Whenever I run into someone who is passionate about what they do, I go into reflective mode and I wonder what am I passionate about and how does my passion manifest itself? I mentioned to Ruth that I didn’t know what I was passionate about and she said I am passionate about a lot of things like the outdoors and books. The little light bulb in my head brightened. She was right. My three great passions in life are the outdoors, books, and travel. What is it about those three things that I like so much as to be passionate about them?

In the outdoors my passion stems from the way I feel when I am outdoors. I feel alive and at one with myself whenever I am in the presence of some beautiful spot in nature or in some remote place where there are no signs of the concrete jungles we live in. The environments that bring out the best in me are the mountains and the sea.

Books. I have always loved books from a very early age I fell in love with books. I love to read them. I love to look at them. I love to hold them in my hands. I love to be surrounded by them. As a kid, the library was my sanctuary. During summer holidays, I would walk the 8 miles to the library on Post and spend the whole day there wandering amongst the stacks. The subject matter was not important. I could be found anywhere in the stacks, from botany to physics, to poetry and history. I spend a lot of time in bookstores now. I can spend hours in these mega-bookshops drinking coffee and wandering the stacks and inevitably spending a small fortune. Books are like stray pets to me. I see one and I want to take it home with me.

My other passion is for travel. I love the open road. I don’t even have to have a particular destination in my mind. Just the simple fact of being on the road going somewhere is enough for me. One of my favourite travel passions is to wander around big city streets like a ghost or a man with no name. It’s funny because one of my fears about dying is that I will die in obscurity. And yet, when I wander city streets it the very fact that I am anonymous that makes the streets exciting. I could happily give up all my possessions and walk the earth like Kane.

I want to pursue these passions without no other aims other then the pure pursuit itself. I want to climb a mountain for the sake of climbing a mountain, or seek knowledge for the sake of seeking knowledge, or travel with no other aim other than travelling.

And here comes my catch-22…how can I sustain myself in a world built upon obligations and responsibilities and still pursue my passions?