the beginning

Welcome to the TRAVELING FREE BOX

The idea for the Traveling Free Box was formulated while soaking in Remington Hot Springs

I'd been planning a monumental journey, hoping it would encompass most of 2011. I toyed with the idea of closing my business to be able to travel unencumbered with the hopes of being completely open to new opportunities. After being settled in the same house for 13 years and never being able to take a long road trip since the FOUR CORNERS TOUR in 1999, I've been anxious to see how folks are doing it in other progressive cities around the WESTERN U.S. On Decemeber 1st 2010 I acquired the mode of transport, and ever since then it's been a flurry of mental activity as I set to the task of planning and executing my vision: life on the road for upwards of six months. The main objections are to experience life via hot springs, vegan restaurants, skateparks, skate shops, ditches, backyard bowls and ramps, food co-ops, organic farms, swimming holes, housing collectives/communes, disc golf courses, bicycling, waterfalls, and spending time with family and friends.

In February while on a 19 day tester trip inside CALIFORNIA, I spent 40 uninterrupted hours at Remington Hot Springs. While soaking in those pristine and healing waters, I came to two realizations.  

A>. I could slightly restructure my company and take the show on the road. I was only into the tester trip a few days before I was kicking myself for never having packed up the station wagon and done a sales trip before.  There is no better way than visiting a skate shop to see for yourself what they are about and what sells well for them. My hope is to sell and swap the finest skateboard dvds available and to participate in local skate scenes across the country.

B>. I wanted to create a blog to chronicle my adventures. But I was unsure of how to package the adventure for the web. With a little guidance from Dave Bergthold, I looked back at my time at Remington and recalled the random items of clothing, a hat, and some abandoned towels that I rescued from the springs with the express intent to re-purpose them. Upon further scrutiny, I thought it would be keen to create a free box that would travel with me in the van. It would serve as a way to re-purpose all the completely useful items that I find discarded across the country and it will be a conversation starter. What better way to meet other road warriors than to ask them if they'd like something for free? The idea kept growing and this blog is the result and it's my hope to chronicle my travels through the view of the Traveling Free Box. Watch where it goes, see what goes into it, see what gets taken from it, and hear the tales of the lives it touches.

 A discarded wine box was located and I knew I wanted it decorated to some degree. Who did I turn to?

resident North Park artist, BOB GREEN.

Making it's first appearance at the 4th San Diego Really Really Free Market 3-13-11.

There she sits in front of EDGEMONT in the early a.m.

And so the journey begins tomorrow morning APRIL 16th. You are invited to check back often and see where this adventure takes me. The general OUTLINE is this.... Phoenix, Tucson, Austin, Dallas, Tulsa, Wichita, Lincoln, Ft. Collins, Denver, Park City, IDAHO, Seattle, Portland, Grass Valley, SF and then back to EDGEMONT when the feeling is right. Detours will pop up, unexpected incidents will occur - the lesson to be learned is to be like the water and go with the flow.

My brother from another mother, Ken Olsen, was the first participant!

 More on Ken's story next time.......