Adventures in the Boondocks

Adventure Everywhere...

2011-08-17T13:01:00.004-04:00

I started this blog nearly two years ago now. It was originally a project for a viral marketing class. I wanted to create a website where people who wanted to travel off the beaten path could find the secrets of hidden wonder everywhere they went. I've suddenly found myself in the midst of a year long traveling adventure. Over this year I have learned how to truly walk upon the road less traveled. I have found myself in the most ridiculous situations. In and out of the jungles and forest of North and South America. Meeting the street bums of Haight Ashbury and living it up in the posh lands of New York City. I started this website before I knew what it was to be a traveler. To go with the wind. Still asking Google to dictate my plans.
Travel isn't about seeing those places on a map that scream tourist attraction. Or asking a tour guide to teach you all they know about the history. Its about meeting a local in a coffee shop who offers you a ride in his RV to a full moon party he knows about. Or asking a bus driver to let you out before the stop because the view from the window is too beautiful to ignore. We travel to follow our intuition. To find out where life takes us when we surrender to the flow. I hope these stories and life trinkets inspire those of you who think choosing to be free isn't an option. I started this year with nothing. A lost wallet and a lost cell phone, forced into the dance of life by unknown forces. Anything is possible. Adventure is everywhere. The spice of life lightens the sense of everyday. Sunshine sprinkling on a hidden cloud. Lost in the ethers of the Boondocks. I come to you from the forest, from the mountain top from the city. These stories are memoirs of what can happen when you let go and let the magical unfolding of existence create an origami masterpiece.
Enjoy the unknown, discover the unimaginable, and blast into the future without fear. Discover yourself on a lost leaf or in the eyes of a companion. Reach in your heart and extend your passion. Take in the unfolding and bask in the pleasure of the moment.

photo by Jessica Rose Lehrman: Can buy her zine on Etsy

Dreamers and their Dreams

2011-08-13T19:57:00.001-04:00

This is a response to the Gaia My Playa project and website. Check it out if you're still looking for a ticket

Burning Man is a catapult, a dream, a whisper, a scream, An essence that rises from sands of a lake bed. A whirling sensation that tickles your toes in the middle of winter. Its the thought that after all this we're still gonna make it, humanity. A place where your best friends flourish their souls and greet unknown smiles with familiarity. The dawn of a new age. Where you're more likely to watch the sunrise than the sunset. Its not a city, a festival, or a place its a dream where the dreamers live. Where Gods and Goddesses collide and dance into the eternal light of sun and moon, yin and yang, masculine and feminine. Its a place that grasps the fullness of existence. Yo-yoing through a lively hood of mechanics. Winding up thoughts ideas and expressions and shoots you off into the vastness of humanity to spread light and love. Burning Man is a teacher, a place where mortals no longer exist yet we experience the highest intensity of our mortal selves, only the creatures of the universe transcending fractalited bodies on Aquarius cacophonies of expansion. Where astrologers tell stories to travelers and travelers uplift the weary with new found strength.
I waited for the Playa for four years, finally 2010 the Metropolis awaited. Its been nearly a year since the Playa stripped away my everything. Life and belongings accidentally packed away on an RV headed for NYC, my body and spirit headed the other direction to San Fransisco. So the adventure began. I've been gypsy vagabonding ever since, experience earth, culture, people, worlds, growing expanding with every step my fishy flow takes me. Now I'm ready for a full circle, to come back to the Playa, to give back what it is it has given to me. To be there as an inspiring force for all those other first timers, to pass on traditions, to share art, to expand the ever expanding family of burners, and lovers. To teach. To heal. To instigate. To regenerate. To create. with those who I know matter the most. And those I do not yet know matter.
You said you wanted to give this ticket to the person with the most honest response. Well I cannot honestly tell you that this ticket should be mine. This ticket belongs to the world. It belongs to every being that believes in the capacity of our universe and the power of the heart. It belongs to the man sitting next to me in the coffee shop, it belongs to the woman across the world who will never hear the words "Burning Man". Burning Man is for all those who hope for a better world, and I cannot ask you to give me this ticket. I cannot ask you to deprive another human of the emotion of pure ecstasy and wonder that one feels when cascading across the Playa in a never ending motion through a dust storm floating in the wind of wonderment. Or what it feels to fall in love on the Playa sand with your twin flame beneath a glowing yellow full moon. Of the freedom of expression in a dance when every particle of your being is released and turned to one with the cosmos. But what I can say is that I am meant to be at Burning Man this year. To come not as only as a child of innocence and naivete but as a wise soul ready to teach and share knowledge that I have gained since my first Playa experience. Not until I am there will I know my true calling to this years Rites of Passage, but I know deep in my heart that I must complete the year cycle, to return home to thank the place that has blessed me with a year I couldn't have imagined before my feet touched the dusty sands of the Black Rock City. To learn, share, grow, catapult, and join again with humanity to share with those who couldn't experience and grow the Burner Spirit. I can only hope that you will help me in my journey.
Love to all, and blessings on our ever-changing path, with a kaleidoscopic visions. Never stop the dream, always share the spirit, and turn adventure into wisdom, into love.

