On the Road with Flo

One of my favorite bits by comedian Louis C.K. is:

….Here’s the thing, people say there are delays on flights. Delays, really? New York to California in 5 hours. That used to take 30 years. And a bunch of you would die on the way there. And have a baby. You’d be a whole different group of people by the time you got there. Now you watch a movie and you take a $#@! and you’re home.

Now I know that we’ve only been on the road 11 weeks, but I feel like a completely different person than when I started. Last week I talked about how we saw 5 different terrains in just one 3-hour hike. After 11 weeks and all of the adventures we have had, I am truly grateful, influenced and different from all of the terrains we have seen from coast to coast and where our travels have led us.

Perhaps I’m having an existential crisis. Or maybe just not reading and watching the news and being not influenced by the media has allowed me to have a different experience. Or perhaps I’m learning to live with technology and still finding flow.

My Life is like a Bee Swarm

I didn’t realize it until Louise and Richard came to check out the swarm of bees that I found. When they shared their knowledge about the bees and how they swarm, what they are looking for, and after witnessing their everchanging hive behavior hour by hour I then realized…my life is like a bee swarm. But isn’t everyone’s—in a way?

The idea of a swarm moving from place to place, like from tree to tree or from eaves to other eaves makes me think about how when we are with Flo, we go from place to place in search of the right spot to land. Thinking back about what it was like to sit on the beautiful white leather couch in the 15th floor in DC just dreaming about this trip, it’s strange to think that now my biggest hope that the next place we stop has hot water and electricity.

Constantly on the move and adapting to the environment, we are exposed to the elements, bound by fleeting light and road conditions, inspired by the landscape, dealing with FOMO of all the places we miss along the way, not knowing where we will sleep, then waking up in a 4′ x 6.5′ metal cocoon wondering what will greet us when we open the door.

And when we step out on the dew-covered ground, it’s obvious that we will have a much different adventure than when we would ride an elevator down 15 floors and jumping on the metro to head into the city for the day.

No, I’m not having an existential crisis. I’m just preparing to leave this wonderful place and head to a region of the country I have never been, back into the unknown, without a plan or a clue as to where we will land after this next leg of the trip.

A Sneak Peak of this Week’s Backstory—That I Hope to Share Next Week

Christina Merkley (shift-it-coach.com)was kind enough to interview me about my lettering. I also taught a virtual lettering meetup for NOVA Scribes, broadcasted live on Periscope, presented my work to Hermineh’s calligraphy class (where I studied in Alexandria, VA) and finally recorded over 12 videos that will be part of a new lettering website that I will launch in the coming weeks. Phew! I’m still too close to really write about it. So there’s the synopsis. Upon completion and reflection, I will launch the project and share more of the backstory here.

Thanks for following our journey. It’s about to take another turn.