No itinerary. Just curiosity.

I have been into watching documentaries lately on Netflix. This morning, I watched a 1996 “Modern Marvels” documentary about the invention and rise of television. What struck me was the myopic determination of early television pioneers like Philo T. Farnsworth, David Sarnoff, and William S. Paley who pursued the technology with a passion. I guess that is why we still hear about them today as well as other pioneers. They realized their passion and pursued it with utmost intensity.

I thought a lot about my passion back in June before I launched this blog. I tried to imagine what I enjoy doing that no one has to tell me to do or pay me to do. Sports? Ah…no. Painting? I wish. Music? No. Fine wine? Not interested. What I found was I enjoy getting in my car, getting on the highway and taking off to discover what lies over the horizon on a good old-fashioned road trip. Most of the time, these road trips took me to historic sites, museums and small towns full of nostalgic charm.

So, I did – or at least, tried to do – what the experts said. I chose my topic – road trips to heritage sites; built my blog, monetized it, and spread the word through Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc., etc., etc. Now, six months into blogging about heritage sites and personal journeys, I have found that I am passionate about so much more that I can’t quite fit in to a single blog topic. I wish I could have the focus of a Vaynerchuk or a Brogan or a Stratten, but I can’t talk about just one thing. Besides, I’m not good, and definitely not an expert, at any ONE thing. My professional life has been about being a generalist – an administrative jack of all trades. I know some accounting, but I’m not an accountant. I know some graphic design principles and can manage a decent publication, but I’m not a graphic designer. I know how to teach, but I’m not a teacher. And, since up to this point, I have allowed my professional life to stand in for a personal life, me, the person, has no one great passion. I have many. That’s why I study history. A person can study the history of almost anything.

This lack of passion has led to me not updating my blog in over three months – in addition to graduate studies, a move and trying to make a career change. At one point, I thought of developing several blogs, but, in the end, decided that’s too much work – kind of like managing multiple Twitter accounts. So, from now on, there is no one direction or topic for this blog. As “The Heritage Tourist,” I’ll continue to take road trips, but I will also do some virtual traveling to discover our shared heritage that has been passed down to us through architecture, art, music, education, craft, religion, the environment, literature, film, books, design, photography, theatre, food, politics and other “big ideas.” I’ll also spout off some about what we’re leaving to the future as its heritage. Like any good road trip, there will be no itinerary, just a healthy dose of curiosity and willingness to make a U-turn and take a detour if something catches the eye.

Perhaps, in another six months, I, or someone else, will discover a pattern among my posts, and then, I can realize what that one, great passion of mine really is.

Ready? Let’s go…

Tell me if you've found your passion. What is it? How do you know?