CREATION

2011-07-21T18:17:00.004-04:00

Batiking with the wonderful Toni Tone. Taking a break from Giant Puppets Save the World, Tone and I get Shanti. Om signs, chakra lines and inspirational times. Thanks to Fremont Arts Council for supplies and amazing ware-house space.

Seattle sunshine glistens through trees, the rare moments of courageous curiosity leading to artistic evolution. Travelers and awe filled wonderers inspire the creative light within ready to ignite with passion. Flip the switch, tell your tale, find the artist within and EXPLODE with the creative conscious.

A Face Melted Generation

2011-07-14T16:59:00.011-04:00

In an enchanted forest we lost our minds, questioned existence, and swayed in the wind to sounds of the tribe. Sound Tribe Sector Nine has been making music since 1999. In 2007

STS9 started the first Re.Generation festival in Horse Shoe, North Carolina. Now, four years later, the show has re.emerged, gathering the tribes on the West Coast for four days of music and STS9. This weekend they let loose as bassist David Murphy rejoined the crew after battling cancer. Reunited they played their souls fullest for the next generation.

When the tribes gather in the forest creation, synchronicity, wonderment, and falling leaves crumble together in an ecstatic dance. Electrifying Horning’s Hideout like the vibrancy of the peacock feathers nestled in the grasses, we bumped to the bass. Bouncing together along the hidden hills, we welcomed in the summer sun.

While we frolicked in the green of Northwest summer forests, settling into the trees of our four-day home, our ears were taken over by sounds of electro future storms. Octopus Nebula, with jumpsuit and space goggles pulled the wide-eyed festy goers out of the forest and into the bowl. Futuristic electro sounds, coupled with a look of fantastic retro space, shades, we enter into Re.Generation with a jolt.

Glitch Mob opened the weekend with epic intensity. Technology meets nature, when dubsters meet hippies, we all join in the non-stop dance extravaganza. Glitch Mob played with a live flare they have lacked in past performances. Raging on stage with drums and silk aerials to a crowd just becoming alive with the sound and vibrations of what would become an epic 4 days.

Big Gigantic started out the first full day of music. Calling on the audience for a sun dance, Friday became the day of bounce. Big Gigantic's fusion of Bassnectar’s womps and the floating electrodes of STS9, the music begins pumping people up for the night ahead.

Lynx followed in the fairy like wonderment of the Sawmill Stage. Shrouded in trees, the one-woman sound of Lynx, vibrated in the green nook. Igniting our fiery passion with her beat box knocks she sky rockets the crowd into another dimension when she lets out her voice. During her raw performance of Tricksters and Fools she fully engaged the crowd, unlike some new artists who are hiding behind their DJ booth.

<a href="http://lynx.bandcamp.com/track/tricksters-and-fools">Tricksters and Fools by LYNX</a>

Friday was the first set of three STS9 performance throughout the weekend. With many more to come, and Bassnectar being the main attraction of the evening, this set was low key. They didn’t hit the crowd like their music would, come Saturday.

