You will not find young men like Dylan Nigh every day.
He is aiming high in life.
“The main thing it fulfills is the relationships you have with other people, even if you never met them before,” Nigh, 29, said Thursday about his first novel, Fool’s Gear: A Completely Devastating Thing I’ll Probably Do Again. “That’s really where the novel comes from.”
It’s his first published book, chronicling Nigh’s 2023 mid-winter journey of an estimated 4,300 miles on his 650 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, which carried him from coast to coast, including 14 states.
He set out on the sojourn, using a month of accrued military vacation time, as a captain who served 31/2 years at Fort Bragg with Special Operations Warfare. And it came after a divorce from his college sweetheart that left Nigh searching for himself.
“It was a way of moving on,” he said. “Of moving toward something. I knew I wanted to have some version of myself at some point.”
From North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, and his home of San Diego, California, he met strangers along the way.
Some, he says, were leery of a tired and somewhat disheveled motorcyclist coming into their hometowns.
“I was an outsider and a transient,” Nigh said. “But people were opening up. I was only there for a day, but it was a good way to see (the country) from other than a tourist’s perspective.”
Yes, You Can Go Home Again
There’s something you should know about Dylan Nigh.
He has an engaging way.
He has a curiosity about his world.
He looks you in the eye.
He’s interested in your life, too.
Nigh’s journey took him to Memphis, where he spent time along Beale Street at the Rum Boogie Café and saw Sun Studio on Union Avenue, where the singing careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis took root. He marveled at the breathtaking views of snow-capped peaks and barren deserts in the cross-country motorcycle ride.
“Nature can be awe-inspiring,” he said. “I was doing every stop, and it’s just sort of like you’re in the moment, and you’re just thinking about the next fun thing you are going to do.”
His month-long trip culminated in San Diego, near his hometown of Lakeside, California, where Nigh grew up with three other brothers.
“I found things I had lost in myself,” Nigh said in putting the pain of divorce behind him. “I quit feeling sorry for myself. I kind of healed in the California Bay Area, and to be surrounded by my family the closer I got west. It was almost a victory lap. My mom greeted me, and my dad came home a little later. Seeing my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Two of my brothers were there, and the family three-legged dog.
“I ran into a friend. I grabbed the soil. I looked up at the constellations, and they were like I remembered, and I teared up. I had a beer with my parents. They say you can never go home again, but I did. I slept the best I had in a long time.”
A Voracious Reader Turned Writer
Nigh has been a motorcycle enthusiast since age 13. He is a bookworm and an insatiable reader of any and every book he can get his hands on.
He can soak up every word.
And his Fool’s Gear: A Completely Devastating Thing I’ll Probably Do Again has become a best-seller at City Center Gallery & Books downtown, which is owned by Dr. Hank and Diane Parfitt, and where Nigh was honored as “Best New Author of 2025.”
Now, Dylan Nigh has written a second work, Praise (Blank), about a journey of religious exploration, which is described as a read with refreshingly universal appeal.
“I do believe in Jesus Christ,” Nigh said. “The life of Jesus Christ is a model for good living. I believe there is a lot of truth and beauty in the life of Jesus Christ.”
He took pause.
“It was him and 12 guys,” he said. “Look what he has today.”
Today, there reportedly are 2.3 billion Christians.
Dylan Nigh is a young man living his life with purpose.
When he wasn’t soldiering on Fort Bragg, you could find him reaching out to the less fortunate in this community. He has volunteered for Buddy Sports in flag football, soccer, and softball for ages 10 to 45 with intellectual challenges, reached out to the homeless with food, and supported Fayetteville Pride, an organization for the LGBTQ community.
“I got to see so much of Fayetteville,” he said, “and my family always has been big on acts of service.”
‘Dylan Has That Gift’
Nigh left his military service on June 4, and now he is heading to San Diego with plans to pursue his master’s in public administration at San Diego State University.
“And then I will go to law school at the University of San Diego,” he said. “I’m particularly drawn to criminal law.”
He also hopes to be a part of the San Diego Veterans Advisory Council and volunteer on behalf of others.
“I want to go back,” Nigh said, “and do things for my community.”
Hank Parfitt knows good writers, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see Dylan Nigh on the New York Times Best Sellers list one of these days.
Epilogue
“Successful novelists are great storytellers, and Dylan has that gift,” he said. “Even though his stories arise from uniquely personal experiences, they become universally relatable in his hands.”
For Dylan Nigh, there likely will be some more motorcycle journeys, and you can be sure more novels.
“I’m going to keep writing,” Nigh said. “I did write these books for myself. I thought there was something in them that was worth reading. I will always write. It’s an impulse. It’s therapy on paper. You can keep it to yourself or share it with others. The best things in my life I never saw coming.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
