What is the main conflict in The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac?

Ray Smith, a mid-thirties East Coast beat writer gaining national attention, travels to Berkeley, California and lives with Alvah Goldbook, an East Coast beat poet at the beginning of his career. Ray meets the younger Japhy Ryder, a student of Zen Buddhism and outdoors enthusiast. Ray and Japhy forge a strong friendship based on mutual experiences and a shared love for Buddhist philosophy, poetry and the simple life.