*** UPDATE *** January 12,2013 $450 US Dollars Donated January 10, 2013 Due to an excellant change in my current teaching job location the fundraiser will be extended. December 9th, 2012 $400 US Dollars Donated November 18th, 2012 $306 US Dollars Donated
It's that time of year! I, Dustin Watchman, am pulling together all my friends and family to assist me in making a difference around the world! As many of you know, I volunteered teaching English in Khon Kaen Thailand in 2008. Their school year is well under way in 2012, but as the school year progresses this also presents the problem of families running thin on funds. This is where I step in and help them "finish strong"! My desire is to help the students with school supplies, school lunches, and to help pay for their bus rides between their schools and villages. The scholarships will be presented by February 1, 2013. Unlike 99% of the other charities I will not have any personal monetary gains from this fundraiser. Why do it then? Because I like to connect people with the right people to get their dreams and goals accomplished! My funding comes from my teaching internationally. This means that 100% of your donations will be given directly to the students. Tell me any other charity that will donate 100%. I am in the process of finding 3-4 schools in Isan, Thailand ( the northeast part that is also the poorest part of the country ) that the donations would go to their most deserving students. Scholarships tend to be about $15US per scholarship. As of this time the donations will be going to: 1. Ban Hua bong school 2. Nong hi pracharath school 3. Ban thasala school 4. Ban loa prachanukho school HOW TO DONATE? Click on the "Paypal" button on my home page of my blog. It's on the upper left. Click it and donate whatever you can. If i could get just $1 from all my Facebook friends that would mean $800+ towards scholarships. That's over 53 scholarships for the most deserving students! Please spread the word. I have about 2 months to raise as much money as possible. If I receive enough in donations I will also donate directly to some schools in the Philippines as well. I WILL PERSONALLY BE DONATING $100US. The DEADLINE for donations will be January 15, 2013 *please check back to this blog for continuing updates to how much money is being raised.
Let me tell you a little story about how change affected my summer of 2012. My original plans were to go back to teaching at my same University in Saudi Arabia. I had a great school year teaching from 2011-2012, and the company had asked me to return the following year. This was all good, and I started making plans for my summer. I was going to spend some time back in Hawaii to visit friends and apply for the proper work visa to return to Saudi Arabia. Then I planned on renting a car in Vancouver, Canada and touring the west coast of the USA, heading south then eventually east through Las Vegas to then arrive in Colorado to spend time with my family. I would then return to Saudi on September 1 to begin teaching another year. Then June came. My contract was up and my company was not able to secure a contract with the University before all the teachers left. So plans changed. I arrived to Hawaii, and decided that I could still do the road trip while I hunted for a job. After a few interviews, I landed a job in the city I wanted to be in near the water in Saudi Arabia, and as a bonus I was going to have access to the Aramco Compound. Its basically like a military base without the military. They have a private beach, cinema, women drive, and overall its a westernized city in Saudi. I signed the contracts and was ready. The thing was they wanted me back July 1st! This meant no road trip, and that I needed to head straight to Colorado for some family time before I returned. A week later I was on a flight. So once I arrived to Colorado and visited all my family, I emailed the company to ask a few questions about my departure. There response was that the company had to move the start date til September 1st. Not what I wanted to hear, but instead I looked into toys to play with on my extended vacation, since I now had my full summer back again. I bought a Kawasaki KLR 650 Enduro bike and decided to do that road trip afterall. I knew I had my Masters degree program starting in late August so I figured i should return in time for that and enough time to pack for my job starting September 1st. 4427 miles, and 33 days later ( you can read my road trip blog in a previous blog post ) I returned to Colorado.
Upon my return, my brother and father were in preperation to go to Burning Man ( can read my previous post on that). They had one extra ticket. We had planned that 2012 would be the year that my dad and his two sons would all go to Burning Man, but they had not been able to get tickets until the very last minute. Now they had one extra ticket, and I had a choice to make. I wouldn't be back til september 4th, and my job was due to start September 1st. So an hour before they departed I emailed my company and decided that if they could push the start date two months, that I could push it 4 days more. They said that it was okay. After a short discussion with my parents about what happens if I come back and the job is no longer available I packed my bags in 22 minutes and off we went! After an epic week at Burning Man I returned home hoping to see an e-ticket in my inbox. None was to be found. I promptly contacted the company and was told that they were having trouble acquiring the visas and that they don't know how long it may take. They also ended by saying it may be smart to look for aother job. They then offered me a position in the capital city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. They even tried to sales pitch it to me. I've been there, and really the capital is landlocked with a desert 4 hours in every direction. Thats a far cry from a beach town with a park on the water and a Starbucks where all the motorcycle riders hang out and chat. This isn't the best news after the main hiring season has already passed and schools have already started teaching September 1st. So I quickly got online and started sending out resumes again. After a few days I had offers lined up in Oman, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Riyadh ( capital of Saudi, but much better job than previous one), and in Thailand. I was really hoping for Oman since it is greener than Saudi Arabia, and is much closer to Dubai. The problem was that Oman wanted their teachers to have Masters Degree's, of which I did not. Luckily in the end they needed teachers bad enough that they offered me a position. I gladly accepted!
This summer has been an unstoppable whirlwind of changing events and all I could do was just enjoy the ride. In the end, I went to Hawaii, I did my motorcycle road trip, I went to Burning Man, and I got my job of choice in Oman. Everything fell into place PERFECTLY. I honestly couldn't have asked for it to have gone any better. I don't know how or why my life is so great, but man is it incredible. Thank you to all my friends and family that help mentally and emotionally support me along the way. I know some of you think I'm crazy, but I love and appreciate everyone that is in my life. You all make it special, and worth living! At the time of writing this, I will be boarding a plane in about 5 hours to embark upon my next journey. I'm excited. I believe it will be my 26th country to see in our awesome world. Adventure awaits! So how are you living out your dream life, and what are you doing to improve the lives of others?
