Hey, I’m Isaiah … and welcome to Traveling Broke and Ugly.

I’m not entirely sure what this blog is going to become. And you know what? I kind of like that.

A friend helped me get a domain and put this website together. Now I have a little place on the internet where I can write and just be … without somebody telling me to move.

I’ve been thinking about getting back on my touring bike, hitting the road again, and getting my own Jack Kerouac on. But this isn’t just going to be about bikes or miles or places on a map. It’s about the people, the stories, and all those questions that follow you around.

Why are we so quick to put labels on one another? What does it mean to belong somewhere? Why does everybody act like they’ve got life all figured out?

I sure don’t.

Some days I might write a travel story. Other days it might be a poem, a little word vomit, a conversation with someone I meet, or a question I can’t shake. I’d like to talk with fellow travelers, share the resources that actually help people, and maybe give somebody else a chance to tell their story, too.

I’m not here to pretend I have the answers. I want to give myself a voice, give others a voice, and express myself unapologetically.

And I wanted the website to be simple. Not a bunch of flashing stuff screaming “LOOK HERE!” Just a place to focus on the story.

Maybe these words are meant for somebody. Maybe I’m writing to the void. I don’t know … but it feels good to get them out.

Thanks for stopping by. Welcome to my circus we call life.

— Isaiah