly a little frightening how integral technology has become in our daily lives.  I am a tail end Gen X who went through the weird internet portal in the mid-90’s and then witnessed the uncontested rise and domination of screens over all aspects of life.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-technology, and this is not some soapbox forum about the evils of Google or social media.  Quite the contrary, I love being connected across vast mediums and having literally all knowledge in the palm of my hand, but there must be a healthy balance.  I feel a growing sense of urgency to keep a firm grounding in what the actual world still has to offer before it’s too late.  MeatSpace Adventures is the celebration of making the most of all life’s possibilities.

Of course, there is irony in creating an online blog about living life in meatspace and that’s ok.  I am a big fan of irony.  I believe that there is no reason to limit ourselves or create labels that bind us into certain categories or themes.  I want to create a concept that is open ended and all encompassing – something that is not limited.  Meatspace is really anything and everything and MeatSpace Adventures is the spontaneous documentation of whatever happens next.  Right now, all I know is that I will quit my job in May and get on a plane bound for England in June.  Let’s see what happens – I’m as curious as you are.

With spontaneity in mind, I am cautious predicting too much or providing too much of an overview for MeatSpace Adventures.  I want the narrative to unfold as it happens.  I am a – soon not to be – high school English teacher, an aspiring writer, and a compulsive reader.  I am very focused on living a healthy lifestyle.  I plan on traveling extensively in Europe and after that… who knows?  I am not sure if I have anything to offer other than the fact that I am seeking experiences and want to share them with interested and like-minded people.  If you had told me this time last year that I would be doing this, I would have said you were crazy.  But this dream has evolved fast and now I am fully committed to reinventing myself and taking whatever comes my way.  I would be stoked if you came along!