The First Thirty Days (I could probably use a shower)

Johnny Griffin
Sep 17, 2017
5 min read

The First 30 Days: “The Vacation Phase”

Today is September 11th, 2017. I’m sitting on one of 8 porches majestically protruding from a mountaintop mansion overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains (more on that story later). I’m watching the bands of rain fall down, serving their initial purpose. The bands of rain are caused by Hurricane Irma, who just caused havoc on my home state of Florida.

I spent the morning checking everyone from back home’s social media feeds to make sure they’re ok. For the most part, they are. Some power outages, some tree damage, some “hurricane hangovers”. For all the incoming hype, Irma sure bowed down to the might of Florida. Probably had something to do with everybody joining groups to “shoot at Irma” or “blow your fans at Irma”. Much like Wu-Tang Clan, Facebook Events ain’t nothing ta fuck wit.

I felt an immense feeling of guilt for not being back home. Guilt while exploring mountains and rivers with Onyx. Guilt while laughing and taking shots with family and friends, being 572 miles away. But, for the time being,

this is my life now.

I’m not sure exactly what it was (is) that I’m looking for on this journey. Call it a mid-life crisis, an escape from reality, or just that feeling of wanderlust finally pulling my strings. Mostly, I feel I lived, worked, breathed for my job and my responsibilities. The things that got me through the day was knowing that I only have to work 50 out of 52 weeks. But, those 2….those glorious 2 weeks a year were all mine. Mine to do what I want with.

I spent every bathroom break, every spare moment, even falling asleep constantly refreshing my Instagram feed. Watching people exploring the world. Longing for the freedom of exploring just one word: time. I wanted the time to see the things I only get an opportunity to in corporately-mandated, separated 1 week increments. I wanted the time to explore. The time to create, to write. The time to give back to the world.

These will be the stories of that time.

“Vacation Phase”, Section 1: The short journey home

August 20th, 2017

After dealing with Vandalf the Grey being in surgery for a week (plus, an unforeseen $2,600 repair bill), it was time to get on the road. My plan was actually to leave St Pete on the 14th, so I had my power turned off at my condo, and had packed everything into Vandalf already. Fortunately, I’m blessed with amazing Framily (the first of many Framily stories, I’m sure). My friends Jesse and Crystal were kind enough to put up with me while Vandalf was in the “hospital”. Basically, it was like being roommates in college again. We laughed, we drank dranks, we played Madden, we cooked bro-food, and laughed some more. Mostly at the fact I wore the same clothes 4 days straight.

So, Sunday the 20th, it was time to begin the journey. The plan was to go to Ocala, where my family lives. I had been planning all along to be in Georgia by this time to see the Solar Eclipse “path of totality”, but with Vandalf’s lengthy hospital stay, that was basically off the table. Plus, I still needed to install the solar panels on the roof, finish the wiring, make some “blackout panels” and hang some curtains (but, you know...like manly curtains).

This trip turned into a week and a half. My family is just so amazing. Add that to the fact I got to see some friends, drink some beers, and laugh way too much. It wasn’t the mountains of Georgia like I had planned, but I did find a great place to see the eclipse. I spent the day with my beach chair, Nelson Mandela’s “Long Road to Freedom” (Click this link to buy on Amazon. It was reeeeally good! Plus, I’ll get a few pennies from it), my Eclipse Glasses, and about a gallon of water. Pretty sure it hit 257 degrees that day.

The rest of the week we spent cooking, riding bikes, playing board games and hanging with the dogs….you know, like a family. It’s been roughly two weeks at this point, and I’m just beginning to learn the value of time. I started getting angry at myself for not realizing earlier how important time really is. I’d spent two weeks now with my best friend in St Pete, and my family in Ocala, and I felt like this was the first time I really appreciated and valued them.

“Vacation Phase”: Section 2: You again???

August 31st, 2017

After some strong hugs and goodbyes, it was time for the longest trip yet: the trip to Atlanta, where Jesse and Crystal had ironically just moved the weekend prior. I had planned to be there days earlier to help them unpack, build furniture, hang curtains (because I’m a pro at that by now), but the work on Vandalf turned into a much bigger project than anticipated. And, much wetter...

who would’ve thought that a roof might leak when you drill 11 holes in it??

I was a bit nervous taking Vandalf this far. But, his wizardly powers had been recently upgraded with new suspension, brakes, steering, and more. Since I was in no real rush, we cruised along at the speed limit, and surprisingly had no issues with traffic. My sister had given me a doggie bed, that I laid down between the front seats for Onyx. He never has been a good rider, but this certainly seemed to comfort him. He even laid down for like 20 minutes!

We arrived in Roswell, Georgia early evening, and met Jesse and Crystal at an Irish Pub (shocking, I know). After a few pints, and discovering the awesome Gate City Brewery, we went back to their new place and ate $70 worth of Chinese food. Clearly, we’re back to college roommates all over again.

Jesse is starting a new gig next week on Atlanta radio’s Rock 100.5, so we decided to spend the weekend celebrating. Friday, we spent the day hiking Vickery Falls Creek with our dogs (check out our funny video: Hiking Vickery Falls). I just couldn’t believe the temperature difference from Florida! I even wore a jacket at night, like a little bitch.

Saturday, we went to downtown Atlanta intent on exploring, and watching the Gator game somewhere. Little did we know, we would end up in the heart of DragonCon. And, why not? Jesse, Crystal and I found a bar near the action, with the majority of the costumed traffic walking by. Obviously, we wrote numbers 1-10 on napkins, and proceeded to judge them as they walked by….obviously. Our good friend Rachel, who had also just moved nearby, joined us, also. It wasn’t long before we made friends, ate chicken fingers, and were blessed by a pack of neon wizards (see photos for that awesomeness). The rest of the week, I spent continuing to explore the Vickery Falls hikes with Onyx, some social media marketing for a couple clients, and working on this here website (still in progress, but I hope you like).