There was a blinding white light. Laura readjusted her sunglasses and pushed them higher up on her face. It was not a welcomed sight, nor was it a lethal image, but it was painful, raw and innocent. Like a child fresh from the womb, the light emanated and seemed to freeze everyone near. Time stopped while people stood in their tracks. They were locked in their gaze. Their mouths hung open. However, instead of the delivery of a newborn baby—revered with praise—this light was epitomized. Like a demon from the depths of shadows, it emerged and brought shock. And like a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Rains fell on dry lands. Three days of clouds, wind and accompanying cold kept work to a minimum. It first arrived as a fine mist, turning the invisible into the visible; the gossamer threads of geometric designs, the fine clear beads of moisture, the frogs lavishing amongst fresh pools, and the canopies’ quiet with their absent butterflies. It was beautiful as the bush became still and that space for reflection broadened; the birds seeking shelter wherever they could. But soon the change was hard to breathe, uncomely harsh. The sun was missed. The work was tedious and slow. And the extinguishing [View Full Entry]

---

---

A steady machine came tumbling out of the forest. Gears grinded shifting to a higher speed. Eucalyptus branches crunched and disintegrated beneath the tires. Birds scattered in flocks. Wallabies bounced through the roughage. And the smell of burning oil emanated from the engine block. Behind, left in the dust, dragged a line of steel-enforced chain, whereby three rotting logs followed. At the helm of this beast was the driver. His name was Claus (and the beast’s goes by Rodger). But the driver here is of interest, for Claus is a brute of a sixty-some year old German man, infamous with his [View Full Entry]

---

---

There was the World Nomads’ Ambassador Van scholarship, but they had other plans…and a poor memory as their fault. Therefore, Australia became a bout of freedom—contemplative exploration amidst leisurely activities of reading, writing, studying, more exploring, dreaming, and the likes of a dynamic introspective lifestyle suited for a Seeker. It is holiday. It is an escapade, retreating from a reckless society to return to the Walden Pond of humanity’s roots. For reasons unknown, the freedom to write and express left my fingertips nine months ago. Inspiration traveled elsewhere. My imagination through words silenced and a deep need to expunge the depths [View Full Entry]

---

---

Traveling is a choice, and it is a choice to make traveling sacred. Travel can be more than an eye-opening experience into a new culture of relics, ruins, history and tradition. It can be more than a destination-oriented expedition from Point A to Point B. The way of the traveler can transform into a heart-opening pilgrimage. From this point onward, we choose to travel as a force of inner discovery, unpeeling layers of personality to reach the core of purpose: who we are, what we are here to do, and how best we can express this essence within ourselves. The following [View Full Entry]

---

---

Finding yourself in solitude. Everybody hears this time and time again. From the fruition of youth when sent on “timeout” to the isolation every individual needs in order to hibernate with one’s emotions. Even through days of work, locking the mind and body behind concealed doors in order to cram a semester’s final paper or spurn a creative project. Isolation, solitude, being alone—these words derive a connotation of growth and progress. They emphasize a deeper understanding not only of one’s surroundings, as well as past and future actions, but also of the most significant and empowering quality—finding oneself within the present [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yoga is the art of release. It is the study of one’s concentration upon the diverse layers of the body, exploring deeper with an advanced focus into the mind, until eventually delving and settling forever within the spirit. This ancient tradition of breath, movement and meditation developed within the Hindu culture of the Indian subcontinent becomes the practitioner’s sacred ritual. Therefore, finding the right yoga retreat is equally a part of one’s practice as is a particular inhalation of breath, an exhalation into a specific posture, or the stillness of silent observation. The right retreat must align with the right individual, [View Full Entry]

---

---

A day of love. A day dedicated to that special someone who makes your body whimper, your mind rest at ease, and your heart flutter with freedom. It is a day for love. All we need is love, and here comes February 14th, Valentine’s Day. And of course love is the last thing on people’s mind. This might sound crazy, but take a second to stop and look at the world at large. Look not only at our western society, with its’ agendas deep in the bogs of consumerism, causing wallets to become sticky with humidity and the consumer’s palms sweaty [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Road’s Consistency Home and settled, now travel bound—it is a constant push and pull between the nature of yin and yang. A traveler is a traveler for life, and to be home is equally a journey as it is while on the road, but there’s a vast difference, a change in perspective. And it’s from this new perspective the traveler takes to the road yet again. Last week I spent my Sunday evening at a National Geographic Live! presentation introducing Wade Davis, a cultural anthropologist who has spent his time with various indigenous communities throughout the hidden world. Forty-eight hours [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ah yes, the holiday season. It arrives with festivities and it departs with greater festivities. Goodbye… and please do not return until next year… if you must. Christmas has always been about family, yet in the same context, Christmas has been about the spirit of giving—in many different ways. When I say giving, I am referring to a scale of giving; from honest care to its’ opposite, or shall we say mass consumption and the hoards of consumers, entering shops and browsing online catalogs with as deep or as shallow of pockets permissible. And this holiday season I experienced both worlds, [View Full Entry]

---

---