Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and SURPRISE
from… WASHINGTON! In order to surprise my family with my homecoming, most of
you were probably in the dark about my leaving South America. So, surprise! I
returned home on Christmas afternoon, went to Guatemala the next day, to Miami, and then back to Seattle to stay for no less than
a few years; something already tells me though that I’ll be back somewhere in
Latin America eventually…
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| Heidi and I met this amazing lady on the plane and we wound up staying at her place in Guatemala City! |
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| Antigua, Guatemala |
For our Water Project, we have not met our goal of
$10,000, but we hit $6500, which allows us to sponsor a well, rather than
completely construct one. The best
present other than being home with my family would be to bring happiness and
security to the lives of hundreds of people just like us. Lets kick off 2014
the right way and get this well built so we can make a better life for someone
on this planet.
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| Heidi at the Cosmic Convergence |
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| All the lovely people at our camp |
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| Bringing on the 2014 pre-dawn at the Desert Dweller's performance on the lake - incredible |
So, I was home for Christmas, then I left for
Guatemala on the 26th for a festival called the Cosmic Convergence
on Lake Atitlan. “It was a
beautiful celebration of the heart, a cosmic gathering of intelligent people
with big ideas, good intentions and flow in their body. An amazing mix of music,
art, indigenous culture, inspirational cinema and ecological building practice.” This is what the website says, and I’d
like to just simplify it by calling it a spiritual hippie-fest.
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| January 1st, 2014. - Lake Atitlan, Guatemala |
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| Lake Atitlan |
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| My home for a little while at the Miami airport |
After bringing on the New Years and
exploring some of that area of Guatemala with Heidi, I went to Miami, trying to
get home on stand-by (vacant seats on the plane). After a few days of trying to get out of Miami, I bought a
ticket and wound up spending a week in Miami and The Keys.
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| Miami |
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| Some homies |
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| Beach day with hostel folks |
It’s not really my style, but I really
appreciated all the Caribbean and Latin influence, as well as the 80 degrees
and bright blue water beaches! I
met a Norwegian and an American, so the three of us rented a car and went out
to the Keys for a few days. I got
a flight, had a little trouble in Houston, got re-routed to Seattle and took
the train down to Portland, finally getting back on January 10th
after nine days in transit from Lake Atitlan!
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| Highway 1, heading out into infinity |
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| Out exploring the Keys for a couple days |
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| Further from Washington than South America! |
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| Bird Sanctuary |
I am now in Seattle, back working for
Expedia.com and am currently working on finding a new place to call home! That said, this will be my last blog
about the crazy bicycle ride between Cuenca, Ecuador and Valparaiso,
Chile. I might post some
statistics and other photos if there’s enough expressed interest. If any of you would like to follow my
comparatively uninteresting life of backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, and
sailing back in Seattle, feel free to ‘Friend’ me on facebook. Otherwise, I’ll just close this chapter
with the following:
Any great experience gives us the opportunity to
redefine ourselves. Whether you jump on a bus bound for another city or leave
on an adventure to an unknown continent, the way we perceive the experiences
and relationships we’re surrounded by is up to us; we create our mood. I believe
the secret ingredient to having a monumental adventure is to plan nothing and
never use a guide, rather find your own ‘road less traveled.’ I use the bicycle
with tattered photo-copy maps and recommendations from travelers – there are
tons of creative ways to explore the worlds’ landscapes and cultures, it just
takes a little imagination. From here, just flow, listening to where your soul
and instincts takes you. This past year traveling held some of the best moments
of my life and allowed me to recognize and change a lot of old habits,
replacing them with new ideas and actions. I strove at first to find who and
what I was looking for in this trip, but learned that if I had patience, what I
lacked in my life would come. From experience to experience, relationship to
relationship, everything happens for a reason and every day I live is to my
astonishment always better than the last.
THANK YOU to all the donors who have helped us
raise what we have for our water project in Africa. You know who you are and you
should be tremendously proud of the humanitarian equalities you’re fighting
for. THANK YOU Dad for beginning this adventure with me and essentially getting
me started on a trip that I will think about every day for the rest of my life.