We couldn’t stop thinking about him before he came on, we couldn’t stop feeling him while he was playing, and we couldn’t stop talking about him after he finished, Bassnectar stole the show at Re.Generation. We asked for it and he happily obliged, maybe we didn’t know what we were in for. He hit bass that tore my brain and scrambled my body, with visuals that did the same. Little did I know that face melting music existed before this “Bass in your Face” set. A wild crowd set topsy turvy by a long haired wonder. He shattered out bass heads then gently set us down with a slow tempo farewell, lightening us off to Tycho’s amazing set.

Whatever it was that Bassnectar had exploded in the crowd Tycho gave it all back. For the generation that got re.tardation at Bassnectar, Tycho gently tossed us that grounding magic to bring us back to earth. Like dandelions in the summer evening of Oregon bliss, the crowd swayed to beautiful visuals and sounds that whispered to our souls.

Tycho live visuals test footage from ISO50 on Vimeo.

The creation of this line up fortified the musically obsessed and drug fried community of the magical monsters temporarily housed in the enchantment. Like a snowglobe sprinkled with glow sticks, the forest was electrified. Seeing the entire line up of amazing musicians, the crowd meanders back and forth between the two stages. Each sound stacked perfectly upon the past performance as if a magician knew bodies and minds perception of a post Bassnectar, Tycho, and the necessary downtime after the body womping of Friday. Saturday was exactly the chilled out flowing contact dance vibe we had all needed.

Malah, Inspired Flight, Elliot Lipp and Lotus all flowed with mellow, sweetness, and down tempo low beats. The crowd Swaying in sea foam green, waiting for the sun to come out and play. Enjoying the rays as they hit through the trees and glistened on the tails of festy creatures. Glitching together the stories of the night before, the day felt like soaring through clouds between stages. Melting into each other as we regain our minds from the debauchery before.

For three days STS9 brought their utmost to the stage, but Saturday they shared the utmost of their musical talents with the audience. Showcasing their fantastic ability to combine many styles, music fanatics of various backgrounds joined together in an eclectic array. From their jam band roots to their womping influences they gathered a varied crowd on the dance floor. For stomping boots and bare foot daisies that danced into the night.

Beats Antique followed, where the circus creatures come out to play. Their circus performers and on stage shenanigans always make for an interesting performance. Tucked into the woods the more tribal sounds of their drums shone through as the playful audience got strange.

Its Sunday and the dub is back. After the Saturday chill break, we get a combination of some differing types of Music, including that bass. Crawling through the forested hilltop Sunday gives way to calmness. Shenanigans fade as the high finally lifts and reality of the beautiful weekend sets in. Napping on hillsides over looking Break Science we fade into bliss and dissect the days.

A molasses crowd melts in slow motion to the tectonic beats of Eskmo at the Sawmill Stage. STS9 gives their final performance, and the last of the weekend, as people give the last of what their body has left to join together and celebrate the magic.

Solitude...might drive you mad

2011-05-15T14:42:00.004-04:00

Beaming together, I might beam yellow and you might beam blue, together we can green the planet
Like a fern stuck inside a dying tree, waiting to spill out and green the forest
Or a fish with too many streams to choose which, bumbeling along bubbles and sea monsters that know where they are going
These funny little lines and silly little stories
Like mucus creatures sliming out of our mouths
At sunset it all made sense, sunrise rose brings truths to dark romances
Your true glory isnt in what you can touch, but how you feel when you touch it, don´t bother caressing forms you can not see
You won´t hear yourself clearly with the distortions of echoes on a blank canvas sound obsorbed by the blanketed fire
Senses injustified islands caught in a whirlpool of swirling hurls my mind feeling like a swirling whirly topsy turvy zipper carnival ride still trying to digest my corndog
We trample the land with unknowing eyes
Ignorant beasts biting at the dragging coat tails of those less fortunate
Not caring to comprehend the future of our enterprise
Overtaken by a rainbow of colors the prism captured becomes one light bright and searching for direction
Expect the unexpected for expectations get you no where
Ninos tucked away rolling through greener grasses
Clasping hands drug into the fairytale
Adventure never ends
Twinkling Cusco fountains and tumbeling Quillabamban waterfalls
Dont forget the simplicity inside a coffee mug
You are the creater of the dream the creature of this moment
Shine on!

