The Civilized Dirtbag

"You can be a weekday warrior."

"Wake up early. Make the early morning your best friend."

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Sure, living out of your van as you drive from beautiful place to beautiful place sounds wonderful. Drop everything and just go. You see it all over your Instagram feed and wonder why can’t I do that? For some, this is doable. For most of us, however…it’s not. You’ve got your ties to community, jobs, debt, relationships, etc. There are so many

reasons why your wanderlust is trumped by your responsibilities of life. That doesn’t mean however, that you can’t get after it. And get after it hard. You can be a weekday warrior. You get done with work at 5? Nice! Plenty of time to get out on the water or go for that sunset hike. Oh you got done at midnight but have the day off tomorrow? There you go, drive to where you want to be that night and wake up and get after it! Being a civilized dirtbag comes down to you. Do you want to get after it or do you want to want to get after it? Let me say that again...

"Do you want to get after it or do you want to want to get after it?"

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What does this mean? It means you have to start using your time efficiently. It also means you have to become accustom to minor discomforts. Sleeping in your car comes to mind. If the surf report looks good on Tuesday morning but you work Monday and

Tuesday night, drive out to the coast after work on Monday so you can surf early Tuesday with enough time to make it back for work that evening. You’ll be tired, but

you’ll be the right kind of tired. The fulfilled kind of tired.

Last week I attempted a climb to the summit of Mt Hood before working at 5:30 p.m. So I drove out to the mountain at midnight and after sleeping for a couple hours in my car began climbing. After about four or five hours of climbing I began to fall asleep and decided to turn around. But that’s aright! I had the best morning. And my coworkers were shocked when they realized I was climbing Mt Hood that morning. And I want to talk about that, too.

When others are shocked at what you did before work (or after) that’s both good and bad. It’s good because you see the realization in their face that you can still use the day, and use it beyond going for a walk around your neighborhood before you work. The bad comes from the fact that you realize a large chunk of your community does not use their time to get after it. They wait. They look at “I have to work today” as a statement that dictates what they do with their day. “Oh I’d love to paddle today but I work at 9”. So go paddle! Wake up at 6 and do the damn thing.

Your 9-5 is a small part of your life that you might be controlling a big part of your life. That’s only 8 of your 24 hours of each day. To put it blatantly, you might be letting 1/3 of your day dictate 2/3 of your day. That’s a big chunk of your life. Get outside. Get after it. Everyone works, but not everyone works and works themselves. Become that civilized dirtbag. If the only way that you’re going to make that hike and make it back for work is to drive out the night before and sleep in your car then do that! You’ll add value to your life.

So get outside and get after it! Use the unsuspecting hours of the day to fill your glass of adventure. Wake up early and run that whitewater you’ve been curious about. Drive late in the middle of the night to park yourself at that trailhead. Pack your bag so you can leave immediately after work. Do what you need to do to be a badass. You’ve got it in you, harness it.