Burning Man 2012, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA
Population: ~60,000
Where to begin? Well first of all I was due to start a new job teaching English in Saudi Arabia September 1, 2012. My brother and father and I had talked about going to Burning Man together some year and this was the year that it could possibly work. It could, until we werent able to get any tickets. No tickets and my new job starting right in the middle of when Burning Man was supposed to be were two problems that wouldn't allow the Watchman men to partake in this amazing event. That was until the moment that tickets became available, there was one extra ticket for myself, and the decision to contact my future employer and tell them I would be 4 days late was made. The decision to go literally happened 25 minutes before we departed. Luckily I can live off very minimal stuff in even the harshest desert conditions so I packed in 22 minutes and said LETS GO!
So the drive began. I will attempt to explain Burning Man in details that will allow you to somewhat understand it, but I will also tell you now that there is a feeling being there that no words can describe. When you first arrive there are long lines of cars and you slowly creep along the sandy roads. The dust being kicked up from thousands of tires gets so bad at times that you can barely see the vehicle ten feet in front of you. All you can see is their tail lights. If they decide they cant safely move on then you all just stop in place and let the sand blow on through. This is your first taste of how bad the sand storms can get. This is also the time that you may get your first taste of the craziness and nudity that can be experienced at BM ( Burning Man ). People get tired of sitting in their cars and the fun begins. Simple as that. If you are a first timer to BM, AKA a VIRGIN! , you may be called out of your vehicle to get your initiation spanking. This is all before you even reach the gates to get in.
Once you're inside the experience is multiplied X1000! People slowly trickle in and find where they want to camp on the designated roads. My 60 year old father jumped out of the van en route to finding our camp just to dance with some robots. Sounds crazy, but it happened! ( watch the video for proof ) Its been dark for a few hours by this point, and you start to see huge art pieces illuminated with colorful lights all across the landscape. That and art mobiles driving around the outer roads shooting flames into the air and playing music for anyone that wants to jump on board for a free ride and free party upon arrival. Once our sleeping arrangements were set up, a tent and sleeping bag, we all set off to explore "the playa". This is where everything happens. It's the inner core circle filled with art mobiles, art pieces, people riding bicycles, and probably the only place you will see a neon light space shuttle casually drive by with barely anyone taking notice. An hour of looking around was enough to get your mind swimming in the possibilities of what may come of the week. Maybe it's like the first time taking drugs? It makes you wonder what will happen when you get more of that good feeling? I'm not sure since I have never tried, but I can safely assume its the feeling of wanting more of that little bit you had. After a bike ride around the playa, and after a few to many falls off their bike due to mishandling of the pregame drinks, we all went back to camp to start the next day fresh.
The first morning of sunlight you start to get an understanding of just how big this festival is going to be. People start milling around, and more people keep flowing in through the front gates. The first 2-3 days are still sort of like set up days. People from all over come and add to the festival. This is a great time to start to explore what all the camps have to offer, have an afternoon nap, and then head out at night again for the mysterious lit up world of BM at night. It takes on an entirely different feeling at night. It's a mixture of Alice in Wonderland, TRON, and some huge party in some hidden club in Prague. Every day is the same rotation. Explore the camps in the daytime to see what they are offering to the event, such as hair washing, pancakes, massages, juggling lessons, and every other possible thing you could imagine, then at some point you take a nap, then you head out all night to be mesmerized by the lights, music, art cars, and the people of the night!
The event lasts ten long days. The first few days are spent exploring whats new and whats old at this years BM. There is tons of excitement, new discoveries, new loves, new friends, and one night stands for the truly open minded peoples. The days and nights in the middle of the ten days seem to slow down a bit. You have more time to start to explore the thousands of camps for things that really interest you, rather than roaming around aimlessly. This is really when you find quality time with new friends, in my case family time, and time to really explore your inner self in some of the many workshops that you can join in on. The initial excitement wears off, and you really find a calmness in yourself. You may even find out that you haven't been this dirty in quite some time and that you actually enjoy it. The simplicity of taking wet towel baths in the back of a small u haul cubicle trailer is oddly quite nice. The last few days of the event start to really become electrifying. Most of the 60,000 people have arrived and the entire playa is crawling with weird, whacky, crazy, and "normal" people. You can find kids running around as well as 70 year old men that oddly seem to think that their birthday suit is the "must have" outfit for BM. I personally think it may just be one last ditch effort to find a suitable partner. It basically says, " here's what i got, take it or leave it." When the sun decides to exit the horizon and give way to the moon the playa just comes alive! All the parties are redlining. All the art cars are slowly cruising around blasting dance music for anyone that cares to jump on and dance to. All the art projects have been assembled, and any anger that may have built up inside of you can be easily dispelled in the Thunderdome! Straight out of Mad Max, you can battle head to head with each other on bungees with "soft" weapons to attack each other. So during this entire time you will experience many personal emotions. You will "find" yourself in many ways. You will have a better understanding of the generosity of people, and the goodness people are born with. You will give tons of hugs to people just because it feels nice. You will gain a new perspective on life, and hopefully you will take that out into the "default" world, as the veteran burners refer to the everyday world.
