made it out past monkey head nebula and gonna head out toward the edge, see who's been out there and see what's out there. make a little fuel money at the last stop a little over 172,000,000 credits so, so far the trip is paying for itself.

out about 5400 ly on my way to 10000 ly and my first stop made 317,000,000 credits just scanning and bio's, no worries, no timer, just enjoy the deep space. if I casually continue I should be able to cover the tritium for the whole trip and maybe a profit to boot.

well I've seen enough of the bubble, people (including npc's) everywhere! the first leg will get me out a little over 10,000 ly where an explorer starts to feel comfortable. no goals this time, just find something different and hopefully unseen or discovered. as I traverse the stars I feel a certain peacefulness come over me and the feeling of solitude enamores the soul with the galaxy. their are probably few who truly understand my sentiment, but those who do, do.

after collecting a billion or so from the spire sites they have now changed how they react, also some have seemed to closed down or gone dormant, interesting. the goids are either planning an exit strategy or preparing for an offensive, we don't know. also the guardians maybe extinct or secretly waiting for the right time haven't shown themselves or any indication their still here, we know they separated into two sects but where are they now. maybe deeper exploration in the know areas and beyond might reveal some hidden information.

we got back after a short trip out to the east (@ 5000ly) and we had an enjoyable time finding bio's and scanning planets and stuff. I was fortunate enough to make a little over 4 billion for the weeks exploring at a casual pace and Flint was close as well. going out in the black is a peaceful and sometimes exciting venture when you just relax and take it as it comes and enjoy the slower pace than being in the bubble.

fought them off again and this time they threw the book at me, my wing mates were elsewhere and I was defending a ground port solo. first it was the scouts (I let the npc's take those out) ad then here come the interceptors, yeah two on the first drop, I dispatched those, docked, repaired, rearmed and went back up... damn a bassi and another interceptor!, no... two interceptors with the bassi!! worked through those (after two dockings) and when I go back up there's a medusa and apparently I have become her focus. fought her and ran and docked, came back up and DAMN she's waiting on me! as soon as I cleared the port she's on me like a chicken on a stinkbug! but she's wounded from the prior engagement so I finally kill her. all in all in a short period of time I made 136,000,000 credits for a quick mornings work.

imo the exploration should be savored, not rushed or done for a badge or credits. I've only done a little over 57,000 jumps and over 800 first foot falls and haven't thought about the rank. what motivates me? the tranquility and peacefulness of deep space, being the first to see a planet, a new system or even a new bio, just checked and I've first logged over 500 bio's. I don't care for the "prestige" or bragging rights, I do it for me, I've walked on over 1100 planets alone. we've just got back to the bubble yesterday from a 60,000ly trip and prepping to go out again. true explorers are a different breed and unique in their own right.

well, we made it back home to the bubble and will rest for a few days and one or two of us will go back out in the black for sure. this last trip was exciting with good discoveries and bio's along with some geo's tossed in. hopefully this next trip I'll get the 1000th foot fall.

we did a trip for bio's and exploration data east and then toward colonia. we got close and one of the guys wanted the jaques quintenian still so of course we swung by there for one. found many planets and moons with bio's and thebearjew on his first deep exploration found four earthlike systems! damn lucky for him. we're about 13,000 ly from the bubble heading home for some rest, thargoid combat and then I'll head back out to get the rest of the first foot falls (one per system) to hit my goal of 1000.

went south east about 6200 ly and got my 500th first foot fall and found the "golden unicorn" system undiscovered, earth like, water world and high metal planets checked all the boxes fss, dss mapped and first foot falls to "own" everything. So far that's the sixth system I've found while out exploring that I call my own,