A Story of One Night

It’s 11:00pm. I’m lying in bed. My mind drifts off to the point where I’m precisely 70% asleep and 30% awake. I’m at the place where I don’t have perception of time. Am I asleep? My mind suddenly wakes up and I make my way to the bathroom and then check my phone. 12:36am. I am completely awake now. Hmmm shall I read? Meh I don’t feel like it. Night run? Oh yes. I’m feeling the kind of energy where I just have to drop everything and go. Before I know it I’m running on the highway that runs parallel to the freeway. Perfect setting for a night run. Bright enough street lights so I can kinda see where I’m going, and the sound of cars passing by. That repetitive sound mixed with the sounds of nature creates a space where my thoughts are clear. I become clear. I look at the cars passing by. Am I dreaming? I think. It’s just me, my breath, the wind whooshing past me, and my mind. I feel light. Running on this dark street under the night sky. I run and run some more. I am anything but straight. And what I mean by that is most of the time I live purely off the moment. I have thoughts of living in the flow and what that means to me. Do you ever see a patch of strawberries in the wild growing in perfect rows? Never. Nature is spontaneity. It feels like my feet are hovering. I am hovering. Some Eastern mystics talk about the witness. It makes sense to me. The witness is the part of you that has the ability to stand back and just witness and observe your Self. Like I’m just witnessing this guy Andrew Marcum running on the street and observing all these thoughts and emotions passing by, just like the cars. As I’m running on the overpass I look over at the cars going under me and think, “What if I lunged over the barricade. My physical body could be gone in 5 seconds.” What a strange and dark thought. It passes in the blink of an eye. Now feelings of being married pass through me. How unreal of a thought! It’s exciting. My marriage will not be normal, because my mind is not normal. I am not normal. My thoughts are clear and crisp, but I can’t even articulate to myself what I’m feeling. The ideal relationship is one that encompasses the ultimate paradox. We have to be one but at the same time not be attached. If you want to make Mac N Cheese for dinner, well go right ahead. I’m gonna make what I want, which is a freakin peanut butter banana chocolate smoothie. And we can’t trip out about that! The differences. Our humanity. If I want space give me some damn space. We don’t always have to be together. If I’m out doing my own thing don’t stress about it. Don’t worry. We have to embrace our individual differences, our own separate desires and wants, our Selves. But at the same time be One. We have to know how to let go of each other and trust that we will come back to each other time and time again. Always. I pass into a part of town I’ve never been. Hmmm this is nice. I turn around and eventually pass the overpass again. Thoughts of when I fall pass through me. When I make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. As I’m thinking of this I start laughing hysterically. Blissfully. My arms are flapping around like the fins of a fish jumping out of water. The witness inside of me says, “Look how deliciously human you are!” Yes. So yes. So beautiful. Now I’m thinking of a few friends I want to write a little short story to. A Story of One Night. Oh wait, better yet, send it to those friends and post it on the blog. I’m almost home. I’m in my room now. Wow I love my room. My space. I splash some water in my face and hop in a cold shower for precisely one minute. I turn my computer on. Now Microsoft word is up. I take a swig of my cold refreshing spring water. I have to grab my shirt to wipe off my arms and hands because I’m still sweating from the run. Headphones in. Now my music is on. Something that sounds just about the same as cars passing by and the calmness of night. Here I am. In my boxers and tank top. 

A Story of One Night

by Andrew Marcum? 

Real Foods Market

Real Foods Market came into my existence when I was doing research on raw milk and I was interested in implementing it into my diet to see how I felt about it. I learned there was a local supplier in town and was so stoked to try it out. From the very first time I walked into the store I noticed something different. It was a feeling. Like this place is special.

I continued to shop at Real Foods Market and eventually asked if they were hiring, and they happened to be at that time. I went in for a group interview and everything was spot on. The philosophy and integrity of the company aligned with my own. What I loved and still love about working here is that it allows me to be myself and it's a place I want to be. It's such a great job and it's allowed me to be a powerful influence in my sphere of the world and share the knowledge and passion I have for nutrition and living holistically.