The last days of BM are probably the most special to most of its participants. The reason is that throughout the week you have been finding yourself. You create new perceptions about life, in general, and now at the end is the time to release all the negative burdens that may be holding you back in life. I know this may sound cheesy, but BM is really like a personal life journey all accumulated into ten days. The last couple days they burn all the artwork. Some of these pieces have been worked on all year and are simply beautiful, but nothing is spared. BM is about letting go of physical attachments to materialistic things and finding strength in yourself and your community. We can only truly be happy when we are happy by ourselves, alone. It seems as though the burning of the art is a release for many people of everything that weighs them down. All the negative things are carried up into the sky, off their weight bearing shoulders, up up and away with the ashes and embers that float away high into the dust filled sky. The main "man" is burned and for many this is the end. For many others the end is the next day when the temple is burned. Many people may be religious or spiritual and the site of the temple being burned holds more significance to them than it did for me.
After everyone completed their night, I drove my dad and brother out of this amazing community, buried deep in the desert, back to the "default" world that we had left just ten days before. It was only fitting that we arrived in the dark, and left in the dark, much like I imagine time traveling through different galaxies would be like. It was a long drive back, but still it was not enough time to fully process everything that had happened during those ten days.
The main difference about BM and any other festival is that every camp is expected to contribute to the overall festival. This means that people don't just go there expecting to be entertained, but in turn go there expecting to bear there share of the entertainment, and actually be an integral part of the event itself. The second part of BM is that once you are inside, everything is free. Camps offer free hair washing stations, pancakes for breakfast, body washes, educational classes on thousands of topics, s'mores, alcohol, hugs....EVERYTHING! This is what allows the generosity in people to shine through. The goodness in all of the people there is so overwhelming that you can't help but want to give back to the BM community as well.
One major thing that I learned out of the whole experience was that my life is absolutely incredible.Seeing all the positiveness reassured me in my beliefs that all people are good, but sometimes circumstances turn us in the wrong direction. Given the right environment anybody can be good. The only unfortunate part of BM to me was that many of the people that I spoke to couldn't wait for the next BM because of how they are treated here and how everybody is so friendly. I was disappointed that so few people had the capacity to take their same giving mentality back into the "default" world. Why does it have to stop when you exit this beautiful community called Burning Man? Why must they have "decompression" parties to get them back into that giving mentality? The reason I say that I realized how special my everyday life is, is because I realized that my life is just like Burning Man every day of the year. I am continually amazed by seeing new things, meeting new people, being honored with the goodness and love of complete strangers, giving to those that need it more than I do, and making my best efforts to have a positive impact on this world that we live in. I love every aspect of my life from my job, to my students, to my friends, and to all the experiences that have made me who I am today. I wish everyone could say the same, but many people are unwilling to make that change in their life. I hope this blog helps lead them in the right direction.
In the end, BM is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. It is a great model of how to treat people on an everyday basis. Take what you learn and apply it to the real world, or shall i say "default" world. Rumors will tell you that BM is full of sex, drugs, debauchery, and indecent conduct. This is true, if this is what you are looking for you will find it. On the other hand, if you want to explore yourself and test your boundaries with what you are comfortable with physically and emotionally then this place is also for you. Experience it for yourself. You owe it to yourself to explore what our world has to offer. Don't just listen to the rumors. If i had listened to rumors I wouldn't have come to the Middle East, which in turn gave me the opportunity to spend an unimaginable time at Burning Man 2012 with my father and brother. Really, the kindness and love of these people in the Middle East heavily outweighs the few terrorists. Think about that.
Here's the video of my experience at Burning Man....It was all but a dream....and to dream a dream is a wonderful thing...
Enjoy. I hope you can go someday. It's unbelieveable. The video doesn't even come close to showing 1% of Burning Man...
Let me be one of many to personally say thank you to Coca Cola. I met Joe, one of the gentlemen in this video, in Saudi Arabia. He was so excited about Coca Cola and what they had done for him. I watched this video after he asked me to, and boy did it make my eyes tear up. For Coca Cola this was pocket change to send these people home to surprise their families. The best part of it all was the ripple effect. Joe's father was slowly going blind. The right people saw this video and corrected his fathers eye sight. ( SOLUTION ) I know many of us sometimes feel small, and never have enough money to do good on such a large scale, BUT a solution is to gather your pennies together with family and friends. This in turn will create dollars. These dollars can then be used around the world to help the less fortunate. This year I plan on doing just this! In the near future, I will be raising donations to buy school supplies for less fortunate students in Thailand. In 2008, I volunteered teaching English in the poor northeast area called Isan. I got to see first hand how far a $15 scholarship can go. It will pay for the students lunches or bus rides. Not only that, it shows that people in the world actually care about them. Of course if you know me, you know I like to have fun! So this also means that the .30 cents you have sitting in your couch cushions can buy a bag of marbles for them to shoot marbles on their lunch time. You can't imagine how happy these kids were when I made them line up and I gave each of them a brand new marble! That's what life is about! If anyone has more time than money to donate please click on the link on the left of my blog "volunteaching" and look into volunteering your time in Thailand. It's a memory you will never forget. I know I haven't, instead I've found a way to keep the good times going. In the end, do your part and make a difference.