THANK YOU Wilhelm for hosting us in Chiclayo, Peru - thank your grandpa for us
for cleaning our blood in his special machine! THANK YOU Thomas for all the
endless conversations and crepes and to you also Tenny, you guys both inspired
me to do a surprise homecoming. THANK YOU Suzanne and Tobias for helping me
through the Cusco ordeal and buying Oregano at the plaza in Cusco haha. THANK
YOU Loic for launching me into the second chapter of my trip and for being a
great companion for those months spinning south – so many oatmeal-tuna-cracker-soy
meat-soup packet lunch mixes out in that damn windy desert… Rinconada! THANK
YOU Gael, Grace, Rebecca, Juliana, James, Marianna, Nicolas, and Christa who
made Sucre, Bolivia an incredible memory that I’ll never forget. THANK YOU
Nigel for showing me that it is possible to tour with a bike too heavy to lift.
So glad to see you doing something like this at your ripe young age. THANK YOU
Anto, Mauro and Fauco for the early morning road trip around Salta and an
introduction to the indescribable friendship that nearly every Argentinian
shares. THANK YOU Lukas for introducing me to the art of meditation and
positive energy. You helped me remember that my bike trip is not about biking;
I hope to one day see you in rainbowland. THANK YOU Sr. Antonio in Belen for
creating a haven for cyclists bounding with art and inspiration. THANK YOU Coco
and Gregg for all those warm starry desert nights spent stuffed in the tent
watching Breaking Bad or Boardwalk Empire. You douche bags really brought out
the creativity in my life and reminded me that sharing everything is the only
way to live. THANK YOU Vickie for spontaneously hosting six smelly cyclists in
your tiny two-bedroom house when we needed help in Chilecito. THANK YOU Jackie
and Kayla for those awesome nights camping around the fire – the ‘family song’
will forever be stuck in my head at the most unsuspecting moments. THANK YOU
Miguel, Cecilia, and friends in San Jaun for not only accepting dirtbag
strangers into your home, but for making us feel like your family. Grido’s, the
asados, the boliches and endless Fernet and Coke… You guys are exceptional
examples of a genuine friend. THANK YOU Victor in Uspallata for letting me into
your home and for the opportunity to make Camping Venancio into a refuge for
‘people like us.’ Never did get your real name, gringo loco… THANK YOU
Nastasia, Fanny, and Charlin for getting me on my feet with work in Santiago
when I first arrived. THANK YOU Sina for the fun adventures around Santiago and
to Francisca, Yuri, Santo, Pablo, and gang for all the late nights on the
balcony with Spooky relentlessly licking my apparently delicious ankles. THANK
YOU Ivan, James, Jason, Lena, Seona, Diedre, and others for sharing the good
times at Ventana Sur Hostal, whether in the pool at 1am or dancing salsa in the
family room. THANK YOU Juan Carlos for the pre-mountain pass motivation sesh
and for offering your house to me in Santiago should I return. THANK YOU to
Sierra and Liam for being the best fucking Canadians that ever lived OH CANADA...
THANK YOU Poroto, Luke, Dave, Rafa, and Katrina for making my departure really
really really hard. Throwing shapes at The Terrace, bike rides, drives, Chuckee
Cheeses, rock climbing at the beach, jam sesh’s, countless after-party
sunrises… The energy and happiness we share can move planets and one day we’ll
all be howling again under that creamy Chilean moon.
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| Poroto, Luke, Dave and I |
I would never have met the Valparaiso gang if I
hadn’t known the Ventana Sur gang and I would never know the Ventana Sur gang
if I hadn’t known Nastasia. I would never know Nastasia if I hadn’t met her
sister Julianna, who I met because of Loic… I would never know Fran and the
Santiago gang without Coco and Gregg, who I met with Lukas; I would never have
met Loic or Lukas or any of these extraordinary souls if I had started with
anyone but my Dad.
To all of you that have followed this trip, I
hope you’ve enjoyed the ride! Your support and enthusiasm is always treasured
and I hope you took a little piece of inspiration from the trip to use in your
own life. I hope you had a fantastic New Years and a 2014 filled with
simplicity and happiness. All the relationships and experiences in our lives
are connected, leading us somewhere; the decision is up to us whether to fight
the current or take the risk and flow. Valparaiso happened to lead me back to
the Northwest, but don’t believe for a second that I am ending my trip. I’m
just changing locations. :)