A few stories. This lady came into the store and we started having a conversation and she was talking about all the health challenges she's been experiencing, and to me it sounded like some sort of candida problem so I recommended coconut oil because of it's powerful anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, and immune enhancing properties. I told her to start out slow but work up to 3-4 tablespoons a day and see how it works. Aaron, the manager at the time, told me this same lady came in (I don't think it was more than a month) and was asking if I was there, but I wasn't so she told him the story of how 10 years ago she had surgery and apparently the surgeon had left some non-dissolvable wire in her stomach. How did she discover the wire? The coconut oil literally flushed it out and she pulled the wire out of her stomach! What a story and what an experience for me to hear that. After all that time this little wire had become infected with bacteria and parasites and who knows what else, and no one knew what was causing all her health problems. But my recommendation to take coconut oil literally changed her life and now she has her energy back and has recommended it to all her friends.

Another story. I don't remember the gist of the conversation but this guy came into the store about a year ago and I recommended a product called Vitamineral Green by the company Healthforce Nutritionals. This product is awesome. It's loaded with different plants, roots, seaweeds, things that people just don't get in their normal diets. He felt a positive difference and continued to buy it every time he ran out. I saw him a few weeks ago and he is still buying it and feeling good! Also, he's been continually buying a raw fermented cod liver oil that we carry that I turned him onto but wasn't aware of until now, and he said "yeah man I feel it in my body, it just feels good." I've seen him a few times since then and every time he comes in he's like "I really appreciate what you're doing here" and it's so heartfelt. It's awesome to feel this kind of appreciation but the past year, especially my time in Europe, I've really come to appreciate and love myself in a way that I simply don't need approval or appreciation from anyone to feel good about myself and what I'm doing. It doesn't matter, but of course it feels good. If people were to tell me everyday I suck at life and I'm no good or whatever it wouldn't matter. I decide how I feel at any given moment and my perception is completely up to me. And I choose to feel good about myself, all the time.

About a month ago I met with a lady named Lisa at Dixie State University to drop one of my classes and as I walked in I noticed a muscle milk on her desk. When I was about to walk out I said "how's that muscle milk treatin you?" And of course that led me to say you know that's just sugar, water, and a bunch of synthetic vitamins right? Then I told her about where I work and we had a good conversation and by the end of it I had her so excited to come into Real Foods it was ridiculous. She never came in. Well, fast forward to last week and I was at the school to see an advisor and I thought hmmm Lisa is probably drinking some muscle milk right now so I stopped by her little office and knocked on the window. And I bet you can guess what happened. She made a gesture to come in and there on the desk was a muscle milk! I said "yeah I was just thinking you're probably drinking some muscle milk right now" and she said "I actually haven't had one for a few weeks, but today I wanted something else other than a bagel." Then she said something like "you are really intuitive." The rest of the conversation I was simply nudging her to just maybe kinda sorta possibly eat some better food and come into Real Foods. It got me thinking everyone has their own habits, especially with food. But how do I be convincing enough? I guess the person has to want to change their diet or at least be open to it.

It's really awesome that almost every week at Real Foods Market we have a free class on a variety of topics, and in April I get to teach a class on a topic of my choice. A couple weeks ago we had a class on bettering your health where everyone was chiming in and there was such good information being shared, and there were two other guys in the class that I felt had amazing stuff to share. The other day I had been thinking about asking one of the guys Russel to see if he wanted to teach a class with me, and he walks into the store, shops around for a bit, and looks at me and asks if there are any available times to teach a class. I was like, "wow dude I was literally just thinking of asking you to teach a class with me" and we talked for a while and simply put we both knew we aligned with this. I get so stoked when situations flow so effortlessly that it's just meant to be. Hopefully within the next couple months the ball will be rolling and I will be teaching a class (or collaborating with others) every single week. A fellow co-worker will be renting out her own space to focus solely on doing classes because that's what she loves doing, so I'll be working on making that happen.