Rainbow Party ..don´t stop...don´t stop

2011-05-11T11:48:00.004-04:00

A feeling without a name an experience where no words can be attached

Moments creating creatures in spider webs and staircases spinning into spiraling circles
Around firelight

Mysterious fireflies drumming a never ending beat in the nightMoments become life times and faces melt into souls
Surrounded by shaman who don.t know their own wisdoms
Unlocking truths with keys made of river water and crystals
Life is spinning twirling in vanishing memories coming and going in pixie dust
Finding magical men in the forest with wild berry juice on their faces
Secrets lie in life and love and giving presents of abundance, that abundantly give
Tiring stories never end dancing in the twilight full moon circles
Showered with silver shinning bliss on the bare shoulders kissed

with Palo Santo sagrado and jungle flowers mystical scented beauty
Swaying in trees in the silence of morning dew bliss caught in the cross roads questions the questions and perfection in the unknown
Guitars surrounded by accrobats circusing pirates devouring Dulce de Leche at midnight ceremonies
Delighting in the existence of being and nothing less...nothing less than humans and their beings

Machu Picchu

2011-05-10T13:52:00.003-04:00

Sacred Valleys turn time and spirits rustle through my bones

Spinning over cliffs ancient stones hidden in rocks and paths to nowhere

Floating on mountain tops before sunrise

Its different from up here all these steps leading to existences that have ceased to exist

A battle to see the dwellings listening to buses course up and down the tracks

Comfortably seated tourists waiting for the wonder snapping photos of what they can not feel

Hidden in the jungle scratching for a path

Running into cliffs and waterfalls in the night

Three children, playing mountain men and gypsies

Clashing in the night, temper tantrums and cursing at rocks and branches

Weary wanderers destined for a destination

Sun brings warmth and paths and a way to see the future

Alighting magical wonderment of ruins and lost cities above the cliffs of the world

Like a bird of paradise rested above a pine forest

Lines of fiction

Vining timeless riping moments

Lost paradise

Rockside mountain tops quake spirits and slide stories

Perched above the world

Alone and not so lonely

We are the spirits, we are the mountains, we are the twinkling light in the universe

Peruvian Fantasy

2011-05-05T11:52:00.004-04:00

Cities cover dust and stormy desert hillsides
Made of straw and stone
A barren wasteland brought to life by a people
Drifting by in guilty comfort my eyes fearful and tearful of lives unlived
Habitants hidden in their huts
Hermits
Scorched by sun and life the weary tuck away
Mad Maxin. through dessert waves
Desserted sandy mountains ebb and flow
The beauty of forgotten land rising to the horizon
Engulf the highways, the earth.s heart
Opening, unfolding the world so close, dosed with magnificience
Untucked treasures make love to the soul and desires
Intervention sparkles at the silly notion of eternity
A saharan-peruvian princess masked from the sun
Staring out windows that dazzle with creation
The heavenly Goddess creature exposes her grandeur
Harsh heat, but loving laughter we cascade across the blue horizon
We are the dreamers of the dream

Sacredly Dreaming

2011-05-04T18:01:00.011-04:00

A community on the hill
Vines crossing in a jungle of spiritual knowledge
Jungle fruits and donkey calls

Chocolate goat milk devine

Mountains stretching to the unknown
Mesmerized by Hawks in flight
I fall into the Earth
Tumbeling into never ending green
Engulfed by Ecuadorian Mountainsides
And disappearing wouldn´t matter because its all too beautiful
We forget about the world only a twinkling valley bellow
Echoes of reggeatone remind us that life and ufo.s exist

Going into battle we machette the hillside morning dew

Tenderling loving the garden in afternoon rain

Laughter floats in the wet winds, careening over hidden waterfalls

Hiding in lost boy lofts staring at the stars, listening to the secrets the trees tell the grass

Twinkling dewy wonders unlock stories of universes on brail patterned leaves

The smallest gallaxy spiraling fractals in the imagination

Goddess spirits collide, rejuvinating wonders, unlock fairy tale magic from the heart

