Twenty-Five Years Of This Shit

So. Tonight, exactly 25 years ago – on Wed, 12 Feb 1997, at 22:26:44 EST – I sent out my very first dispatch:

I was undertaking those two most American of pursuits, ones deeply related – heading out west, and looking for my future.

I had shovelled all my Earthly belongings into the ole covered wagon (a 17-foot U-Haul) and headed out over the prairie. And that first night, I flipped open the ole laptop and sent off a quick update by email to a few close friends and family. And I never freaking stopped.

No more than I stopped trying to figure out myself, the world, or my place in it. I wish I could say I'm wiser now, or more settled, or have it all (or any of it) figured out. If anything, I'm more confused now than I was back then. (We know everything in our twenties. We just don't know enough to really enjoy it.) But, in any case, I've now spent very nearly half my life travelling, exploring, screwing up, recovering, resettling, struggling, working – and trying to figure it all out. And find my place. Maybe there's no solution. As Tim Ferriss deathlessly noted:

If you're confused about life, you're not alone. This isn't a problem, of course, once you realize that life is neither a problem to be solved nor a game to be won. If you are too intent on making the pieces of a nonexistent puzzle fit, you miss out on all the real fun.

I definitely couldn't claim not to have had some fun along the way – seen wonders, known love, and both made and and been moved by art. Maybe the “settled” part (if not the “have it all figured out” part) comes next. Who knows. But as North Face unimprovably has it:

art change love my exodus travel

Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.

Fuchs is the author of the novels The Manuscript and Pandora's Sisters, both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation); the D-Boys series of high-tech, high-concept, spec-ops military adventure novels – D-Boys, Counter-Assault, and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2016); and is co-author, with Glynn James, of the bestselling Arisen series of special-operations military ZA novels. The second nicest thing anyone has ever said about his work was: "Fuchs seems to operate on the narrative principle of 'when in doubt put in a firefight'." (Kirkus Reviews, more here.)

Fuchs was born in New York; schooled in Virginia (UVa); and later emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lived through the dot-com boom. Subsequently he decamped for an extended period of tramping before finally rocking up in London, where he now makes his home. He does a lot of travel blogging, most recently of some very long walks around the British Isles. He's been writing and developing for the web since 1994 and shows no particularly hopeful signs of stopping.

You can reach him on .

Twenty-Five Years Of This Shit

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Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.


2023 >> 2022-12-21 2022-11-06 2022-07-22 2022-07-01 2022-02-12 2022-02-01 2021 >> 2020 >> 2019 >> 2018 >> 2017 >> 2016 >> 2015 >> 2014 >> 2013 >> 2012 >> 2011 >> 2010 >> 2009 >> 2008 >> 2007 >> 2006 >> 2005 >> 2004 >> 2003 >> 2002 >>	Twenty-Five Years Of This Shit So. Tonight, exactly 25 years ago – on Wed, 12 Feb 1997, at 22:26:44 EST – I sent out my very first dispatch: I was undertaking those two most American of pursuits, ones deeply related – heading out west, and looking for my future. I had shovelled all my Earthly belongings into the ole covered wagon (a 17-foot U-Haul) and headed out over the prairie. And that first night, I flipped open the ole laptop and sent off a quick update by email to a few close friends and family. And I never freaking stopped. No more than I stopped trying to figure out myself, the world, or my place in it. I wish I could say I'm wiser now, or more settled, or have it all (or any of it) figured out. If anything, I'm more confused now than I was back then. (We know everything in our twenties. We just don't know enough to really enjoy it.) But, in any case, I've now spent very nearly half my life travelling, exploring, screwing up, recovering, resettling, struggling, working – and trying to figure it all out. And find my place. Maybe there's no solution. As Tim Ferriss deathlessly noted: If you're confused about life, you're not alone. This isn't a problem, of course, once you realize that life is neither a problem to be solved nor a game to be won. If you are too intent on making the pieces of a nonexistent puzzle fit, you miss out on all the real fun. I definitely couldn't claim not to have had some fun along the way – seen wonders, known love, and both made and and been moved by art. Maybe the “settled” part (if not the “have it all figured out” part) comes next. Who knows. But as North Face unimprovably has it: Tweet art change love my exodus travel ← before \| 4 comments ↓ \| after →