Making some fresh juice

Stories for days. This just happened today. A lady named Ally came in and I used to make her juices all the time but I hadn't seen her for about a year. She looked like a ghost of her former self. Apparently she has been bed-ridden the past five months or so and the doctors are saying she has cancer, but she is refusing chemotherapy and radiation and all that which makes me happy. The cure is in nature. Everyone has the power to heal themselves through shifts of consciousness and using food as medicine and anything else that is nourishing and healing to the individual. Anyways, I was making her some juices like old times and we were talking and she asked me if there's anything that could help, and the herb chaparral came to mind. I had tried chaparral from a source online a while back and recently discovered it again while I was hiking with my roommate behind where we live. I noticed it on the hike, looked at it, smelled it and knew instantly it was chaparral. And this stuff grows all over! After I got home I was refreshing my mind and doing some research on chaparral & cancer and the top two sites were from the UK Cancer Research and American Cancer Society and what do you know they are claiming some ridiculous bull shit that it is toxic to the liver and all this other complete non sense. Nothing gets my blood boiling like the FDA and all their lies and absolutely false information. It's so obvious they don't want people to be well, because where is the money in that?? Freak. I'll end it at that before I end up ranting for hours. (Hmm the FDA is in control of the food and the drugs of our society. Nuff said). I did more digging and was like oh yeah I remember this herb has been used for hundreds and hundreds of years by Native Americans to treat certain types of cancer and many other ailments. Needless to say I'm going to collect a huge garbage bag of wild chaparral so she can start treating herself with NO side effects.

My backyard!

Wild chaparral

I have a natural tendency to look at people and try and discern their situation, especially with regards to where they are at nutritionally. For example every time I meet with my work coop advisor Andrew he has a coffee and sometimes a soda too. I notice dryness around his lips. He sometimes yawns several times in the fifteen or so minutes we talk. He's obviously dehydrated. He's overweight. And all of this is happening inside of me and it's not like I'm judging at all, it's simple discernment and tuning into the person. I want to be like c'mon Andrew, let's get you off the soda and coffee that's just burning you out and deeply dehydrating to your body. Try starting your day with two teaspoons of raw apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of raw honey in 20oz or more of spring water. Have a nice sustaining breakfast like oatmeal with bee pollen and nuts, or a smoothie with raw milk, frozen fruit, and spinach. As I've thought about it I realized I almost entirely recommend things that I've tried and experienced myself. I don't just read something online or in a book and then preach that as truth. I try it myself, experience it, and then recommend it. I'm always experimenting. Like ok I'll try this herb when I come home after a long day and see how it helps with fatigue or before a workout or when I need a mental boost. I'm so grateful I've adopted that mindset of being the explorer of my life because I wouldn't want to live any other way.

So Many Possibilities..

It's been a couple months since my travels ended but I'm thinking why not continue the blog? So here I am. More than anything I guess I've missed writing down what's in my mind because as the days pass my thoughts change so I see it as a very useful tool for my own self development to keep writing and sharing my life experience. Why hide my thoughts away in a journal when I can share them with the world? Hmmm, I'm already finding this fun and therapeutic. Music on. Time to let the thoughts flow.

As I've started school and work back in southern Utah I feel fully back in the western world. I'm loving this time of my life. When I look back on my time in Europe it does feel a little dreamy and distant at this point, but I've had moments like earlier today where I really tune into the trip and just start crying. So much appreciation and love for the people I met and all the experiences I had. It's like if I play the whole trip like a time lapse movie in my head I can't help but be overcome with emotion. People from all over the world that I will never forget. England. Ireland. Switzerland. Mexico. Czech Republic. Poland. Australia. Germany. Sweden. Sicily. Boston. Pennsylvania. Italy. Canada. And the list goes on.

At times I really miss my days in Europe. It was just different. A totally different vibe and lifestyle. I love the way I did the whole trip and I wouldn't change anything about it. When I look back in retrospect it was so perfect for me because it gave me the opportunity to experience something completely different. From always living in the city to living in the countryside. From working in retail and in the office to working outside in the fresh air. From working for a local farm (storefront) to actually working on a farm. From living with a schedule to living with no schedule or itinerary. This is life experience that has been so incredibly useful to expand my mind and ultimately my life. And this whole idea of experiencing the other side of the pendulum is so important to me and my journey, because I refuse to have a one-sided mind and a one-track life.

Life is a bunch of moments strung together and inner change can feel almost imperceptible, but because of my time in Europe I feel a lot more capable. More able to crush challenges that come my way and quick to learn from my mistakes and move on. 6 months of raw life experience and free choices.

It's so exciting to think about all the possibilities, but hard in a sense as well because I know I can go anywhere and do anything. I could buy another one way ticket to Europe for this fall and be gone years, eventually marry someone, gain European citizenship, and then get a legit job and live my life in Europe until I die. I mean really who knows, I sure as hell don't, but I'm open to anything.