The garden our playground the jungle our fortress
Learning, Loving, Living

A community on the hill
http://www.sacredsuenos.com/

Motorcycle Diaries

2011-02-20T11:41:00.003-05:00

I.ll take you to Rio Negro, he said, But wondering wanderers riding blissful in the afternoon have magnetic bonds
Hours passed as trees flew by the wind carssed faces glowing with sun kissed radiance
Like beatnicked pondering posies we twined down mother.s path
Fists clenched into jaw shut eye lids
Teeth jittering round bounding turns over sloping hillsides
Bottomless tomorrows and sunrise todays
Pavement turning through cloud tops diving into misty forested underground
Hidden from reality of hills and forested countryside
Coaxed out by gravity and slow motion vehicles
Freefalling into the green and enveloped by the cascade
Vrooming by villagers basking in the load of a days work, while we ride by both in question of the other
Vertigo mountains melting in motion
Crystal castles in the morning light of dawn kissed hills
Spanish villas of open counry side sliding past eysight in colorful emotion
No sense unturned, rain drenched heads to soppy floppy toesicles, melted by coffee stands and empanadas made by lucious locals
Dropletts wash away fantasy
The soggy sweetness deepens on two floating bodies hoping tightly for dissapearing clouds
Awkward tensions seep with rain into muscels as laughter disapates the cold clenched hands
Lost in lyrical motion travelers part on a Valentine of synicism

Jungle Paradise

2011-02-19T17:03:00.003-05:00

Fading into the jungle
Fleeting into the greenery with the mist
Appearing on the other side in a mystic wonderland Garden Party
Emerald green walkways leading to River paths
Simplistic suprises winding on wandering whimsicle whispers of patterned daising
Winding up machete jungles of hidden showers
Bathing in shivering shimmering tumbles
Giggling golden sunshine into quintessential moments
Exploring temples of dreaming Krishnas
Luciditiy wanes in the lonely nights
Hugging heart roses of familiarity with warmth and light
Twinkling showering love into sexy nightmares
Words of confusion, charades of misunderstanding
Declaring defiance against the vastness of existence

Pirate Tales

2011-02-13T18:51:00.004-05:00

Cathedrals larger than the sky

Misguided Ants crawling towards cement and gold clad heavens

Against the back drop of natural wonder

Creeping clouds hide beauty waiting for curious eyes to unfold

Dancing Ecuadorian rainbow waterfalls

Love fantasies transpire in grottos beneath the candel lit moments of silence

While the rain pratterned windows gaze above hobbit homes and rushing rivers draw dalmation guides to hidden treasures in the hillside

Sun snuggled snowcaps dazzle above green furnished catepillars

Spiraling into open hearts heading into the zen wilderness

Hooplas bring debauchery as pirates raid the grass nooks of Banos and the rock craddled crevaces of Cotopaxia

San Pedro boiling over bubbles of hallucinations beneath the jungle to sounds of trumpets on the radio

Twirling circles over vast valleys in hammock comedies

Never stoping the motion of the whirling world

Quito Boondocks

2011-02-06T19:41:00.003-05:00

Welcoming taxis with liberty statued windows
conch shell mornings and chanting robed fairies whistling through the green and blue structures
encapsulating the sun warming peaceful blessed lunches
sacred temples and bodisatvahs
giving life for the reaping and harvesting of love souls lost
in the abiss of trains and planes and places to be
mango dripped hands attract french men with sweets and pastries
pretty pink paterns alight the pastel streets
crowded with the colors of a country
accompanied by strangers with stories of even stranger describing dangers in the distance
coffee over conversation making noises in the darkness
passing police with friendly ambiance wave goodye to foreign cries
language barries breaking friendship forms
cooking sizzling bubbles of concoctions over chanting hare krishnas
toothless intentions sing short and sweet, laughter in the air of scents in unknown senses
honey bananas drip away the day in secret gardens of rooftops glitering over senseless seas

Vegas Boondocks...

