Just started working on the muscle gain program here too. That book is pretty awesome.

Good to know about the Smartwool Vibrams. What do you think of the other materials they've been using lately (coco fiber, Dri-lex, kangaroo leather)?

By the way, you were one of the people that inspired me to try the FiveFingers a couple years ago. I've worn out my first pair by now and I wrote a bit about it (http://disattention.com/?p=48).

Right. The important thing in life is not our possessions but our experiences.

You made the distinction between spending money on experiences instead of possessions. However there is the assumption that the point is still what other people think about you. Other people care about your experiences and not possessions, ergo that is what is important. I think a person can find meaning in their possessions if it becomes a part of their life (like your RV) and not just more junk stuffing the storage areas of their house. Some people enjoy recreating at home, not traveling places. A person can be uninteresting to other people and still be happy or content or fulfilled.

In my old "I Am What I Buy" days, I worked for a (great, authentically interesting Mercedes-driving) guy whose friend had a new Bentley. I thought Bentley-guy's assistant had it made. Bentley-guy provided a nice company car for her, cell phones, cash bonuses, tickets to concerts, etc. I thought his wife was so lucky because they were building a multi-million dollar house. I found out later he was a jerk who didn't pay his bills. The contractors working on his house had a hard time getting paid and he was just moving money from one place to another to cover everything. Eye opener! Thanks for the reminder that we are not what we own.

Great column - a fresh take on an old truth. Yet generation after generation get caught up in buying 'stuff'. Reminds me of George Carlin's brilliant bit about 'stuff', worth watching if you can find it. I always enjoy reading your blog and I'm probably older than your parents.

So incredibly true. I think this becomes more and more evident and obvious not only the older you get, but also the more people you meet that own all sorts of stuff.
And like with your Rolex, you realize that nobody really cares.
I had an experience so similar to yours. I got this really nice $2k Tag Heuer watch and I thought I was really gonna gonna get some stares when I wore it. I also got this $55 Fossil watch that I really liked as well and also wore often. The only people that ever commented on the Tag were other people who owned one. Nobody else cared or noticed.

Disclaimer: Tynan: I admire much of what you've done in life, but within that positive frame of reference, here's a critique:

Experiences, too, and not only possessions, can be denigrated--and have been by many. If someone climbs Mt. Everest, or goes to Japan, and is impressed by these things and claims that they define him, and the resident guru tells him, "Stop running all oever the world. It isn't where you go or what you do that defines you; it isn't even how many girls or boys you get to want you or admire you; it's what you are inside. Now stop all this escape and avoidance, and sit down and meditate," is that any less valid a claim?

And what if this guru stated his point of view--that meditation is the only route to true living, to self-awareness and contentment--with a cock-sure posting on his blog...based on the fact that a life suffused with meditation works for him and his friends? Wouldn't that be disrespectful to those whose temperament is not legitimately served by sitting and meditating for years on end, and who are more fulfilled by more active experiences, such as traveling the world?

The value of many posts on this blog are diminished by them being presented as though they're the only valid perspectives, and as though the world is made up of people of your temperament and needs. They aren't and it isn't. Each of us is only mirrored by a small percentage of the world--and to speak from our gut as though we've got the answers for everyone...because our way works for us...is not only self-absorbed, but inaccurate and simplistic...and, as it turns out, disrespectful to people with different sensibilities.

Squirrels gather nuts and energetically stockpile them; it won't do any good for the cat to lecture him that "real" identity has nothing to do with storing up possessions, but instead with living each day by the excitement and experience of the hunt. True: No self-respecting squirrel will say that he's a different kind of squirrel because he has 500 acorns in his tree-hole, but he might point out that being a responsible provider means working hard now to prepare for the hard times of winter...and that, yes, he does get a feeling of satisfaction at working hard...and he does reward himeself by buying some creature comforts for his tree; and no, he doesn't feel the need to run off halfway around the world to feel good about himself.

Just as you don't like the world imposing its values on you--indeed, you loudly reject such lecturing, whether overt or implied--why not give others the same respect, and not assume that what feels right and healthy for you must be good for them, too.

Learn, and apply, a little knowledge about the different innate temperatments. Leave room for others to be fulfilled by things that wouldn't fulfill you, and to be unfulfilled by things that do fulfill you. You'll become far wiser and significantly more effective--more considerate, too.

I want to start by saying yours is one of only four blogs I read regularly and I enjoy it very much.

But, I was going to post something very similar to what Michael said however he said it so much better than I would have so I will just add my personal/current philosophy to it:

It doesn't matter what you do or who you are in other peoples eyes as long as what you do and who you are makes you truly happy. Conversely it doesn't matter what others do and who they are because they are not you. The best way to change the world is to be the change you want to see in it.

Yes that last sentence is stolen from Gandhi but it rings very true to me.