PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – In his new book “Vagabond Pilot: A Voyage of Discovery and Renewal” author Captain Robert Young describes his journey taking flight across the United States in 2019 on a mission to leave his troubles behind.
Young was a lawyer in Los Angeles, CA for years until, he explains, “things just fell apart for me, family issues reared up that I knew nothing about from back east, and bit me financially, and I was basically rendered homeless and penniless as bankruptcy took everything from me.”
During this time in his life, Young says he was “deeply depressed,” when he realized “’I got to do something.’”
“The one place I am most passionate about and love to do is to be in the left seat of my beloved aircraft that I’ve been blessed to have for a long time, a little two-seater Grumman,” Young said.
From there, the author said he decided to fly across the country–recreating a roadtrip he took when he faced similar challenges in law school.
“I flew and saw my friends and fell in love again with me, and America and got my mojo back,” Young said.
Recalling one of the lessons he learned from the trip, Young said “if I can fly this little two-seater across America and back in all sorts of weather and different things then I can do anything.”
“The road isn’t always paved with gold. We all hit bumps and the question is how you choose to deal with that and each of us is really our own pilot,” Young added.
The author said he also learned to not feel sorry for himself and that he can do anything he sets his mind to.
“I wish everybody could see what I saw about this amazing country…the expanse and you could see from a lower altitude – which I never saw when I was flying back for years across the country – how the country was really formed, how settlements and communities started around waterways and all the farms…it’s just incredible,’” Young recalled.
Besides the topography, Young says he remembers the people he met along the way.
“We are a wonderful, wonderful bunch of people,” Young said.
“Vagabond Pilot: A Voyage of Discover and Renewal” is available on Amazon.