As I write this I’m sitting along the periphery of the waiting area for Gate 35 at LAX airport, my worldly belongings nearly identifiable as they bulge and poke and scramble to find a way out of the carry-on bag they are piled into like refugees.

The first question that I would usually get from people when I initially started telling them about Exile Lifestyle was “When will you be coming back?” The second question was invariably “Is your girlfriend coming along with you?”

In 6 days, I’m leaving LA.

Over the years I have come to the realization that I am a veritable pack rat. I take a look around my house and I find years of stuff that has accumulated, however when I decide it is time to start throwing things out, for some reason I am able to get rid of very little.

As I write this, I’m waiting for a half-dozen people to show up at my apartment so they can cart off my furniture. One lady wants my bedroom set, a younger gentleman is interested in one of my three office desks, and a couple of college students want to take a look at my one remaining bookcase.

I’m left-handed, an Angelino, a former Midwesterner, a designer, a sustainability and social media consultant, an ENTJ, an Aries, a humanist, a quinoa fan, a guitar player, a straight-laced rebel, a professional, a perpetual student, a Caucasian, a male, a human, a twenty-something, a blood type O positive, a mentor, a mentee, an outgoing recluse, a soon-to-be world traveler, a consumer, and a card carrying member of the local library.

Quick question: how many people do you know whose life ambition is to make a whole lot of money?

Today I woke up in Mesa, Arizona, went for a quick swim, ate remarkably-accurate New York-style pizza in a Southwestern town with a population of around 200, drove to the Grand Canyon, slipped on my Vibram Five Fingers and hiked a bit, slowly made my way to a Route 66 town called Williams where I downed a Blue Moon, listened to some live, twangy oldies music (sung by a mountain man), then watched Jurassic Park while relaxing in a cheapish hotel room with too many beds.