2010-06-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

As promised the continuation of the misfortunate events that lead to a truly unforgettable adventure.

The streets were dark and the desert cactuses loomed like distorted characters all around our car that was soon to fail us. Dazed in a hung over stupor from the three debaucherous nights that had superseded this moment our awareness of the world outside the small, fast moving vehicle began to fade. Slowly, as though the car had entered the same Vegas haze as its passengers, smoke began to filter through the hood until the windows were swirling with the deadly smell of gas and an overheated car.

Half in hysterical tears and half in hysterical laughter, hours passed on the darkened street, hidden from any civilization that may have existed around us. The AAA toe truck bumbled its way up the road, bouncing and screeching over the pot holes on the desert track. Strapped wearily above the streets on the bed of a toe truck, five giggling, wide eyed girls crammed once again into the desert death trap. Before heading off for an unexpected evening in hotel beds, our apparently blazed truck driver gives us a glazed, blood-shot look and says, "Now be careful girl the brakes aren't too good."

Roadside Boondocks

2010-03-01T17:32:00.003-05:00

My lust for the Boondocks was sparked when I received Jack Kerouac's On The Road on my 20th birthday. His obscure passion for people, adventure, and freedom were Kerouac's only traveling accoutrements.

In the 1950s when hitch hiking wouldn't get you stuck inside someone's refrigerator in a million pieces and doing the dishes at a truck stop dinner would get you a meal, travel without expectation was a way of life, now it may turn into a traveler's worst nightmare.

With the global internet connecting our traveling generation, there is an accessible family of similar travelers helping each other get from point A to point B and enjoy the time in between. Bed buged hostels and stenchy Greyhounds are the broke man's travels of the past.

This article is a list of different ridesharing websites, getting people together over gas, and a few hours of intimate conversation. Craig's List has their own rideshare listing, especially good for local travel.

The newest trend in backpacker's travel is couchsurfing. People all over the globe are opening up their living rooms for those vagabonders without a place to stay.

The global traveling community is once again opening its doors for strangers to become acquaintances and the regained freedom of the road.

Disastrous Boondocks

2010-02-15T21:05:00.008-05:00

Boondocks travelers explore the deep crevasses of the earth searching for the world's secrets. Often ignored is the destruction of a land that offers so much beauty.

In January Haitian lives were shook to their core, by an earthquake that wiped through a population. Destruction shouldn't be a traveling deterrence, instead a traveling inspiration.

Organizations are banding together to pick up the rubble and puzzle piece the country back to a whole.

Trainings like the Disaster Volunteer Reserve prepare the courageous to face the high stress disasters they might encounter.

Alternative groups like the Burning Man bunch, known as a boisterous crew is turning up on the other end of their partying ways. Burners Without Borders is an extended group across the United States working on a number of projects reaching out to countries through volunteer work.

A number of Haiti volunteer groups have been compiled on www.haitivolunteer.org.

DMZ travels

2009-12-18T10:53:00.003-05:00

Delirium sets in as I spend my 6th and final day glued to the computer. I haven't seen the sun in days except for its shinning crescent peaking out to wish me a day of good studies. Any contact from the outside world comes through the looking glass as friends sitting side by side stay silently entranced in those finals they must complete. Vocal verbalizations no longer make sense as the only text I can respond to is that of a typewriter. I try to sit near a window but none of the blinds will open. People have slowly been disappearing. Once an atmosphere of chaotic frantics now a lonesome cellar discarded below the brick. Everyone's left, they're enjoying the world out there, the one I have forgotten. Is it nearly Christmas? I have lost all track of time. The dessertion is unbearable.

Glitch Travel

2009-10-27T10:25:00.005-04:00

Traveling can be full of horrible suprises that you never expect leading to an over stressed experience that hardley left you enjoying the places you went to see. On the way to the city of sin these traveling glitches were what found me with the most rewarding experiences....

story to be continued

Indonesian Travels

2009-09-13T18:32:00.010-04:00

There are those times when sitting down at the computer can lead you into a spiraling adventure deeper and deeper into the crevasses of the Internet. Technological sessions that end in one's inability to blink looking up the useless nonsense that exist, yet never ceases to interest. It was during one of these time murdering moments, googling my spirit animal the Komodo dragon, that I stumbled upon Indonesia. It was then that I began my research.

I quickly found that Indonesia is the cheapest destination for travel in Asia. A thrifty spender can use as little as $15 per day. Nusa Tenggara is one of the least developed and least visited parts of Indonesia. The area is broken into many different regions, all which offer a different insight to the local culture. Wikitravel lists the varying subgroups of the regions.

Of the most stunning oasis in Indonesia, Borobudur offers a sight no other place in the world could boast. This fantastic temple is an extraordinary example of 8th and 9th century architecture.

From sandy beaches, to rare animals, to hidden mountain treasures Indonesia is secluded, often forgotten island of adventure and awe for those searching for adventures in the boondocks.

Sasquatch Travels

2009-06-04T12:52:00.053-04:00

Every year as the seasons change from dreary spring to summer lush, and the sun finally comes out to kiss the cheeks and shoulders of North westerners, who have been left without a ray in the rainy months of winter, we band together to rock. With all the homemade tie dye they can find and festival costumes of many kinds, hippies, hipsters, punks and bros head to the Gorge for a weekend where the dancing never ends, the music never stops, and somewhere there's a Sasquatch on the loose.

Day 1
As the sun rose over the Gorge, in the hours where back at home my head would still be resting peacefully on my pillow, the sweltering heat drifted into our tent as well as the radio tunes of our ecstatically loud Canadian neighbors.
We escape the righteous heat waves to be bombarded by the colorful next door characters that would be our entertainment for the following three days.

Day 2
Breakfast and some spigot cleaning left us feeling rested and ready for a pool party. Splashin' in the mini pool, sittin' pool side and blowin' bubbles at other festivalites the festivities soon lead to a corroboree of shenanigans.

A corroboree is the costumed ceremony and celebration of dancing and singing performed by the Australian Aboriginals. Introduced to me by my new Australian mate Sonya.

Tools needed for a Sasquatch Corroboree:
a corroboree stick, commandeered from another's campsite, to be used at the ceremonial dance

tribal paint, used in traditional patterns to symbolize one's tribe

and of course every festival corroboree must feature a pair of festival shorts, once worn by the owner then discarded and sacrificed to ensure festival fun

Day 3
after a short stint at trying to reach the river we found a better use for the van...
Loaded up with flotation devices, cooler in tow, everyone aboard, and we've instaled the perfect campground PARTY BUS!!!

Once we finally left the campgrounds, there was some music too
Girl Talk's epic mixes over the Gorge at sundown, was a sea of bobbing heads.

more epic pictures from Sasquatch on the website
animal collective
girl talk
crystal castles
mos def
deadmou5
erykah badu
santigold

Tuesday morning and we wave a final salute to the epic weekend we call Sasquatch. Like the mythical creature I'm not quite sure if any of it was real. Maybe I'll find out next year.

Characters in Travel

2009-06-01T14:57:00.008-04:00

Creatures of the Sun

Creatures of the sun are Rockstars
Perched on the hills of Dolores park
Like birds of paradise in a field of daisies

Creatures of the sun are Hippies
Bouncing to rhythm, flowing to rhyme
Dreads twirled around bassnectar beats

Creatures of the sun are Vagabonds
Boisterous, accented characters
Debauchery upon the magical mystery tour

Creatures of the sun are woodland Lovers
Traipsing the trees, glowing in the leaves
Hidden in the glittering green

Creatures of the sun are my World
Floating through my bubble as it tumbles across the West Coast sky
Radiating rainbow reflections on an ever changing sphere

Ecotourism Travels

2009-05-06T11:03:00.005-04:00

As travel becomes increasingly more accessible the human curiosity to discover grows. These factors have put tourism at the forefront of the world’s industries.

Human curiosity has lead to another growth on the world wide scale, ecological destruction. More and more tourists must be aware of their carbon footprint, that is the excess pollution created from travelers, and the impact visitors have on sites that only a few decades ago were completely untouched by civilization.

