The Immortal Soul

I Believe I have the soul of an explorer.
That, or i am missing being outside to such and extent I need to do something extreme outdoors to make up for the cubicle nightmare I've been living in these past ten or so years. I have been coming to this realization more and more since I have found a few magazines that I read to pass the time at my eight hour a job day in a building with no windows. The last time I did anything outdoors was my vacation to Hawaii. that was in May. it is now September, and I've worked without a full weekend since then. travel is pretty much out because of that. Its hard to convince friends that the weekend is no longer Friday night through Sunday night, that the weekend lasts lasts only Friday through Saturday, and even then, Saturdays are only every other week. Yes, my job schedule sucks.
Lately however, I've been reading some magazines that have me itching to get, pardon the expression, Outside. Between The surfer's Journal and Outside magazine, I am exponentially aware that the weather is always beautiful if you're not at work, and the sun warms you tot he bone, unlike the fluorescent light on rails over my head. I am instantly reminded of Joe vs. the Volcano.
I have a 9' Robert August Longboard that I bought with deployment money from when I was in the army and I went to Iraq collecting dust in my board bag on my balcony. I have a pair of DC shoes Snowboard boots, Burton Snowboarding pants and jacket ready to get into some powder when the winter rolls around. There's a brand new pair of fins, snorkel and mask that I bought in Hawaii for snorkeling around the reefs, only used twice. I've got some very nicely broken in hiking boots in both Desert and Jungle colors. My running shoes, also nicely broken in are rearing to hit some of these sweet running trails around the DC/Metro area. Yet, every time I look at my gear I am not reminded or taken away to a Shangri-La of adventures in the great American Outdoors. I am only reminded of my work schedule, and my cubicle that's barely larger than the economy coach seats on the plane I wont be taking to get Outside.