On "vacation"?....Or What??

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Dearly Beloved Family, Friends and Colleagues....

Well we have been away quite a while now ~ exactly 3 1/2 months which is longer than William and I have ever been away from home before (not counting leaving the family home). Every so often some one of you says something about our long "vacation" and we sort of blink or flinch because well, sometimes it sounds like a put down (but it's probably just envy)...

Other times people say "how lucky you are!" And truly, we do feel very blessed to be able to travel and participate in the world this way. However, most people going on vacation also have a home to return to. This year, and officially as of the month of April what we had been using and calling our home base in Dillon Beach (by the grace of my family's generosity to let us inexpensively rent it whenever we wanted to land in California) is no longer available to us.... now that my kids and their friend Ollie are full time renting the house at Dillon Beach and are moving most of our stuff out!!

Anyway, we are feeling kind of homeless but enjoying the freedom of traveling in this manner in which each day we decide whether to stay where we are or move on and to where exactly. It is a unique experience for sure and I recommend, for people who have ANY inclination to push their edges in this way to DO IT! sometime in your lifetime if given the chance. It's really amazing to be able to interact with people from all over the world whether you can speak the same language or not. In the 21st century people go on vacations of all sorts and with all kinds of purposes but what we are doing falls somewhere between that and being nomadic wanderers. Often it is so exciting and different each day that it is like being high on a mind altering drug. And in fact, IT IS A MIND ALTERING DRUG! Other times it is just plain exhausting and we have to take time to hide away in our room. So far, we still have a strong feeling to keep going.

Often when we first land in a new place and see how dirty and littered it is in some areas and we are overloaded with stimulation from so much new.... everything...all the time we feel homesick. It is challenging to constantly face this AND my own attachments to everything. So, I have to tell you that I personally am always thinking of you, running a dialog in my head of all the things I want to share with you, write about this journey, my thoughts often overflowing with inspirations (which by the way will very likely become the, or one of the books that I have always wanted to write). Lately, as we were passing the 3 month mark of our travels we were especially homesick, and now I can tell you that we absolutely have a huge, dedicated place in our hearts which we are more aware of than ever before for Northern California and Sonoma County. We even thought about returning now because well, we still can whenever we decide to (though this will more or less involve completely creating home from almost nothing), but there is something that still pushes us onward, and well yes, because we still can....
....And I admit that its quite like being a kid in a candy store!! Oh my God/Goddess!! there are so many intriguing, alluring places to go, and so little time! especially if you are willing to endure a little discomfort. And here's another thing: don't let anyone tell you that the world is getting smaller (because they/we always tend to run into and attract certain people and things in our lives, so we say "oh, what a small world it is!") But don't you believe it! The more we travel around the more we feel and find that the planet is huge, quite big enough, and it takes a lot of TIME to move from one place to another and hopefully as you do so to actually appreciate WHERE YOU ARE each time.

And then there is the matter of the almost 7 billion people on the planet too. As we are moving around we are getting a sense of this. I have no doubt that the size of our planet can handle this number of people, on the other hand people are EVERYWHERE and in great numbers making noise, trying to survive and while there are plenty of remote and desolate areas still, we just can't help but notice that the earth is just chock full of people!

So another point I will make about "vacations" and why we don't feel we're on one is because people usually go on vacations to see places or, not do much. O.K., we have eyes so we are seeing places but REALLY what we are doing is about the people, its about experiencing the cultures of people. So we don't just go to a place and look around and act like tourists. To be sure, the people of these countries see us as tourists and we often find ourselves going to the same places that many other tourists go but what we are is "culture eaters"! Yes, that's a new phrase I have coined for what we are doing. Some people can do this and thrive on it or be fed by it. Some people wouldn't dream of it. I am somewhere in the middle because I have to retreat and digest and assimilate it often whereas William (more extroverted than me) just keeps eating and eating and eating! But there is a balance to be kept. And we manage to do that between ourselves as well (in case you were wondering).

So, People... if you aren't curious about people and how they live I don't think you would like this but we invite you to do it through us at a safe distance and that is why I am writing....

