Take the Back Roads

Hey Guys. Greg here! As you’re reading this I’m somewhere between Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California, on a road trip with my son to bring him back to school for his sophomore year in college. Here’s everything I put in my Ghurka bag to drive comfortably and to look and feel my best when we get where we’re going: 

I always pack a pair of OOFOS recovery slides. These are heaven for your feet, especially if you have foot/calf issues like I do. I also bring a pair of Altra Lone Peaks for the dusty terrain of west Texas and Joshua Tree, and NADS underwear as always (use code MIDLIFEMALE). I’ve got three pairs of ROARK shorts and three ROARK T-shirts and a few pairs of Feetures socks. I also brought one pair of James Perse linen drawstring pants and a James Perse T-shirt for loungewear. You can pick up any of these items in my ShopMy Store HERE. I also packed my RALLY orbital massager to help me through the 24-hour drive. This is a lifesaver. Truly.

And to make sure you get all my recs, our full Wednesday and Sunday issues, as well as our complete library and access to our monthly live calls, upgrade to Midlife Male Premium right here. Now, here’s this week’s middle:

Maybe it's the feelin' Or maybe it's the freedom Yeah, makes me wanna take a back road Makes me wanna take the long way Put a little gravel in my travel Unwind, unravel all night long Tear down some two-lane country Who knows Get lost

Sit in that six-lane backed up traffic Horns are honking, I've about had it I'm looking for an exit sign Gotta get out of here, get it all off my mind

— "Take a Back Road," Rodney Atkins

Right now if we didn’t hit any long detours or too much traffic, I’m probably in Terlingua with my son Harper, in a jam-packed pickup truck, driving him back to college for his sophomore year. We both decided to extend the trip and rather than fast-track it on the interstates, we thought we’d take the backroads a bit. You know, stop and see some sights and enjoy ourselves.

I spend a lot of time thinking about unraveling the mental, physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, and relationship sides of my life. I believe that if you want to make a positive difference in your life and the lives of those around you, you take care of yourself, and you get real about the man you want to be.

For a long time I've wanted to be the type of man who doesn't just go with the flow. Who challenges norms, embraces curiosity, steps outside his comfort zone. None of it comes easy to me. So I choose to work on it. Which means mustering up the courage to actually do the thing, not just talk or dream about the thing.

I've seen some version of this quote attributed to a lot of people: "Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's being afraid and doing it anyway." Awareness is similar. It's the ability to see your flaws and push ahead to improve them anyway.

This road trip is as much for me as it is about spending time with my son. I've never been to…