...or shall I say equal rights has taken over? This post is directed more towards countries that men and women have equal opportunity to work, make money, and to take care of the household. I guess I'll explain this statement by first talking about how it used to be vs how it is now. In the past a couple, or a tribe, relied on both parties to be responsible for fulfilling their roles in the community and household. To say the least, they needed each other, relied on each other, and therefore once a functional relationship was in place they rarely left each other. Not to say that this had anything to do with the modern day religious based terms of marriage, and divorce, but they had loyalty to each other because it meant survival. Then we came in to this era where woman still wanted to be taken care of by a man, but it was less for reasons of survival. It was more so because they wanted a man to be a man. The big strong protective man. Not to much of an alpha male though since all that aggression can sometimes feel like they are reverting back to their roots when they had to act that way for survival. It's unnecessary nowadays. Jumping forward in to the 21 century, we now have equality pretty much across the work force. In todays society women have just as much opportunity, if not more, to succeed. Now comes the awkward part. Women want equality, but also they want chivalry. Here is where I'm going to divide this blog into two parts. The first part will simply be about emotions, and the second part will be about opportunities. I think that women like chivalry because it's the little things that a man does for her that makes her happy. I understand that. It's nice if someone opens a door for you to the car. It's nice if they open the door to the building and let you step inside first. Take note that in some countries the man will never let a woman walk through a door first. It's not because he is any more important, but in reality it is because it could be potentially dangerous to send the woman into an unknown room first. It is for her protection that he enters first. Unfortunately many woman find it rude if the man doesn't send them into danger first. So women have assumed this role that the man should do all these nice things for her to protect her, and to "be a man", but not do anything in return. The big question is, has anyone stopped to think that maybe a man would appreciate these things as well? Living in a world of equal opportunity now, I personally would like it if a girl showed me some chivalry also. Sorry ladies, but if you truly want equal opportunity then lets have it. The same things that make you happy when I do them for you, honestly, would make me happy as well if you did them for me as well. I'm pretty sure there isn't a car door, building door, or chair to heavy for you to open or push in for me. In return I will do the same for you. Some things are meaningless as well. I'm about 99% positive that me walking on the road side of the sidewalk isn't going to stop a car injuring us in any manner any less than if you were walking on the road side. If you are not capable of walking a straight line and keeping balance from falling into the street full of oncoming traffic then I understand, and I would then see the need of the man walking on the road side of the sidewalk. In relationships they should be mutual and both parties should strive to make each other happy. The underlying message behind all this is that you should simply do things for each other because you know it will make each other happy. You shouldn't expect "chivalry", but instead appreciate the continuous good deeds, and acts of kindness, that you both equally do for each other. I wrote this to talk about general situations with most single couples. Of course when kids, different yearly incomes, and other factors come in to play things change, but when you are single you should be able to afford yourself. You should be able to afford your own toys, habits, and travels. You should be aware of your potentials partners level of security and build lives together that could lead to a greater happiness between the two of you. If you truly understand each other and your relative financial situations then you can each step up when you need to, to accomplish the larger goals in life. Having a sense of entitlement and that the man should pay for everything won't allow you to reach your full potential together. This will greatly inhibit your access to golden opportunities, which I will discuss in the next paragraph. The second part of this blog is about opportunity. This involves some very simple math equations. I know many of us hate math, but trust me on this one. This is truly simple math, elementary level. To start out, many times I see women working a job, and often they complain that it's not providing them with enough income. The next step in this thought process can go 1 of 2 ways. Option 1 is that the woman can now look for employment in a job that better suits her financial income needs, since we now live in an equal opportunity work force, or option 2 is to find a man with a higher income to help supplement the gap between what she makes, and what she wants to be making. If the woman chooses option 1 then the world of opportunity will open up and the sky is the limit. Forget that, the UNIVERSE is the limit, and even that just may be limitless. Heres the simple math part. Try to follow me here. If the man takes every opportunity and gives 100% of himself to following his dreams and goals, AND the woman also gives 100% towards following her dreams and goals, then we can do the math and see that 100% + 100% = 200% divided by two people = 100% chance of accomplishing their hopes, dreams, and any goals they want to accomplish. That is truly superb! These are the kind of women I want to know! Now option 2 is not the optimum choice if you want to achieve everything you set out to achieve in life. If the guy is giving 100%, but the girl is only giving 75% and then supplementing her income with 25% of his to make her 100% complete then, well, you get the picture. You can simply say that they will not be reaching 100% potential in living life to its fullest. So when I say chivalry is dead, what I mean is don't sell yourself short. In these current times we can support our partners in each others adventures and help lift each other up to higher grounds. We can soar beyond beliefs much further than ever before. In the end, I will say that we should take care of each other out of respect and love for each other, but we should both be putting in 100% to the relationship. If a woman wants equal rights then she should step up to the plate and be equal. Don't play the "I want equal rights, but i still want the man to take care of me" card. We shouldn't be relying on each other for survival anymore nowadays, but rather rely on each other for love and comfort.
What does this mean? Well....it could mean a million things. The meaning should come from deep within your heart. It should be a culmination of your past experiences, current situations, and where you dream of going in the future. For myself, Dustin Watchman, This design was sparked from my travels around the world. I knew in my personal beliefs that I had one life to live, and I needed to make the best of every waking day. I have met many people that are held back from doing what they want to do for many reasons. Financial reasons, religious beliefs, and most of all just being scared of treading in unfamiliar waters outside of their comfort zones were the top three reasons they weren't living their dreams. I wanted to break free of any excuses, and live every day the best I personally could! At the time of writing this I have been to 25 foreign countries. I soon realized that we all live in one world. We all eat, sleep, try to live a comfortable life, and want to be entertained. The similarities all around the world really solidified to me that we are one human race. Only our exteriors look different. At our cores we are all made up of the same atoms and molecules. People are quick to point out these outwardly physical differences rather than dote on the commonalities in all of us. This brings me to the last part of the picture. One love. Love is a universal feeling. We are all capable of spreading it and best of all it's free. Love can transcend any differences we have. It's a very powerful force. If you love, then you will be loved, you will live longer, and you will help in making the world a loving place where we all can live in unison despite our financial, social, or lifestyle differences. This is what it means to me. This is from my own experiences. It will be different for everybody. So, what does it mean to you? leave a comment below to share with others. Feel free to post the picture on your Facebook pictures too. It's free to all to spread the message of love.
Once again I'm at it again! I took my own advice " say YES! and figure it out later", and have launched myself into a road trip across the western USA on a motorcycle. I was due to return to teaching in Saudi Arabia July 1, 2012, but it was changed to September 1, 2012. Having been given a free two months to play I quickly jumped on the internet to look for a street legal dirt bike to ride for fun. I started contacting many of my friends on the possible route I intended to take, and after riding the bike around town for a few days I felt, more so hoped, that the bike would be road trip worthy. In short, I packed my backpack and a motorcycle tank bag and set off! I wasn't sure of where I would be sleeping every night, when I would be in any particular destination, who I would be seeing or meeting along the way, or even if the motorcycle was really even capable of making the entire trip. There were many things that could go wrong as well as many things that could make this road trip a success. These would eventually unfold as I continued on my journey.
The first leg of the journey was from Grand Junction, Colorado to Moab, Utah. My dad decided to accompany me for the beginning of the journey because , much like myself, he loves adventures, camping, and always being a father he wanted to know I'd be okay overall. We ended up hiking 3 miles in the Arches National Park. I don't suggest hiking this far in converse all stars shoes, but I work with what I have, and that's all I had! That night was spent swimming and camping along the river. We tested out the tents and equipment so the next morning I decided that it would probably be wise to take a tent and air mattress for future nights that I may be camping. I had minimal survival gear and felt comfortable with what I had for this trip, but having the addition of the mat and tent might be a wise decision. The next leg was to go from Arches National Park to Zion Canyon. I encountered some rain and high winds along the way. These are two forces of nature that aren't appreciated greatly when I'm flying down the freeway at 80mph on a dirt bike with knobby tires. The bike is fairly lightweight and has a high center of gravity so I got tossed around quite a bit on it on the freeways. After seeing the foul weather my dad and I decided to head to Mesquite, Nevada instead. On the way the bike started to pause a bit. We pulled over and let the bike cool down. This was my first "uh oh" moment of my trip. I personally know that I could physically handle anything this trip could throw at me, but my biggest concern was if the bike could make it along with me. I had been riding the bike in the top gear at 80 mph for hours on end in 100 degree weather. I was pushing it to its limits to make sure it could handle the entire trip I had planned. The motorcycle needed to cool down, but after cooling down near a Kawasaki dealership conveniently located nearby just in case the problem was any worse, we made it to Mesquite. Mesquite is a fairly strange destination. It's a few hours from Las Vegas and I failed to understand why people would go there to gamble when they could just go a little further to Vegas. It seemed like the land of lost souls gambling away their last pennies in hopes of winning that one multi million dollar life changing win, but without the fun and smiles of enjoying themselves.
The next morning I would be parting ways with my dad and continuing on to Las Vegas, Nevada. I made it there in good time and the slight rain kept the bike cool as I road into the city with no additional problems. I met up with my friend Christian who I had worked on the Bruce Willis movie, Tears of the Sun, with back in 2002. He was now a promoter at the Palms hotel in Las Vegas, and that meant that the fun was about to begin. I stayed with him and his brother at their apartment. Their oldest brother was in town as well for a bachelor party and that just meant that things were about to get even more over the top crazy for us. We did Vegas big! I felt like a VIP getting to go to all the clubs at night, pool parties in the day, and even attended the bachelor party on the 48th floor of the hotel with about 20 black guys and me, the token white guy! I always seem to be finding myself out of place, but that's how great stories are created. Now what actually happened I can not say, but I must admit I'm glad I didn't volunteer for anything. These three brothers treated me like family, and my time in Las Vegas was very well spent. I continued to work on my personal growth and not be so shy by meeting new people and striking up conversations with strangers. I met some great people and I don't think I'll ever be able to do Vegas like I did this time. After my last day in Las Vegas it was time to ride out west to San Diego, California. It just so happen that it was Gay Pride weekend. Since for part of my trip in San Diego I would be staying with a friend from Hawaii that was gay I knew this was about to be a weekend to compete with what had all just gone down in Las Vegas. Upon arrival I got to hang out with another hawaii friend Kayla. We did a tour of the city since I had never been there. We had some delicious Acai bowls, looked at the fishies in the tide pools, walked the boardwalk, and ate late night burgers from In and Out. I quickly realized that this road trip wasn't just about seeing new places, but it was equally about spending time with my friends and actually getting to know them on a deeper level. I got to see how my friends lived their daily lives in the places they called home for the time being. Once the weekend started then the Pride events started as well. In a nutshell, I hugged super feminine filipino boys in drag, met random women riding my bike around town and ended up in a gay bar with them, met a bunch of incredibly great new friends ( Lance, Paul, Antonio, Fernando, Vanessa, Dan), partied on the rooftop of a hotel, went to a cabana party at the block party, had a coffee date with the beautiful bartender girl after and ran out of gas on our way there, ate a $10 sausage that was worth every penny at the Pride party in the park, ate breakfast at Snoozes with a guest appearance by Kayla again, went on a 4.5 mile hike in converse again, spent time in the jacuzzi again, and met the guy that would let me stay at his apartment in San Francisco in the following days to come. After this amazing time I decided to spend a short time in Los Angeles, California. In LA I stayed at a friends house that is always a blast to hang out with. I had worked with him on Hawaii 5-0 TV show in 2010 and we always have a ball when we hang out. The highlight of my time with Skeeter was having a contest to see who could kick the M&M further in the parking lot, in which I won! Of course he would be quick to blame the curb that jumped out in front of his M&M, but I didn't recall seeing the curb move at all. I could be wrong, but i highly doubt that. On rare occasions I may be wrong, but this was not one of them. We just do stupid stuff like that and its such a great time together. These are the things I cherish in life. The simple joys. Skeeter also passed on a sweatshirt to me that he was getting rid of, and I would soon find out in the next upcoming days that it was the best gift I could have received since