2024 Hashtag59 Addition Note:
This article is a lifestyle piece and intended to reflect the feelings and emotions from us during the early stages of the global pandemic. It won’t be updated to accurately reflect the words that were shared when they were shared.

I was supposed to leave Columbus for over a year in mid-May of 2020.  It was to be a grandiose trip around the world visiting family and friends and seeking out experiences that light me up.

Why did I want to do this?
To travel. To be. To feel light. To spend time with people I normally don’t see often. To not have a physical place to live for an extended period of time. To not feel burdened by “stuff.”

Then COVID19 happened.  Shit got weird.  The trip got backed up several weeks but the plan was on.

Then, as it has been repeated for centuries, black people were murdered in our streets (in the country they built after it was stolen from the Native Americans by rich and oppressive white people) and once again no justice occurred.  Now shit got real on top of it being weird. As real as it has ever felt in my life.

Yet the trip is starting.

I am still setting forth to head west for a few months after protesting in the streets of Columbus for a month (prior to that sheltering in place since basically I got back from Africa).  I am going partly because there is nowhere else to go.  Our lease was up and I didn’t want to commit to another year in a place that I felt trapped by (a small townhouse with no yard and few possessions if you want to wander the world can still feel suffocating).

I’ll always be fond of the place and the time spent here and I would imagine I’ll call downtown Columbus home again in this lifetime.

The plan originally was to head West/Hawaii for six months and then move down through South & Central America for six more months before making the way back to Columbus.

I don’t know what will happen now and I don’t know what I want to happen now with the travels or how it will play out.

To be quite frank it doesn’t matter to me.  What I want and crave right now is to make Black Lives Matter, the injustices that occur daily in this country to all minorities, the poor, and the LGBTQ to be eradicated, and to give the chance to people who live in places like Yemen a chance at life.  Instead of just famine.

My friend posted a graphic last week that said
“Current American Dream: Car, Home, Second Home, Yacht, Private Jet, and Gated Community.”
Then it said
“New American Dream: Social Justice, Economic Justice, Sustainable Living, Peace, Health, Joy.” 

I’ll be honest and blunt.  I have been chasing the new American Dream for sometime.  Yet as I sit here and think about how this all comes together the traveling must still go on.  I must still go.

Why?

Because of COVID19 I was able to connect into food policy and healthcare systems for all people in a way that I would have never imagined through my time volunteering and working at the largest fresh market in the midwest and one of the largest in the country.  The experience taught me so much and has me ready for more. To work in it, to share the value of it, and to understand the importance of distributing real and healthy food to all people in society.

I also believe the eradication of racism across the country will partly be done by new systems and policies but also by 1 on 1 conversations.  I am ready, willing, and able to have these uncomfortable conversations with other white people.  I am fully conscious of my white privilege and willing to recognize when my biases show up and I understand the work is something I will do until the grave. I don’t understand, yet I stand. I was also fortunate to grow up in a household that welcomed and celebrated black people/women/Latinx/LGBTQ and more, we did not just stand by as non-racists rather behaved in a way (milder albeit than I am now) that was anti-racist (before white people read books explaining the significance of the term), and now it’s time for the 1 on 1 conversations to be spread more.

By all of us.  I know I must play my part and fill my lane.

Finally I think Nature and the Outdoors can soothe us and make us stronger.  As can yoga.  As can meditation and therapy and journaling and high intensity workouts and cooking and reading and dancing and laughing with friends.  For me nature and the outdoors is the best medicine available.  It allows us to do the hard work in life more clearly and with more intense focus. 

So with that belief system I believe I can still do the activism while spending some time in the outdoors and in nature allowing myself to also breathe hand in hand with doing anti-racist work.

Oh yeah…the “new” trip…

A few highlights I am excited about are:

1. To go backpacking in the Enchantments Wilderness with a group of lovely people (some who are the most important people in my life and some who I have never met in person, yet).
2. Tool around the Pac Northwest in an Escape Camper Van with my two best guy friends (annual boys trip!)
3. Summit Half Dome in Yosemite National Park with a wonderful friend of mine from high school.
4. Run a half trail marathon thru Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
5. Visit Yellowstone National Park for the first time since I was 11 years old.

I am also going to rekindle relationships from my past that are meant to have new life, find new groups of activists/yogi’s/trail runners/comedians (I am hilarious if ya weren’t aware) outside of Columbus Ohio that I can tribe up with, and see my parents and nephew.  I haven’t seen my parents since November and nephew since last May. He’s been dancing and doing yoga to Sisqo, I must witness it in person.

So I guess I would sum this post up with the following:

1. 2020 is not a wash. For ANY OF US.  It woke me up to exactly what my life’s work is meant to be moving forward. It likely didn’t happen without all that has gone down.

2. Traveling the world and spending time in the outdoors is still very important to me.  

3. But to just do that in pleasure and ignore doing hard uncomfortable work to tear down racism and injustice in the world does not compare in gratification. To me travel for pleasure is minuscule to this work but perhaps it can amplify my work in this sector moving forward and be a 1-2 stutter step Muhammad Ali left hook.

4. The trip that was planned is exactly what I didn’t need.  Thankfully the universe intervened and cancelled it.

5. Whatever happens on this “new trip” will be what I need.  

6. This is a trip about doing the work, about amplifying melinated voices, and about putting my money where my mouth is. And having some fun.  I can’t wait.

Bon voyage to the dirt paths my friends…Hashtag59 will continue on of course.  But part of me senses a shift and an evolvement.

Amy & I have done this blog, podcast, and events while living a few blocks away from each other the whole time.  I am grateful for what we have created together so far and hope this can be just the next step in the journey with the whole community.  But it will be different I am sure. 

Speaking of collaborating on the site…
We were co-founded by a woman and only have 4 male writers out of over 14 who have contributed.  We have had black and LGBTQ writers/podcast guests and event collaborations with people from all walks of life in Columbus.

I have been funding money to the Equal Justice Initiative for years and if I ever actually made any money off of this site (we do this for fun) I would certainly give more to Bryan/EJI and several others.  So I keep my day job to do just that.

My point in telling you this is if you want to write for us and have a story you want to share you are welcome to reach out and get in the fold.  I want to continue to grow in amplifying voices in the outdoor and adventure travel space that aren’t often heard.

Or if you just like to read or listen or meet up at our events, we love you and thank you for your support.

At Hashtag59 it’s a like lot like the sign on my front steps says as it is pulled out of the brick and placed in back of the car to begin the journey…

Black Lives Matter. Women’s Rights are Human Rights. No Human is Illegal. Science is Real. Love is Love. Water is Life. A Threat to Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Injustice Everywhere.

Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike R