The Whole Earth Guide

There is a story here. It started 60 years ago, the summer of 1963, on a beach, on an island. My mom was swimming off Squibnocket Beach in the town of Chilmark, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. I was still in the womb and would not be born until November 27th, just a few days after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The assassination was that act of terror that most likely forced my birth into a troubled extraordinary world and set me on paths of great suffering, physically and mentally ( depression, anxiety attacks, was beaten severely at military school at the age of 14, self destructive behavior causing to weigh over 430 pounds twenty years ago, there is more), but I learned to look at each life challenge as a temporary obstacle and a new "mountain" to climb thereby invoking paths of extreme adventure and compassion. So, the story begins...

Earth Rise (Nasa)

Hi, my name is Bill Poindexter, I am many things; a writer, speaker, author, coach, career counselor, adventurer on foot and by bicycle, outdoor educator, naturalist, minimalist, yoga instructor, environmentalist, and the creator of the Whole Earth Guide (WEG). I have been many things, but always saw the Earth as fragile, and now feel the need to help save our home (Earth).

The Whole Earth Guide is a series of guides with an ever evolving role to create a world peace where the health of: people, the environment, and communities is paramount. This is being created as you read this by a cooperative group of like minded Whole Earth Guides.

Original brainstorming sheet '18

The WEGs will be in the form of books, articles, podcasts, blog posts, live feeds, FB post, instagram images, letters (on paper), and stories by humans like you and me. I am starting the first step, telling the story, mission and vision. The organization is a not for profit, but we will not be tied to any government. This is for the Earth, the Whole Earth. We see one Earth, but for it to survive we all must get along and create a World Peace, there are no more choices, certain things must change in order for the planet to survive, our home.

These guides are inspired by the Whole Earth Catalog, by Stewart Brand

Bill Poindexter,  Banff Nation Park, photo by Sarah Burch

The first phase is two publish two guides in the next few weeks, as I am authoring both, They will be about what I know best, how to travel by bicycle and sharing inspiring stories and adventures from my travels like:

Sage and Pine

"How to find a place to sleep while traveling on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR)

What “they” don’t tell you in the Guidebooks.

Jack, Anna, Bahne, and myself had come off a long climb from Pinedale, WY, heading north. We were a day away from Grand Teton National Park. At the bottom of Union Pass, we stopped at a lodge for the usual GDMBR fare of burgers, fries, and beer. I noticed a couple and an older woman. The older woman stared at our disheveled group, but being a vagabond and wanderer, I was used to the stares, as we were a live

story.

After we ate, I walked outside to gather water bottles for refills. The couple and older woman followed me out.

They smiled. “Where are you traveling from?” the man asked with kind eyes.

“New Mexico,” I said and explained the route to them. "We are bicycling, self-contained, from New Mexico along the Continental Divide, on dirt roads and trails, to Banff, Alberta, Canada. The four of us met on the road, and we’re traveling together for a few days."

“Where do you sleep,” the woman asked, as though somehow searching for her past.

“Any place,” I say simply. “On the side of the road, in a shelter, bathroom, campground, back of a restaurant, lawns, people invite us into their home, but really, when the sun starts to set any patch of earth will do.”

Their eyes widened, and they looked at each other and nodded in complete understanding.

“Where will you sleep tonight?” the woman asked.

“Dunno,” I said smiling. “There is a campground a few miles up the road, or we may just keep moving till we find something and head into the woods. Something will present itself; it always does.”

The couple thanked me for telling them about our travels.

I walked back in the restaurant and told my companions what happened. Seconds later the man came back in and said, “My wife says you all can stay in our cabin tonight.”

We graciously agreed, and, 30 minutes later, we were at the cabin. Jerry and Anna, and Anna’s mother, hosted us for the night.

Full-blooded Arapaho, Jerry later that night confided in me that he longed for the “old ways” of his people.

He said, “The way you are traveling on your bicycles, with your gear, free on the land, was the way my ancestors traveled on horseback or foot. I am envious.” He gave me a serious look, “You will always be welcomed here.”

That night I slept deeply. Embraced by kindness, present and past. That’s the Wild West; that is the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

The next morning, we rose to coffee, a view from the balcony, and good food. We took pictures of our new friends and us, then we rode.

Side note: While on the Divide three Native Tribes, the Pueblo, Apache, and Arapaho, showed me incredible hospitality. I came to the West to see how the past and present meshed with smells of sage and pine."

Sage and Pine is one of hundreds of stories I have. 

I wish I could tell you all how this idea will play out, but truthfully, I do not know. I never know. I just follow my gut and let every day unravel, and see what happens. Oh there is some planning, but mostly I am curious to see how this story unfolds.

Next?

Whole Earth Bikepacking Summit-ever rolling, continuous, think of a bunch of curious, environmentally friendly, compassionate, healthy, Earth loving, World Peace optimists, cycling together and creating real change in a troubled world. 


I will be sharing stories from the road. Stories about the people with us and the ones we meet,  environmental conditions of the places we travel and the patches of dirt we sleep on, and we will share the commonalities of humanity with communities we pass through, and will seek out nature and the wilderness on many different levels, and we will ask questions, seek solutions to issues, and travel by bicycle to show a simple way to live. Can't make it? You can still be a part of it. This is grassroots. 

Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level.

If you are interested in following this "live" journalistic endeavor please let me know.
We could use your help financially, you can Venmo me, or will put a paypal link for you to click, and open to cash if you meet me on the road. The money is to help support the mission so we can tell the stories that need to be told, without condition:

Mission: To inspire good health: for people, the Earth, and community. And ultimately help create World Peace so the Earth can survive. 

There will be links coming as we evolve to our You Tube Channel as well.

How will it unfold?
Good question

If you would like me to speak to your organization about our focus, or teach how to: travel by bike, wilderness ethics, living car-free, tell stories of my adventures, or even teach a simple Yoga class, please let me know asap.

Things we need? Marketing folk, administrative and operational help, money, food, like minded folks who wanna make the Earth a better, livable, healthier home.

Hope to see you soon. 
Bill


Get your Whole Earth Guide here