CompuServe Stories 1983-85

This is the print version of my online column on CompuServe (arguably, the first travel blog, though of course “blog” had no meaning yet). Here, I was blissfully immersed in Key West while my old Ohio home was freezing… the story was written on the beach in January, and references “the ultimate blind date” that…

I quickly discovered the allure of hostels as I began my new bicycling life… and this one is one of the finest of the breed. If you ever pass through Brunswick, Georgia, take some time to savor this complete non-sequitur. A more detailed version of this is a chapter in the Computing Across America book;…

This event on the Chesapeake and Ohio Towpath in Maryland was the first of the truly bizarre encounters of my bicycle adventure… bordering on the terrifying, rife with absurdity, and yielding a crazy tale that entertained audiences for years. It became a full chapter in the Computing Across America book (and is in the PDF free…

The adventure was starting to unfold, and my monthly narratives from the road were published in CompuServe’s magazine (as well as more frequently, in the CAA area online) Many, like this one, were later fleshed out as book chapters. by Steven K. Roberts Online Today magazineJanuary, 1984 The journey — the high-tech bicycle odyssey —…

This was written in early October 1983, during the 762-mile shakedown cruise that began the adventure aboard the Winnebiko. I was still feeling my way and getting to know the tools, and this is #2 in a monthly column that ran for over a year and a half (this was the origin of the Computing…

This was the first of a monthly series that ran in CompuServe’s Online Today magazine from November 1983 until July 1985 (20 chapters). These were written during my first 10,000 miles, and were more refined versions of some of the updates published in real time on the system in the Computing Across America database (GO…