Letter 1

Hi folks, my name is Mark and today I want to share the story of the beginning of kimbo. I also want to share some encouragement. These are stories that I’ve only shared with friends or people who ask; today I want to tell you how it all started.

I had been working hard, just developing the beginning of my career, I was starting to feel the beginnings of burn out. There was a lot to balance in those early days and at a point I really had the urge to get away from it all and reflect. It seems like we can’t hear our own hunch when the noise is too loud. A hunch is so quiet. The outdoors is where you hear your hunch.

I reached out to my friend Zach; he was one of the first lifelong friends I had made in Bellingham. We decided to have a road trip to see Eastern Washington. Theres a road that heads there called highway 20 and it goes through some of the most incredible views of Washington. You don’t realize how pointy our mountains are untill you spend some time on the east coast. The mountains here are really incredible.

We’re driving through highway 20 and it’s pretty late, It’s dark out. We both had to take a pee so near the top of a mountain overpass I pulled over next to a waterfall; it seemed like a good spot to have a view and a leak.

We turn around and the sky is on fire. It’s purple though, and something was wrong. I’ve never seen anything like what I’m looking at.

And neither had he; the northern lights never made it to Washington, at least not that I had seen before. It was so incredible, it was trippy and it didn’t look real. There’s purple and red and green but there at different depths; some look close and some look far away, some you can’t really tell whether they’re either.

We must have stayed there for 20 minutes in the dark with the waterfall running at our backs and watching this show in the sky. When it all started to fade we packed up and continued to drive.

There’s something about spontaneity that feels like freedom. When everything is planned to the minute you might miss the oportunity to see the moment.

There’s so many little moments that are right in our own backyard that come and go without us noticing. Often times they’re the kinds of memories that we search for through a structured vacation. Spontaneity doesn’t have a plan or a direction or a left or a right. It’s by feel and it doesn’t have the hope of an outcome tied to it. It’s hard to disappoint spontaneity.

So we keep on driving and we land at this other overpass on another mountain off of the side of the road in a small parking lot. It was late and we were so unprepared. We set up our sleeping bags in the back of the truck and didn’t even have sleeping pads. That corrugated plastic in the back of a Toyota Tacoma isn’t too comfortable. The next morning we wake up to the smell of cigarette smoke and mosquito bites all over our faces; everything’s covered in a thin layer of snow.

We grabbed a coffee in a nearby town and did something that day, I don’t even remember. But what I do remember is being compelled to build something better than sleeping in the back of my truck. I wanted to experience that freedom again.

I don’t know who you are or where you are or if anyone has even read any of this. But what I do know is that after driving around this country dozens of times and seeing national parks I want to tell you to get out there.

You might be reading this because you’re interested in a Kimbo. I’m not even referring to buying a kimbo. I’m talking about just getting in your truck with a tent and some beef jerky and driving until you feel like it’s time to go left or right. Keep driving and make a national park your destination. This country is so beautiful but we spend most of our lives in front of screens. Go make a story.

It’s scary to drive into the unknown; ambiguity and uncertainty are scary to face. But once you’re 2 hours from home you’re already past the certainty of home. You’re going to meet some awesome people in a place you never planned to go and you’ll see something for the first time that you can’t wait to share with others.

And one more thing. I just want you to know how grateful I am that you took your time to read this. I hope you’re doing and feeling well and that you’re excited about whatever chapter is next in your life or excited about the continuation of the one you’re already in. I’m excited for you; whatever your decision. Thanks for being you.

-M

July 17,2024