I had failed to check the weather of any of my destinations. I also got to meet up with my long time friend from Hawaii, Jason Fracaro. I love this guys drive to succeed in the entertainment industry. I linked him and Skeeter up last year and this allowed Jason to get his foot a little further in the door. Mission accomplished. I love connecting people with the right people. It's something I take pride in. Connecting people is so easy to do and it benefits both parties. Jason and I went for a motorcycle ride to Malibu and around the greater LA area. We hit some turns, split some lanes, and just had a great day hanging out again. It was great to catch up with these two and see how they were progressing in life and continuing to grow in their lives. It motivates me to succeed more when I see my friends doing it as well. After two nights in LA I decided to make the long trip between Los Angeles to San Francisco via the famously scenic Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast of California. I highly suggest that everybody take this route sometime in their life. It took me about 11 hours to get from LA to San Francisco, but it was well worth it. The gas in Big Sur at $5.99/gallon was a bit rough though, but the curves of the road, the cliffs, and the islands off the coastline were amazing. Along the way my gut told me that I should check the oil level on my motorcycle. When I did I realized that my motorcycle had been burning it off with how hard I was pushing it. It was lower than it should have been so I momentarily had to backtrack 6 miles to top it off, and keep the bike running at top performance for the future. One thing I had not thought to look up was the weather of any of my destinations. I soon realized this as I approached San Francisco. With 5 layers of clothing on, one of them being the sweatshirt from Skeeter, I rolled into San Fran well after dark, with ice cold hands. The temperature there was much lower than the surrounding areas I had been. I met up with Antonio, whom I had met in San Diego, and sat down in Castro to eat some sushi, meet more new friends, and to defrost my hands. I was amazed by Antonio's hospitality of letting me stay at his place overnight on my journey after only meeting him one night in San Diego. He is a true testament to the core of the Human Race that we all want to get along in harmony and are willing to help out our common man. The next morning I loaded everything back onto my motorcycle and set off to cross the Golden Gate Bridge as I exited the Bay Area. Being the tourist that I am I pulled over at the lookout point to take a picture of my bike in front of the bridge that was half hidden by the early morning fog. There was a vietnamese family that was showing interest in my motorcycle and wanted to take a picture, but they were to shy to ask. I knew this because the young girl literally said quite loudly, " I'm toooo shy!". Understanding their feeling, and continually trying to work on my shyness on this trip, I in turn asked them to take a pic with me instead. So we all took pictures and everyone had a great couple minutes together. With this great start to my day, I was then ready to continue on to the Redwood forrest in Northern California. I continued north and continued to pull over to take pictures of anything along the way that I found to be fascinating. The redwood trees were larger than you can imagine. You could drive through some of them. Seeing nature on this large scale makes you really think about the world and its natural resources. Nature is absolutely stunning when we just let it be. I stopped at the Trees of Mystery and took the sky tram to the top to take a look around. The air was crisp and the trees were large. It felt great to be in nature just soaking it up. After 9 hours of riding the motorcycle north the temperature started to get the best of me again, but this time I didn't have a friend to stay with. I had rode to Eureka, California and the temperatures had dropped drastically as well as the sun was getting low in the sky. I decided to call Eureka home for the night and pulled into the Safeway grocery store to order up a hot chocolate, let my hands defrost again, and to jump on my smartphone to look for low cost hotels or campgrounds. This was the first time on this trip that I really didn't have a place to sleep. It was now time to put on the big boy pants and figure things out. I decided on a KOA campground up the road figuring that the weather wasn't as cold as it felt when I wasn't actually riding. I pulled in, set up my tent, and quickly met my neighbors who were a boyfriend and girlfriend that had come from Santa Cruz up north to look at rentals to live in. Once again I kept up with my personal growth of meeting new people. We played poker with nickels and pennies, had a small fire in the pit, and they ever so generously offered me their extra sleeping bag since that was the one item I had not decided to pack. I probably would have been okay with all the layers of clothing I had along with my emergency cover that would keep additional body heat against my body, but I figured I shouldn't risk it if the sleeping bag was being offered. This was another testament to the true kindness of humans from one to another. The sun set, and we all called it a night. That evening the due was heavy and wet. I woke up to one of my converse shoes being soaked since it had been touching the edge of my tent from the inside. Not the most pleasant thing to wake up to since I was expecting to ride out in the early morning cold weather. Luckily the restrooms were equipped with the automatic hand dryers that quickly dried my shoes and saved my feet from being frozen. The ten minutes spent drying my shoe, and charging my phone up, were well worth it in the long run. The ride then continued on. The next morning I continued on towards Portland, Oregon to meet up 8 hours later with a long time friend of almost 20 years, Morgan. En route there were beautiful lakes, low lying clouds over the mountains, people playing in the winding rivers, herds of wild Elk, and warm sunny skies that accompanied me across Oregon. This was the type of weather I had preferred, especially after the hand numbing drop in temperature in San Francisco and Eureka! I knew that I would be spending a few days in Portland to recoup and rest after three days of riding for a consistent 28 hours on the motorcycle, and I hadn't spent time with my childhood friend for more than 3 years. Portland was a great place to talk about our growing success as young adults, eat great foods, have a gym session to stay healthy on my journey, and to get ready for the rest of the trip. I also decided to buy a little sleeping bag just in case the weather temperatures dropped as I headed to Idaho and Wyoming. Portland is always an amazing city that is also the easiest city to get around for free. The city is laid out in four quadrants, the Northeast-Northwest-Southeast-Southwest, and it has free trains to take you all throughout each of them. The restaurants are amazing and there are plenty of places with sidewalk seating to have a coffee or meal. If you are ever in the northwest of the USA you should make it a point to see the layout and culture of this city. The next leg of my journey would be to