As of now I've been immersed in Western life a few months and the fact that I lived in Europe for months without technology and so many modern conveniences I definitely have a more well rounded perspective. I have a lot of thoughts about technology and its impact on my own life. I love that technology gives me the ability to keep in contact with friends and family for one, and also being able to look up and research basically anything, not to mention all the resources (like World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms - Work Away - etc) that give me an endless amount of opportunities all over the world, but I do feel that it takes more effort to stay balanced with all the technological distractions. At what point does it start to detract from one's life? My time in Sicily had just the right amount of technology. About every couple weeks, sometimes longer, sometimes a little shorter, I'd spend maybe an hour at an internet cafe. But geeze, when that time did come and I was able to listen to my beats, I've never heard anything so euphoric. And just the whole experience of being able to look up anything, email anyone, read emails from family, etc was incredible and so enhanced for the simple fact it was so rare, and therefore so appreciated.

There are so many possibilities living a life on the road and never staying in the same place too long. It feels like a part of me has always wanted to just be lost out in the unknown. Not only that, but all the growth and expansion of traveling the world and experiencing different cultures is so deeply enriching. I want the full human experience, and to me that means traveling, having an incredibly wide variety of experiences, and being around as many different people and as I can. To have any other mindset would be limiting to me. Like putting a giant wall around my heart.

Come next year, who knows, I may be off on The Lone Wolf Adventure #2.

Thanks for reading. More goodies to come in the following weeks :)

I'm Baaaaaack!

Just wanted to let everyone know I made it back to the United States! Now I've had the time to totally revamp the blog and put everything in chronological order from the beginning. I'm sure I will go through it again and add in more details and stories, but this is pretty much it. I'm in the process of turning the blog into a book. Who knows you may see it at your local book store with a #1 best seller on the top. Kidding.

Enjoy! 

The Journey Home

This is one for the history books.

About a month and a half ago the feeling came it was time to come home, and so the next day I walked to an internet point and the tickets to Seattle were expensive, so I widened my grid. I ended up finding a ticket to New York City from Rome with a layover in Istanbul for $427. I quickly nailed that down, without knowing how I'd get from New York to Seattle, but GreyHound came to mind instantly. I found a ticket for $129 that same day. Talk about sweet deals! What a gift freedom Is.

From the moment I bought the tickets my whole intention was to keep it a secret, and at one point my Dad asked if I bought a ticket somewhere else because he noticed a chunk of money was gone from my bank account. So, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to tell the whole truth, I said I bought a ticket to Turkey. Phew, everything is still going according to plan. My last day at Vittorio's I told him the situation and he gave me a bed sheet, so that I could walk up to my parents door as a ghost of course. A ghost symbolizing me in a way.

Making eye holes with a pair of baby scissors. Ha.

Had an epic last night dancing for what felt like hours. It's so fun when everyone takes the barriers down. Everyone knows how to get groovy! 

I was also thinking I'd be taking a train or bus from Catania to Rome but some of the guys told me to check Ryanair, so I did and found a ticket for 19 euros. Gotta love Ryanair for hoppin around Europe with pocket change. 

Monday

Gonna miss these ladies. Ruthy from New Yorky (haha), Amanda from Vermont, and Marion from Pareeeeee (Paris).

My flight from Catania Sicily to Rome was scheduled to leave at 6:30am on Tuesday and because there was no way I was getting a ride in the middle of the night, and the public transportation here is unreliable, I got a ride from Nirav Monday afternoon. I arrived at the airport, and upon setting my small bag on the ground I noticed some major spillage. Before I left I loaded up two yogurt containers with the leftover lunch and loaded on the precious olive oil, thinking it may be the last time I get to enjoy exceptionally fresh olive oil from olives I helped harvest and see the process through. Luckily it was just my portable bag, but everything was covered with the oil. I then went through security, which had no line, and the lady checked my ticket and the conversation went like this,

"You can't stay here your flight leaves tomorrow."

"Well I have nowhere to go what am I supposed to do?"

"Outside."

"You're telling me I have to sit outside all night?!"

She waited a few moments as I stood there, and said "downstairs....chair"

"Ok, thanks"

I found a chair and posted up for 13 hours through the night until my flight left. It actually went by fast, I wrote in my journal, looked at my pictures, and took a few power naps on the ground.

