Sooner or later, everybody thinks about running off to join the circus. It's not always the circus, but when you get ulsers, high blood pressure and burnout all because of job pressures, running away sometimes looks pretty good.

A friend of mine ran away after decades of working for the state (Fla.). He bought a pickup and a travel trailer, then loaded up his wife and dog and hit the road. Sometimes an email fits around for months before he comes home to answer it. The whole country is his big top.

I knew another guy who quit his job and spent years explorering the Tennessee River system in a canoe. He camped on the bank, fished a little, or just drifted with the current. He said it cured his high blood pressure. What a clown!

One couple, both stock brokers, took a job on a cruise ship and have lived on board ever since. Cruise ships are a three-ring circus every day.

A fellow teacher gave up teaching and went to work for Coca Cola. Teaching didn't bother him, but being broke all the time did. Now he has no trouble making his house payment. He says the bottling plant is a lot like a circus.

I guess I did it myself. I quit and hit the road. No more headaches, no more foot problems, no more stomach aches, and only one boss. Life has been a circus ever since.
Howard