A Journey of strength, Storytelling & the road ahead
Choosing to look forward when the future is unclear
I’m Mike Bowen-a storyteller shaped by recovery, endurance and alignment with passion. My work lives in the space between insight and action.
This is a story about choosing to live fully,
even when the future is unclear.
This site documents Mike Bowen’s journey across America as he faces vision loss and mental health challenges – offering an honest reminder that fulfilment, hope, and purpose are found not in waiting, but in choosing to move forward.
““The interim between knowing and doing is
the space where suffering thrives.”
– Brianna Wiest
Top photo by Gretchen Powers
Meet Mike Bowen
Mike was raised in Nashville, Tn and after going to college twice began a career working in Campus Recreation for three universities all in the southeast. It was a decade of working closely with college students and helping develop leadership and life skills in the classroom of outdoor leadership. In 2020, Mike followed his long time hope of living in Bend, OR and regaining his mental health. He has lived out of his camper van since May of 2020 with his beloved 3 lagged dog, Charley. He enjoys riding bikes, taking photos, trail running and live music. Most of all, he loves connecting with others from the spirit of travel.
After more than a decade struggling with addiction and depression, Mike got sober on July 4th, 2023. His depression symptoms vanished within a few days and have never returned.
Mike lives with a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa. R.P. is an inherited degenerative retina disease slowly stealing his eyesight. There is no known cure and decline is imminent. He had no idea about this genetic possibility due to his history of adoption.
Mike is pursuing a 3 year mission of 3 cross country bike trips in 3 years. The whole story about this mission can be found in “Mike’s Story”.
on the road
Trips
Mike is on a mission to ride three cross country bicycle trips in three years. The trips are merely the highlights of a highly personal effort to create growth, make up for time lost to addiction and to pursue his dreams as his vision fades.
TransAmerica
Great Divide
Current
Mike’s Speaking Engagements
Focus on mental health, vision loss, and resilience through lived experience
Vision Loss &
Retinitis Pigmentosa
Mike speaks about losing vision not as an ending but as an invitation to stop looking and start listening inward.
addiction
& recovery
With humility and truth, Mike shares how sobriety became less about quitting something and more about coming home to himself.
Living simply
& with intention
Rooted in simplicity and intention, Mike invites audiences to live more deliberately in a distracted world.
Coming 2027
The Book
Eyes on the Horizon takes readers inside Mike Bowen’s cross-country journeys, sharing his experiences with resilience, mental health, and vision loss. A story of courage, adventure, and choosing to live fully.
Sign up below to be notified when the book is released and be among the first to follow Mike’s journey from the pages of this compelling memoir to the screen of the documentary
Get In Touch
This journey exists at the intersection of mental health, disability, and hope,
By sharing his experience, Mike creates space for honest conversations and
reminds others they are not alone.
Blog Posts
On the Road with Mike
Minimalism
Vision Loss
Career
Sign up Today!
Follow the journey — quarterly reflections on the film, the rides, the speaking, and the story behind the book.