I can say that I LOVE PEOPLE and have many experiences where I feel so touched! Everyday there are simple, maybe short, maybe longer interactions in which the wonderful spirit of people always shines through. And then I can also say that sometimes I just HATE WHAT people DO. And I am very disturbed sometimes. I hate how people litter and pollute and degrade the planet and the ugliness that people have created in many forms as we live here on earth. But/and it is heartening to learn that in all corners of the world while there are these issues (and these things that I resist) there are also many people doing things to change that (and I do pray that it is enough and that we can change some of our ways fast enough...and people let me tell you when you get away from California and you see what's going on elsewhere you would think this too)! O.k. I'm not going to get going on this tangent. But, really, the cultural exchange is truly priceless.

We do miss you all and California, and oh, the DIVINE ORGANIC FOOD, the variety of vegetables... our unique culture. We do appreciate you! While at the same time we are truly fascinated with the places we are traveling, and the culinary aspect is always an adventure but no matter how gourmet, I'm sorry to say the flavor of the food is just NO MATCH for the organic food in California, even when we manage to find organic vegetables abroad (Ubud Bali had lots and we were very well nourished there but in most other places we have been thus far wide varieties of veggies are not available and "organic" is almost unheard of. We did find some to our surprise in Cebu City, Philippines and Phenom Penh, Cambodia at the "Livingroom" ~ a restaurant).

So, we look forward to returning and you may ask "when will that be?" Well, it will be early October or sooner. For now, the lure of exotic places still becons us on and maybe its partly because I or we fear that once we stop we'll be tied down again and won't be able to, or even want to travel like this again. It isn't really that easy but we are "on a roll"! And for you Xango friends, you must know that we had stars in our eyes to travel well before we got involved with the business and it still seemed very important for us as far as our cosmic timing to keep the travel plans.

We first got the idea to travel this way last year while in Thailand and Laos. One of the rewards of the road is meeting fascinating and interesting characters from all corners of the globe (well there's a lot in SE Asia from certain corners like Australia, England, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, France, Scandinavia and the U.S.) There are not many Americans doing it this way but we do meet some. Last year we met several American couples who were on long journeys of a year or more.
We have met some folks traveling for 2 years. It can be a lifestyle. We were inspired by these people and I thought "what would that be like? Maybe we could try it for 6 months and see how we do." So we set off this year with that time frame available. About a 6 weeks into this I started getting more comfortable and so we decided to work it out so we could keep traveling even 3 months beyond that.
And that is our current idea but we are also very responsive to what circumstances may present too. These days so many places are so oriented to visitors that one can find any kind of accomodation and altough our U.S. dollar does not go as far lately (even since we were in SE Asia last year) it still goes pretty far in many of these countries.

Those in our age group traveling the "long hauls" however are FAR out numbered by younger people who travel around with large backpacks and basic clothing and gear. (I'm not very good at being this austere and carry more than one pair of shoes and have bought beautiful clothing along the way). These days you can pretty much go any way you like but it seems to me that the backpacker bunch, as emminently practical as they are also like this image ~ you know it seems kind of "cool"! We don't quite fit this picture of young, cool and tough, and can usually be seen wheeling our luggage around though we can also put it on our back if need be. Some of the younger backpacker set have somehow managed to save thousands and thousands of dollars so they can take off and explore the world for months on a tight budget of $5. to $10. per night on rooms and cheap food. That's how far some people are willing to go to be able to travel and see the world. Personally, I find it very impressive, but we all find our own way to go about it. Fortunately for me, we can move about on more than bottom budget and can usually find great accomodation for $20. or less per night. This was not so in the Philippines where everything was higher and we usually had to spend $20.-30. per night for something decent or just passable.

We hope you are inspired to do some travels of your own soon, in whatever way is good for you and we bid you farewell for now. And by the way, it is possible to travel without wrecking havoc on the planets eco-systems. If you look into it you can learn how! May life bless you with adventures and the divine spirit everywhere in everyone and everything!

xoxoxo Christina (and William)
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