[CWS Calendar 2013] Day 9 - Character
Yes, I know that I missed the deadline, but I will post the character anyway.
I'll need him for today's task.
Task: Choose one of the hobbies from July 6th and develop a character who engages in it by adding detail.
Dylan Young, isn't young any more. He feels it in all his bones. Next year, he'll turn 50 and he thinks of returning home then. But he has had the same thought back when he turned 40, so deep inside he knows that he won't do it. He'll probably die of old age somewhere in the South American jungle, or somewhere in the wastelands of Africa.
He is short - for a North American white man anyway - and his body is slender but trained. He has dark hazel eyes and very short, wavy, dirty blond hair. It's starting to grey now, but he doesn't mind. His skin is leathery from all the sun and wind it is subjected to.
If people ask him where he works, his standard answer is “I'm a self-employed explorer”. It's not that far off. His hobby, indeed his life, is to travel around the world. Non-stop. On foot. According to him, he's been around the globe five times in the last twenty years, and he plans at least two more tours before he retires. World travelling is an exciting and rewarding business. He has seen more things than other can imagine, has met native Indians in Brasil, monks in Tibet, and Inuit in Canada. Since he doesn't have any money, he relies on the people he meets and has, due to that, gotten to know an awful lot of people from all over the world. He also speaks more languages than he cares to count. He has heard their stories, seen the way they live and learned what is important to them. He seldom stays in hotels, since he can't afford it. And he has only flown four times in his life. On occasion, when he knows he want to take the train somewhere, he works somewhere until he has the money for the ticket together. And then, he travels to another place. He owns nothing but what he carries with him - and the experiences and knowledge in his head.
It wasn't always like this. Years back, when he was young, he went on to work as a construction worker after he finished high-school. It was alright for a year, but then the monotony of his life struck him and he decided to change it in the most radical way he could think of. From one day to the next he packed his backpack and simply … walked away.
He stays in semi regular contact with his sister Amanda (who has married his old school rival David Lewis), but it's more for old times sake. He listens to her talk about her own life on the phone, and is usually lost about all of it. The things that are important to her, have no meaning for him any more.
He has a son named Ruben, who is 20 years old now and lives in the Netherlands. They haven't seen each other in years, but he send the boy postcards and - on occasion - finds a letter waiting for him at a small town he has passed through before. He knows that it is important to stay in contact less he is thought dead or missing.
His only travelling companion right now is Bamboo - a two year old red shiba inu that he got from a friend in Japan. Bamboo has been travelling with him since she was able to walk by herself, and he would never leave her behind if given the choice. She is a great tracker, and very loyal.
He loves challenging himself to new things and hates fancy society and it's fancy parties, fancy dresses and overall fanciness. So it is only natural that he spends all of his time with the lower echelons of the societies he visits. But that has never bothered him. On the contrary, he found that these people are generally more hospitable and courteous that others. He listens to their stories and passes on his own and that of others he has visited. If he meets again with someone he had met year ago, he is always very welcome.
His favourite season is springtime, and now that it has come around again, he is ready to tackle one of his latest dreams: Siberia.
I'll need him for today's task.
Task: Choose one of the hobbies from July 6th and develop a character who engages in it by adding detail.
Dylan Young, isn't young any more. He feels it in all his bones. Next year, he'll turn 50 and he thinks of returning home then. But he has had the same thought back when he turned 40, so deep inside he knows that he won't do it. He'll probably die of old age somewhere in the South American jungle, or somewhere in the wastelands of Africa.
He is short - for a North American white man anyway - and his body is slender but trained. He has dark hazel eyes and very short, wavy, dirty blond hair. It's starting to grey now, but he doesn't mind. His skin is leathery from all the sun and wind it is subjected to.
If people ask him where he works, his standard answer is “I'm a self-employed explorer”. It's not that far off. His hobby, indeed his life, is to travel around the world. Non-stop. On foot. According to him, he's been around the globe five times in the last twenty years, and he plans at least two more tours before he retires. World travelling is an exciting and rewarding business. He has seen more things than other can imagine, has met native Indians in Brasil, monks in Tibet, and Inuit in Canada. Since he doesn't have any money, he relies on the people he meets and has, due to that, gotten to know an awful lot of people from all over the world. He also speaks more languages than he cares to count. He has heard their stories, seen the way they live and learned what is important to them. He seldom stays in hotels, since he can't afford it. And he has only flown four times in his life. On occasion, when he knows he want to take the train somewhere, he works somewhere until he has the money for the ticket together. And then, he travels to another place. He owns nothing but what he carries with him - and the experiences and knowledge in his head.
It wasn't always like this. Years back, when he was young, he went on to work as a construction worker after he finished high-school. It was alright for a year, but then the monotony of his life struck him and he decided to change it in the most radical way he could think of. From one day to the next he packed his backpack and simply … walked away.
He stays in semi regular contact with his sister Amanda (who has married his old school rival David Lewis), but it's more for old times sake. He listens to her talk about her own life on the phone, and is usually lost about all of it. The things that are important to her, have no meaning for him any more.
He has a son named Ruben, who is 20 years old now and lives in the Netherlands. They haven't seen each other in years, but he send the boy postcards and - on occasion - finds a letter waiting for him at a small town he has passed through before. He knows that it is important to stay in contact less he is thought dead or missing.
His only travelling companion right now is Bamboo - a two year old red shiba inu that he got from a friend in Japan. Bamboo has been travelling with him since she was able to walk by herself, and he would never leave her behind if given the choice. She is a great tracker, and very loyal.
He loves challenging himself to new things and hates fancy society and it's fancy parties, fancy dresses and overall fanciness. So it is only natural that he spends all of his time with the lower echelons of the societies he visits. But that has never bothered him. On the contrary, he found that these people are generally more hospitable and courteous that others. He listens to their stories and passes on his own and that of others he has visited. If he meets again with someone he had met year ago, he is always very welcome.
His favourite season is springtime, and now that it has come around again, he is ready to tackle one of his latest dreams: Siberia.