Road Trip Recap

"A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving."- Lao Tzu

Why does a road trip of of 10 or so days have to be different from any other 10 or so days? What you choose to make with each day that is given to you is completely up to you. Maybe you can't control what is thrown at you, but how you handle it will determine... you.

I am starting to count the days.. less by the time, the dates.. and more by the lessons I learn, by the interactions that define my adventure.

That being said...

The road trip from which I am still recovering included trips to
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania
Harrisonburg, Richmond in Virginia
Columbia, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina
And finally Charlotte (Matthews) in North Carolina.

I will say that a change in scenery, which includes changes in people, attitudes, atmosphere, conditions, situations, etc.. does facilitate some unpredictable dynamics and helps point out how stupid your life is, if by chance you have become stagnant. Then again, lessons are only learned by one who is open.

But also, at the end, you come back. Instead of wishing I were still on the road though, I came back with more rigor and determination to transform things back at home. I subscribe to the idea that your problems stay with you no matter where you go until you solve them...
I am not a fan of quick fix vacations.

Due to our limited budget, we were a fan of this place... Cheap gas and fast food

So now I am back home, got to spend some quality time with the girl, will have to see if this job works with me (assuming I passed the drug test), cleaning the fast food out of my system, getting back in shape, refocusing on what I really want and so on...

"People say you have to travel to see the world. Sometimes I think that if you just stay in one place and keep you eyes open, you're going to see just about all you can handle." - Paul Auster

My feet...? Yeah!

"The man who is truly good and wise will bear with dignity whatever fortune sends, and will always make the best of his circumstance." - Aristotle

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they really are." - Samuel Johnson

"Listen: we are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you an different!" - Kurt Vonnegut

The party I traveled with was such a positive force on me and everything and everyone else we encountered. Yeah we got "lost", but we were never really lost. The decisions you make and your attitude and approach towards a situation will get you much farther than you think, and is much better than trying to force a situation or "manufacturing" fun.

We found ourselves giving hugs to people we met only a day ago, grills reopening just to make us a couple of sandwiches, services with a smile from fellow brothers and sisters, and freebees which came out of nowhere, extreme luck with the law/police and et cetera.
"Be yourself"... that's really it... but those two words are saying a lot.

Our "camp" we set up as we prepared to sleep on the beach under one of the clearest skies in recent memory

Horses!

We did make some stupid moves.. like sleeping under huge power lines.. intoxicated..
But it was a great road trip overall, capped with a meeting with nuclear physicists and author Thomas Campbell. I hope to see him again, under more casual conditions.

That's it, that's my blog entry... just more adventures, these just happen to be more external than others of late.

I know I don't describe them in detail, but I like sharing stories in person if anything at all.

Andrew as Chauncey Clearwater

Jess checking out local news and events

Joey getting "ICED" as we celebrated his birthday on the road...


The unreal never is: the Real never is not. This truth indeed has been seen by those who can see the true. - The Bhagavad Gita

Scope eludes my grasp, there is no finality of vision,
... tomorrow a new walk is a new walk. - A.R. Ammons

"People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive." - Joseph Campbell