Tuesday 

The flight from Catania to Rome was a little over an hour and it was awesome rising above the clouds and starting the morning off with a sunrise from the sky. Epic views. Clouds are so ethereal.

Goodbye beautiful Sicily. Your culture & food & scenery & feeling of all encompassing warmth is permanently engrained into my soul.

Unknown city in southern Italy.

Walking off the plane I say to myself, 1 down, 2 to go. My flight to Istanbul wasn't for another 11 hours, so I strolled around the airport in a leisurely fashion, which was nice because airports are synonymous with people scurrying around like busy ants. I bought a couple books and enjoyed reading and just chillin until my flight left. 

Up by my gate I found this lounge chair that I swear was placed there for me. It was so nice to fully relax and enjoy the sunset and watch the countless planes take off.

I get to my row in the airplane and the passenger who I'd be sitting by welcomes me and offers to put my bag in the overhead compartment. When does that ever happen?! I sit down and know I could have an interesting conversation with this nice Turkish man, but I'm too tired to want to, so I close my eyes and pretend I'm sleeping.

Walking out into Istanbul I couldn't help but smile. I'm in Turkey! 2 down. 1 to go. Talk about diversity. Perfect place to people watch. I now have about 9 hours until my next flight leaves. I asked a lady where my gate was for my flight to New York, and she said I couldn't stay in the airport, I needed to go to a hotel. As I was walking away from her I said to myself, "yeah well watch me lady." I explored the airport for a bit and then found a random gate and tried to sleep. Wasn't happenin.

Wednesday

Now it's 4:00am and I order some yogurt at a Turkish-ed out Pink Berry. My body is not used to processed sugar so it shocks me into a state of jittery wakefulness for maybe an hour. Finally at the gate they are checking passports and letting people into that area. It's now 5:00am. Here's a journal entry from that moment.

"Istanbul Airport. 48 hours awake with a few power naps in between. I'm at the point where it feels like a bowling ball is strapped to my head, pushing everything down. My eyes heavy with tiredness, all this synthetic lighting is throwing my melatonin production out of whack, preventing any real sleep. I close my eyes and the sound of scanning passports echoes in my head like I'm in a cave. I hope they don't try and imitate the sun at noonday like they did on my last flight. My goodness no wonder people come out of flights jet-lagged. I look out the window to my left and see what looks like an elongated tank. I laugh. Who engineers all these wacky airport vehicles? They must have a sense of humor. The sky has a dark blue hue, growing lighter by the minute. I hope they serve breakfast so I don't have to waste money on overpriced airport food."

I zoned out for a half hour and opened my eyes to see they are starting to board. I feel light now thanks to adrenalin. I'M GOING BACK TO DA MOTHERLAND. I board my flight and find out it's ten and a half hours to New York. Turkish Airlines is pure luxury compared to what I'm used to. Everyone has their own tv. Free movies. Free games. Complimentary slippers, ear plugs, eye covers, headphones, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm. Man this is legit. I be takin Turkish Airlines for my future International flights. I watched a few movies and towards the end I found out they have multiplayer games so I played old school Tetris and Chess with my fellow neighbor Trevor.

The New York air is crisp and cool. I have 22 hours until my bus leaves. The first thing I do is try and get some rest. Doesn't work. I then ask how I get to the Greyhound station so I know for the next day. Once again, I post up in the airport, but this time I have my trusty eye covers so I can mimic nighttime and maybe get some sleep. Using my backpack as a pillow I curled up on two chairs and something amazing happened, I slept! Waking up an hour later I remembered some dreams indicating real sleep was achieved. I then had some Sbarros pizza for the simple fact it brought me back to The Cottonwood Mall days. Man, those days were prime.

Thursday

Fast forward to 4:00am. I'm reading Andre Agassi's Autobiography and laughing hysterically. Well done Andre. Well done. I get up to find some food and the only place that is open is Dunkin' Donuts. Blueberry muffin time. I probably seemed unusually talkative and energized for that time of night. As I walk around that area of the airport, munching on my muffin, I see a clock. 4:39am. But not in my internal clock. I'm like the energizer bunny. I make a loop and am finishing my muffin at the same time I pass Dunkin' Donuts again. I buy another muffin.

