A Year’s Journal

At a dinner party in San Francisco, a friend accosted me: if you are taking a year off to travel, you ought at least to write about your experience for those that stay behind. So I’m scribbling again.

All sorts of structural issues arise when keeping notes. Do I use the present tense or should I have used the past tense? Should I discuss only generalities or dive into the minutiae of my meals and relationships? Do I cover everything that happens or just the most important stuff? Whatever. Put it all down and sort it out later.

Mostly, I will write about work, or rather the lack of it. Career, work, and money are such pressing and yet changing concerns for my generation. Our retired parents often kept one job, and that profession defined who they were. As I shed my job, who do I become if just unemployed?

So I’m trading money for time and laying down my cards big. What do I do with all this time? And do I have an obligation to do anything at all?