Geo: 43.0828, -70.9356From Albany, per Claire's recommendation, I took the back roads through eastern New York and Vermont on my way to New Hampshire. North to Troy and then east on highway 7, windy quiet country roads rolling over the rumpled crust of the earth, etched in a sea of deciduous trees starting to turn, past Bennington and its Battle Monument piercing into the sky, Woodford, Searsburg, Marlboro, Brattleboro, Chesterfield, Keane, Hillsborough, Henniker, Hopkington and a number of other quiet, quaint New England towns and dozens of Country Stores selling fruit and cider and sweet corn.A sunny (nearly 80 degrees!) day in Durham as UNH students flooded in and out of Breaking New Grounds coffee shop where I stopped for an iced latte. Down to Newmarket, arriving slightly before my friend or his wife were home ... read more

Geo: 41.8861, -87.6364Within 20 minutes of driving northeast on I76, it was the furthest east I had ever driven. Kind of a cool feeling. Previously, the furthest east I had ever driven was to Denver International Airport, which is so far outside of Denver it feels like you are in Kansas. Upon a person's first flight in to DIA, there is often a mild panic - "Did I get on the wrong flight? I thought this was Denver? Nestled in the heart of the Rockies!?" That John Denver was full of shit.When the moon rose above the horizon that night, it was a brilliant orange - a giant luminous pumpkin in the sky. My direction on the highway pointed me right at it, with small variations to avoid farms and corn fields. I drove and drove ... read more

Geo: 44.9785, -93.2653... read more

Geo: 40.7693, -119.22This is Burning Man.I might as well stop there. Indescribable. Inconceivable. My words and descriptions here will be about as effective as taking a picture of a pile of floor dust and showing it to someone and saying, "This is Mount Everest."This is Burning Man.Picking up two hitch-hikers south of Eugene at 12am on the way. Josh, in the back, slept the whole 2-hour drive to Grant's Pass. The other, Vivian, up front with me. Talked and talked and talked and talked.... literally there was not a single moment of silence and I got about 2 minutes of talking in during the whole drive. She's Native American, and apparently they call her "Talks a Lot." I can't imagine why. Her stories like never-ending cul-de-sacs, around and around and around and around, saying the same ... read more

Geo: 49.2605, -123.114While on the road, I have been trying to make a very conscious effort to listen to my body, listen to my deep desires (not just fleeting and ephemeral ones), and act accordingly - in ways that will provide my body and soul with the things that they truly need, not just what I think they need (the disconnect between the head and heart/body/soul). I've been surprised again and again at how loudly the body speaks when you are actually listening for it. Sleep, drink, a certain food or nutrients, a destination, a direction, an amount of time, a spoken word, a touch, a look... I believe that, beyond just our fleshly desires and the firing synapses of our brains, our body, soul, and spirit tell us exactly what they need. If we can ... read more