head more north to Tacoma, Washington, which is located just below Seattle. I had been here back in 2002, but didn't really get a chance to explore the area to much. This time around I got to experience the incredible sunsets on the water, the intertwining network of bridges, and I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in years. All around it was well worth coming here. My friend, Rosablanca, and I planned a day trip up to Vancouver, Canada. We figured we would ride up saturday morning and come back that evening. That was the original plan, but then we figured an overnighter may allow us to not rush so much and see more. We packed a bag or two and off we went. Upon arrival, we asked directions at a gas stations since I hadn't thought much about crossing the border to a foreign country, but my cell phone server had. Up came the text message telling me just how expensive it would be if I used my gps there. So reverting back to old school methods of navigation I promptly got us lost. The upside was that we found this amazing beach area near a huge lake. There were tons of people enjoying the sunny blue skies. We could see the city area off in the distance so we then knew what direction we should head in. The best part of traveling is having time on your hands for excursions like this that really make the trip worthwhile. After we checked into a hotel we found out that there would be a firework competition being put on by Italy, and about 400,000 people would be in attendance. We rode downtown again, ate some incredible organic pizza, and walked down to beach. I was lucky enough to meet another photogrpaher who was from Saudi Arabia so we talked about home and photography.
Another huge reason why I love my life is that things like this just seem to happen to me. I'm pretty sure I got to see the best representation of all the diverse people of Vancouver, Canada that night. We then found out that the next day was going to be the Gay Pride Parade in downtown. My friend hadn't ever seen one so we decided to try and make it the next day. We woke up moderately early, to be honest Rosa woke up earlier and had to wait for me to drag myself out of bed, and we went off to see the suspension bridge. It was a pretty amazing bridge to sway across in attempt to not look drunk while your'e walking. We then made it back to downtown for the parade before we headed back south to Tacoma, Washington. In two days in Canada I had managed to see two huge events, and got to see a large portion of the community there. It was a beautiful thing to experience. Now if only next time my actual Canadian friend would be there, and not in Europe then the trip will be complete. After my return to Tacoma I got to meet a friend that I had only known from online so that was great to finally meet in person.I also rode out to Mount Rainier and was able to capture some amazing photos from there. I had been thinking about how cool it would be to hold some flowers in the foreground of a picture with the mountain in the back when all of a sudden I go around the bend in the road and this entire hillside of flowers granted me that wish!
These moments in my trip made it so awesome. Coffee with friends, and beautiful nature made the day before I prepared to start heading back East to Boise, Idaho. I still hadn't learned my lesson yet to check the weather though. I really thought that hey it's summer so it will be warm everywhere! Sometimes I find myself questioning my own stupidity, but in all it's never over anything that killed me. IT could have, but didn't. So I left Tacoma to cross through the mountains on my way to Idaho. This is where it was rather cold again at 9am. I was layered up and charging through the clouds the hung low across the mountains and sometimes even across the roads. As I started to come down from the mountains the temperatures slowly increased. By the time I pulled into Boise, Idaho, the temperatures were at 100 degrees! Riding the bike on the tail end of a 11 hour ride at 90mph in 100 degree weather doesn't really make the bike run the best. I decided that camping with my new sleeping bag wasn't going to be necessary, or the least bit comfortable in this hot of weather. I made it in safely and found a hostel downtown instead. This hostel named "Idahostel" is literally a 30 foot walk from the major downtown hangouts. It's filled with artwork and friendly people that live there. I would highly recommend it! One of the guys told me I should grab my camera and check out the alley across the street where there was a live art show going on. People painting street art in a race against the sun setting. I quickly realized that despite it only being a wednesday that this town was a pretty active town. There were people walking around downtown in preparation for the night life. I was told that the nachos at Matador were the best in town and that I absolutely have to try them. After a photo session of downtown I made my way to the bar counter top for some nachos. A guy soon sat down next to me with the traditional chair between us, as to not break the man code rule #3279 ( no two single men shall sit directly next to eachother at a bar or pee in urinals directly next to eachother ). We struck up a conversation about photography and we looked through the pictures of my trip so far. My nachos arrived and were larger than I knew I could handle so I offered to share. He declined, but a friendship started. We later met up with some of his friends to go dance at some bars. We watched girls kissing on the sidewalks, and checked out some other spots. I was still surprised that all this was happening on a wednesday night! The next day consisted of my first major mishap with my motorcycle. The exhaust pipes bolts had come off and this left my muffler laying on the ground. A little walk around town for a hardware store to no avail I tied it up and gps'ed it to ACE Hardware. Ironically a girl had also had muffler problems so we fixed them on the sidewalk and shared my locktight. Saved her a few bucks from buying her own, and she invited me to her pool at her house to cool off in the 105 degree weather. It was much needed and it felt great sipping on ice tea at the pool. That night I slept early. I made it a point to get up to meet Tyler for my last supper in Boise. This later turned into an incredible talk about job opportunities, and more girls kissing on the sidewalk. It was worth staying up the few extra hours to dream about what the future may bring. I was in the company of another motivated dreamer like myself, Tyler, and it was great to just dream about how big our ideas could go in the future. The next morning I left early to avoid the heat. My friend in Casper Wyoming wasn't in town so I decided to go back through Salt Lake City, Utah and to visit other friends. The bike was running hot in the hot weather so I decided to stop and have a manual fan switch installed to keep it cooler. This put me on a slight detour, but I got a taste of small town hospitality and after the mechanic and I worked side by side to add the switch, he charged me $30. I gave him all the cash in my pocket ($35) and continued on. I pulled into Salt Lake City and chilled out with an iced coffee. Later that evening I got my friends together and we hit downtown.
