Now I can cross "Post an FPP" off my list...

September 9, 2008 6:27 AM

I’ve never wanted to be that guy that just talked about going out and doing things. So last year I decided to leave my home and my job and I set out to accomplish some of those things I had never done but kept telling myself it would be cool to do someday. Amtrekker has spent the past 433 days doing just that. He only has two rules: he can't go home until he does all 50, and he can't spend any money on lodging. To date, he has crossed 44 off his list. (via PodCacher)

There are many websites which offer suggestions for your list, so why not make your own?

posted by genefinder (22 comments total)

Some of his 50 are on the mundane side, but the whole "not going home" and "not paying for lodging" definitely add a couple levels of awesome. Good luck to you amtrekker!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:36 AM on September 9, 2008

Cool. Good first post, genefinder.
posted by sveskemus at 6:41 AM on September 9, 2008

Not to be confused with an Amtrakker.
posted by smackfu at 6:44 AM on September 9, 2008

Be a guest on talk show

At least he's staying humble on the quest!
posted by parmanparman at 6:53 AM on September 9, 2008

I read it as "Amtrakker" and with the proviso "he can't go home until he does all 50", I -- knowing little of Amtrak's routes -- was curious as to how Alaska and Hawaii fit into all this.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:57 AM on September 9, 2008

433 days on lodging? $70 a night x 433 = $30,310. It would be hard for most average people to leave their job and then spend that sum on lodging even if they wanted to. Motels have gotten so damned expensive in the past 15 years.
posted by crapmatic at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2008

Unfortunately, when you become responsible for another life; this becomes much easier said than done.
posted by vertigo25 at 7:22 AM on September 9, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I would have skipped the Ben and Jerry's graveyard in favor of the Ben and Jerry's morgue.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:22 AM on September 9, 2008

I've always wanted to be one of those people who gets someone else to pay for his vacation and then writes a book about it, but I never had a catchy gimmick to hang it on. Maybe if I did it all wearing a bowler? Or wrote a limerick every day?
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:29 AM on September 9, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Halloween Jack: "I've always wanted to be one of those people who gets someone else to pay for his vacation and then writes a book about it, but I never had a catchy gimmick to hang it on. Maybe if I did it all wearing a bowler? Or wrote a limerick every day?"

Sure. Do interesting stuff, write limericks about it every day and post them on a blog along with pics of you wearing a bowler. I'll click a few ads.
posted by sveskemus at 7:39 AM on September 9, 2008

433 days on lodging? $70 a night x 433 = $30,310. It would be hard for most average people to leave their job and then spend that sum on lodging even if they wanted to.

Erm, he isn't spending any money on lodging; it's one of his two "rules."
posted by youarenothere at 7:58 AM on September 9, 2008

I read it as "Amtrakker" and with the proviso "he can't go home until he does all 50", I -- knowing little of Amtrak's routes -- was curious as to how Alaska and Hawaii fit into all this.

Chris Guenzler has done all 50 states by rail... though not always by Amtrak.
posted by ALongDecember at 8:22 AM on September 9, 2008

Now I want a pet sloth. No, I don't want to pet a sloth... I mean I actually want a pet sloth.
posted by afx237vi at 8:47 AM on September 9, 2008

And this is why we should teach abstinence-only sex education in schools. Keep them talking, not doing!
posted by anthill at 9:38 AM on September 9, 2008

If any of these entailed actually leaving the US I'd be more impressed. A lot of these things are a bus ride from one another- Fenway Park and Amish cows? Is this stuff really that challenging? You crash with a friend in NYC, Boston, Philly, LA... this "trek" reminds me of the "family edition" of The Amazing Race.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:50 AM on September 9, 2008

Talk about low expectations. If he's writing a bathroom book, he might be successful is the book comes out prior to Xmas, otherwise I'd shelve it for another year.
posted by jsavimbi at 9:55 AM on September 9, 2008

If any of these entailed actually leaving the US I'd be more impressed.

Meh. Every proto-yuppie does some sort of extended international adventure vacation (oh, I'm sorry, travel) these days. But I've never met someone who has ridden an ostrich.
posted by a young man in spats at 10:42 AM on September 9, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've got his back on moonshining but only so we can get him off the collective stage that much sooner. Also, he needs to leave by nightfall and I reserve the right to hose him off. Damned vagrant. Also nearby: dirtbikes, geocaching, and fields for crop circles. Cannot provide: covered bridge, horse, the Atlantic. Lat/Long in my profile.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:27 AM on September 9, 2008

Fun post and quite inspiring to set out to do what one wants.
posted by nickyskye at 11:31 AM on September 9, 2008

I've done 12 of the list. 13 if I count snorkeling in the Atlantic instead of SCUBA.

That seems pretty good considering how boring I am.
posted by quin at 11:59 AM on September 9, 2008

Meh. Every proto-yuppie does some sort of extended international adventure vacation (oh, I'm sorry, travel) these days. But I've never met someone who has ridden an ostrich.

Meh. Sometimes the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason. Given the option of, say, visiting Macchu Picchu or riding an ostrich, all I can see is a clear winner & a silly gimmick that would be interesting for all of about five seconds, until you find yourself on the ground with a broken collarbone.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:23 PM on September 9, 2008

ethnomethodologist: "Is this stuff really that challenging?"

Man Goes to the Moon In Homemade Rocket
September 10, 2034 7:35 PM

Joe Franklin has gone into lunar orbit in the spacecraft he built in his backyard. Really, is there anything else to say?
plosted by batkowie (35 comments total) [add to favorites] [!] 35 users marked this as a favorite

Bah, is this really that impressive? I mean Armstrong did this back in the late sixties, nearly seventy years ago ...
plosted by ethnomethodologist at 12:42 PM on September 10
posted by WCityMike at 7:51 AM on September 10, 2008