It’s been approximately 40 years since I read John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I remember almost nothing about it now except the simple premise: famous author travels with his dog across the USA by car. Outside of a vague notion that I enjoyed the book, that’s nearly the full extent of my recollection.

Nonetheless, the title has come to mind regularly over the last two and a half years I’ve tried on this travel and volunteer lifestyle. “Why,” one might ask. After all, by all outward appearances I have been traveling solo the vast majority of the time. But in truth I’ve had an occasional companion who’s remained invisible to others and joined me at unexpected moments, usually without much advance notice and most certainly without any indication of how long he might stick around. In recent months, I’ve taken to referring to him as my “strange passenger.” He’s really just treatment-resistant depression and a total son of a bitch.

I’ve sometimes thought about setting up a separate blog dedicated to discussing how I manage this sort of travel with such a nasty companion but then remind myself that I have problems enough keeping this one blog updated regularly. Still, I consider it and always wish to call that blog “Travels with Charley.” That name is already taken, of course, so I’ve reserved a secondary blog called “Travels with Strange Passengers,” in case I one day feel up to the monumental task of neglecting two blogs simultaneously.

I believe there would be interest in such a blog and that it could prove helpful to other travelers with similar issues and for those who might wish to travel but are reluctant because of their fears of effectively managing the condition far from home. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet felt the necessary level of commitment to take on the task of maintaining a second blog dedicated to such a narrow & important topic.

So instead, I think (but am not fully committing myself!!) I’ll pepper this blog in coming days with short focused posts related my treatment, general management, etc.

If you’re interested in the topic and haven’t done so already, I’d suggest first reading my recent post about ketamine therapy: “Ketamine for Depression and PTSD.”