A great dinner with friends, and a walk around downtown with cameras in hand made the evening incredible. We took pictures together, messed with different camera settings, and joked around about everything. My two separate friends, Stacy and Lindsay, met for the first time and are now friends as well. Like I said before, introducing the right people to each other is something I enjoy doing, and it's such a simple thing to do. The next morning was going to be the last leg of my journey. I made friends with Lindsay's dog, which notoriously hates guys, was treated to breakfast with her and her mom, and set sail on my last stretch. As I rode back home to Colorado, ideas swirled around in my head about what other future opportunities await me.
In about two weeks I'll be studying for my Masters degree in Education and will be returning to Saudi Arabia to teach others English. 33 days and 4427 miles of Bugs, Sweat, and Gears happened so fast and was so incredible that it all feels surreal to me, as if it never happened that it was all just a dream.
RELIGION Thats a big 8 letter word. If you thought using 4 letter words can create anger, violence, and fear, then imagine how an 8 letter word can bring 2X the anger, violence, and fear! Now first of all, I have travelled the world to about 24 countries now and have been in the presence of many different religions. Some of my statements in this blog may be blanket statements on not specifically pertain to you or your beliefs. As human beings we generally like to know the answers to everything. Everything needs a name or an explanation. We can not just let something be unknown. This is ever prevalent in what happens to us when we die. I can say with 100% guarantee that I have absolutely no idea what happens when we die other than being buried or burned to ashes. My thought process stops there, because I can physically see it. Now anyone that knows me knows that I have a very large imagination. I tend to lean towards the more scientific ideology that we are atoms and molecules. The same atoms and molecules that the stars, universe, and that flower next to the road swaying in the breeze are made of. So our physical being, I believe, goes back into our surroundings. As for the "soul" of the human I have no idea what happens. I don't even know if we have one. The "soul" could be yet another name or title given to something that we cannot see, but in an attempt to feel less inadequate as humans, that maybe exists or maybe does not. So, I really don't think about it. I have had two friends that momentarily died and came back to life, but neither of them had any great stories about a heaven or hell. I was rather disappointed because I was really interested in finding out if I should start planning for an afterlife. Now how does religion fall into this topic of conversation? From the beginning of time almost all of the mainstream religions have all preached the same thing. Its actually quite simple and I can explain it in two parts. One part is when you're alive and the second part is when you die. Ready? Here it goes... 1. When you're alive do the right thing not the wrong thing. 2. When you die, IF you did the right thing you'll go to "heaven", but IF you did the wrong things then you'll go to "hell". I have now successfully told the entire morals of religion in a few sentences. I didn't need an entire book to do so. I don't need to have different versions of the book or updates and revisions. Now think about this, If as humans we didn't need an answer for everything and really just concentrated on the present, then the explanation would become even shorter. 1. When you're alive do the right thing not the wrong thing. Now critically think about this even more, and you will realize that you don't even need a book to tell you to do the right thing. We have highly specialized brain functions that allow you to understand that doing the right thing to yourself and others makes you, and others, happy. You don't need to answer to anyone else or be fearful of anyone else over your own personal actions. Take responsibility for your actions, and you only have yourself to blame. This is very difficult for humans. Many people want to thank a God for the good things in their lives as well as try to figure out the lesson from the bad things that their God gives them. I personally don't understand this thought process. I believe if you do the right things, then good will come to you. People are more likely to help you on your life journey if you are believed to be a good person. Makes sense right? All in all, religion helped create order back in the day, and taught people to do the right thing out of fear that they could be struck dead at any given moment. Most people, no matter how bad their lives may seem at any given moment, would still rather be alive than dead They followed these holy books as a means of staying alive to enjoy their lives. Now religions kill each other, create resentment towards each other, don't accept everyone equally, and worst of all they do this all under the idea that it is what that particular religions "God" wants. I will never understand how in a religion that you are born into and have no choice that you would willingly kill someone of the same religion but different sect if ordered to, or you would cast hate onto an individual for simply not loving the same gender as yourself. There are countless examples of where the core beliefs of religion, of loving and accepting everyone as equals, has gone astray. This brings me to the point that life is grand! Superb! Incredible! but that is only if you, yourself, and nobody but you, makes it that way! Like I stated above about what I believe happens to us, grasp every moment and every breath you have and make the best of it. Treat others with respect.Don't worry so much about what we don't know, but in turn make the best of what we DO know. Why worry about what may come tomorrow when we don't even know if we will be around for that moment? I personally cannot partake in a large demonstration of hatred, intolerable differences, judgmental masses of people, all in the name of "doing what is right", but I can partake in LOVE. Love is one four letter word that we should all use. Love is my religion. Will you join me and help spread the love?