In an effort to combine sustainability and travel a new way of seeing the world has gained increasing popularity and notoriety, ecotourism. This form of travel is a way to experience original habitats while doing beneficiary services to the area.

While many have been diving into the experiences of ecotourism companies have used the rising popularity to their advantage. Travel websites and tourist guides have recently been throwing the word ecotourism around without practicing sustainable travel measures.

GoNomad has posted an article helping those interested in ecotourism to select companies that truly help the environment.

Ecotourism has opened up many opportunities for travelers to experience the most natural habitats. In choosing this sustaining industry when traveling it is important to understand and practice the ecotourist establishment and its fight to protect and benefit the environment.

Santa Barbara Travel

2009-04-29T20:28:00.016-04:00

State St, the embodiment of Santa Barbara’s eclectic culture, is the epicenter for all this small beach town has to offer. Meandering the downtown area one will encounter varied personalities from tourists snapping rapid fire cameras, to model like figures out to find the perfect dress at Sax Fifth Ave, to schizophrenic bums hassling passersby for spare change.

While diversity is brought by the people, establishments such as Starbucks and Juicy Couture have gentrified a once unique beach street to a tourist tinsel town. Wandering a mere block from the stroller filled and skater cruisin’ State St, an afternoon of bustling bistros, pastoral picnics, and shimmering shops can be found.

Running through this downtown main street is Figueroa St. Home to one of the last surviving neighborhood barber shops in the area, Figueroa is the prime example of the quainter side of Santa Barbara. Speciality stores, such as the Knit and Pearl Boutique and the Santa Barbara Cigar shop, play devils advocate to the Macy's and Nordstrom of the downtown area, making Figueroa the non-corporate treasure of the tourist mecca.

The true color is offered by cafe windows. Each restaurant, furnished with cultural decor, acts as a threshold to far away countries.

Cantwells, the popular neighborhood deli, is a place

where everyone knows your name...and your order

Like stepping into a family Italian kitchen Gino's Pizzeria

offers homey aesthetics and atmosphere.

Coming to the end of the Figueroa excursion stop by Jeannine's cafe, serving the best lattes in Santa Barbara, and enjoy the grassy knolls and Spanish architectural display of the Santa Barbara courthouse.

While the sunny beaches and bike surries of the Santa Barbara tourism offer plenty of fun in the sun, the Figeroa boondocks put an afternoon adventure one block from the road far more traveled.

Youngster Travel

2009-04-01T09:40:00.016-04:00

Summer came shinning through the grey drudgery of Seattle's winters like a child's face at Christmas time. Slipping from our bulky layers, as neighborhood youngsters, we frolicked across the blacktop coldesacs and made retreats to the pine canopies.

During those lazy days sunlight filtered through the branches setting the forest aglow with a fairytale twinkle. This magical setting formed the backdrop of our many summer adventures.

Under the glowing hollows we hid from responsibility and let our imaginations run free. School, parents television, the puzzle pieces of life as we knew it, broke apart and crumbled away just beyond the tree line.

Rotting stumps became our new castles and vines our transportation. Suburban culture murmured in the background of our childhood boondocks.

Years later and miles away from my romping territory I search for the same uninhibited adventures of my past. Where society's grasp on the moment holds no significance. Gliding across the open road, sneaking off the pages of a guide book to find hidden treasures. Whether it be a funky psychedelic cafe on a side street of Santa Barbara or a hidden wilderness far from highway 1, adventures in the boondocks.

Free Travel

2009-03-23T20:45:00.005-04:00

That's right I said it FREE TRAVEL! It seems an impossible concept, but blow away all your preconceived notions of commercial tourism and you might just find a greater adventure, fit inside a smaller wallet.
Read these helpful tips on low budget travel, and learn how out-of-the-box sight seeing can make your wildest travel dreams a reality.

Responsible Travel

2009-03-16T14:27:00.006-04:00

Responsible Travel offers a new kind of tourism. One that gives back to local communities and helps tourists experience the true culture of an area. The site is a collection of eclectic holidays from family vacations in Transylvania to walking tours on the Inca Trail.

The following video explains the importance and significance of Responsible Tourism: