I Live in Tucson

If you are a Facebook user, as i am sure many of you are, you may be aware of a curious application called "Where I've Been."  The central focus of the app is a personal interactive map of the world.  The map is designed to record your worldly travels, much like a pin-board map on your bedroom wall.  To create your personal map you select a region and label it in one of three ways.  "I would like to go," "I have been," or "I have lived here."  I have been contemplating the last label since my arrival in Arizona.

According to my map, I have "been to" 1% of the world.  Being somewhere is easy.  You go somewhere, you stay for a time, then you go home.  Normally where you live takes no second thought.  I was born in Saskatoon, my family moved to Yellowknife, NWT before I was a year old.  We lived there for 4 years and then returned to Saskatoon.  We lived in a house, a duplex and now on an acreage.  Last year I moved to British Columbia to race bicycles.  I was located in port Moody for six months, I think it is safe to say I lived there.  I paid rent, had a job, a mailing address, and a local phone number.  But.  What about right now?  What about Arizona?

There are a number of factors to consider at the boundary between `being`and `living.` The most obvious is time.  The duration of a "fixed location" is certainly a big deal.  It is impossible to argue that anything measured in weeks is more than an extended vacation or leave of absence.  Likewise it is rather apparent that using the same bed every night for a year or more infallibly constitutes "living there."  In between weeks and years one is either on sabbatical or has indeed planted their life, and we must look at other factors.

previously I mentioned certain amenities and responsibilities that are strongly associate with "living" more so than "being."  These situational factors can exist in vary in combination and level of commitment.  When properly proportioned this will be the deciding factor between a sabbatical and a properly rooted life.  So what exactly am I doing in Arizona?  Being or Living.

As I am in Tucson for only 2 months, lets take stock of the various "amenities and responsibilities."   I do not have a local phone number, but I do have a local mailing address.  I do not and will not have a job while I am here.  I am not a citizen of this country.  That's a tough one to beat, but my name is on a legally binding lease agreement.  I share a household with my own furniture and appliances.  I pay bills; hydro, electric and internet.  Those last two might just tip the scale.

Here is my up to date world Map. 
green = "I would like to go"
blue = "I have been"
Red = "I have lived here"



What do you think?


Training shall be based solely on feel,
while racing shall be guided by sensations and instinct.


Cuylar Conly