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Charlotte Observer, The (NC)

June 23, 2005

Section: MAIN

Edition: ONE-THREE

Page: 1A

Column:OUR LIVES

HE FOUND HIS PASSION ALONG 31,000 MILES OF ROAD

PETER ST. ONGE, STAFF WRITER

Andrew Harrison was back in town last week. He caught up with some old friends, watched a little golf at Pinehurst. He made sure his life's belongings were still safe in storage.

His car has 31,000 more miles on it since he left last April, and his ex-roommate now has a baby boy. Everyone has logged a year of life without him. Most everyone still thinks he's a little crazy for leaving.

Last April, Andrew had a fine job selling security guard services to businesses. He had an apartment with a terrific view on Graham Street. He was unsatisfied.

He'd come to Charlotte three years before with a goal to make as much money as possible while working the fewest hours. It was an understandable objective, if not admirable, and soon his salary zoomed past $50,000. He worked from home. His friends were jealous of his job.

"What is wrong with me?" he thought.

So began the rumbling of an unfulfilled soul, an affliction that knows no age limits or income levels. Andrew, at age 28, wondered how people found their passion. What does it take to love what you do?

Last April, with no mortgage or family to tug at him, he decided to find out.

He cashed in his savings and told his bosses he was leaving. With an inkling he might write about his quest, he took a tape recorder to Chapel Hill to interview University of North Carolina broadcaster Woody Durham. In Washington, D.C., he interviewed an astronaut, Dr. Mary Cleave. In Little Rock, Ark., he spent the day with the chief justice of the state supreme court, Betty Dickey.

Now, 14 months are gone, and Andrew has done more than 90 interviews in 18 states with people who love their jobs. He has talked to a hat and headdress collector in New York, a filmmaker in Asheville. He has talked to a strip club manager in Las Vegas (really, it was research.)

He finds stories - and lodging - from friends and a fledgling network of admirers who read his wide-eyed Web site, iamontheroad.com. He has run through most of his savings account, and now that his bosses have realized he's not coming back, they've stopped giving him contract work to do on the road. He's tempted sometimes to end the trip and unpack the comfortable life he had.

But in Miami, he talked to Teresita Wardlow, a computer programmer who quit her job, unfulfilled, to become a teacher. "Why didn't I do this before?" she remembered thinking.

In Memphis, he talked to Geoff Calkins, a Harvard-educated attorney in Washington, D.C., who gave it all up to cover high school sports for a small newspaper in Anniston, Ala. Calkins is now a sports columnist in Memphis. He warned Andrew that not everyone is as lucky with a midlife risk. But he also said he's not sure where he would be if he hadn't taken the leap.

And so Andrew has decided to write a book this summer about his interviews.

He'd also like to do speaking engagements at universities and businesses. But mostly, he wants to keep telling other people's stories.

"I've found my passion," he says. Of course, none of that may work out, because life gets to edit the drafts we write. But Andrew has the answer he set out for - that to find what you love, you first have to try. It is a simple, difficult thing to do. "I'm still trying to figure it all out," he says, back on the road, headed at least toward something.

Know of a Good Story?

Peter St. Onge writes about ordinary Carolinians and the joys and challenges of daily life. Our Lives appears weekly. If you know of an interesting person or story, call (704) 358-5029 or write to ourlives@ charlotteobserver.com.

Illustration:Photo

T. ORTEGA GAINES - STAFF PHOTO. Andrew Harrison quit his job to look for inspiration. He discovered it by driving around the country to talk to people who loved their jobs.

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