And Off We Go

A few years ago, I turned 30.  With the decade, came the usual stocktaking of my life.  In general, I was pretty happy:  decent job, good family, good friends.  But I couldn't help noticing that I had made no progress towards my childhood goal of going to space.

So, I made a very determined effort to transition towards a space-technology job.  I applied to every space agency that would have me as a Canadian citizen.  I applied for jobs with space technology companies large and small.  At the end of two years of trying despite a high-tech degree and years of experience developing code and managing projects, I came up empty.  I faced the fact that I was not going to be a professional astronaut.

But, recent events have given me hope.  It is now no longer necessary to be a professional astronaut to go into space.  You can buy a ticket to space, to the International Space Station, and even around the Moon!

The moon vacation is a minor sum of $150 million US, which also poses a problem.  But a less insurmountable one.  The internet has proven its ability to turn nothing into something.  To turn a red paperclip into a house.  To keep alive dreams long since swept into the dustbin of practical and economic sense.

So, I am appealing to the entire generation of people who thought we'd be in space by now.  The generation of people who watch Star Trek reruns in the dead of night, who mourn the loss of the dream that was the space shuttle, who look up at the stars with a wistful sigh and dream of the adventure to be had there.

Over the next days and weeks, I will be putting items up to trade.  The idea is to trade these items for other bigger, better items, working my way up to the final goal:  a round trip ticket around the Moon!