I head out around 7:00am just to be safe, and ask a few more people where the bus stop is, and one lady told me if I take the AirTrain it's half as much. I found the place but I was confused as to which one I was supposed to take. A sweet old lady asked me how to get to the Jamaica station (which was where I was heading) and I said, "I have no idea, I'm a little lost" ha. I eventually found out how and we both got on together, but as I was looking at the paper I noticed we were on the wrong one so I let her know. She decided to get off and switch then, while I decided to stay on until the last one before I had to. Fast forward and now I'm on the elevator going down to the subway, the door opens, and there is the old lady! I welcome her and congratulate us both for finding the way. Waiting for the subway a guy next to me says, "you been backpacking?" And that was the start of an awesome conversation with Antonin from Normandy. He had a flight to Paris later in the afternoon so he was exploring the city for a bit. He got off at my stop with me and I asked the Greyhound people if my bus was still on schedule for 11:00am, and the guy said, "wait your bus isn't leaving until 11:00pm." Whaaaaat! Hahaha. So I did what I do. Adapt. Walking out into the city Antonin and I were feeling mutually elated. New city. New vibes. New experience. Had a great time walking around the city chattin it up. Times square. Apple store. Grand Central Park. Good times. He had to leave in the afternoon and I still had all night so I went to a 5 story building converted into a movie theater down from Times Square. First time at a movie theater in 6 months.

After the movie I made my way back to the subway where I attempted to sleep on the ground. With my purple outfit and eye covers on, I was lookin to multitask while I sleep by making people laugh. I probably looked like a bum and cyclops combined. 20 minutes later I wake up to two security guards telling me I can't sleep there. The rest of the time until my bus left was a blurred reading session.

Friday 

The seats in Greyhound seem to be fit for everyone else except me. My body type just doesn't work. I'm too tall, so every which way I try and sit is just the right amount of uncomfortable. I've been up for 4 days now with a few short power naps here and there. We traveled through Pittsburgh and then to Cleveland. Coming into Cleveland with the gray sky and dull colored buildings it felt more like a prison, and the feeling was further potentiated when I walk into the bus station and they have a Greyhound cafe that smells like McDonalds's and a bunch of vending machines. Oh great, I'd rather not eat. That night pulling into a rest stop I noticed a cute bunny working at Pizza Hut, and in my mind she had to be practicing for Halloween. I asked her, "is it really Halloween?" and she said, "Yes! Why do people keep asking me that?!" Ha! I was totally oblivious to what day it was.. so yeah I spent a wildly entertaining Halloween night on a Greyhound bus.

Saturday

Next up. Chicago. Then Minneapolis. I did enjoy looking at the scenery across the country and seeing all the changing colors which I didn't get in my travels. Leaving Minneapolis the moon looked like an orange muffin top flipped upside down. That night after being up for 5 days now with very little sleep, leaning my head against the glass looking out into the darkness, I saw what looked like a huge glowing frog head inching its way closer and closer to me. I sit up to get a better look and it's a gas station.... stories of a sleep deprived brain.

Sunday

Last day on the insane journey home! Missoula. And then to Seattle. The last 5 or 6 hours I could not sit still, I was so ready to be done. Getting off the bus in Seattle I felt free. I can move! A Seattle Seahawks game was just finishing up and so there were loads of people and cars. I made my way to the ferry to cross to Bainbridge Island where my parents live, and when I get off and outside the walkway my Dad is just standing there! Whaaaaaat!! I knew if he checked my bank statement he would have figured it out, and surely he did. He noticed some purchases in New York and then across the country in Pittsburgh and Indiana and checked the Greyhound schedule so he deduced what Ferry I'd most likely be on. Luckily he kept it a secret from the rest of the family so I was still in the clear! Before we got home I put on the ghost outfit and he was sneaking behind me to take some pictures for this priceless moment. I ring the doorbell, my mom answers, and I start doing a little dance, and she noticed my Dad in the background so she was confused! Who could it be? My sister was in the house and said kind of sarcastically like, "oh my what if that's Andrew?!" And doing my dance, I slipped and almost fell on my head, and then unveiled myself.

Mission Completed

The Unknown, Unexplored, & Unexpected

For anyone interested in wwoofing (world wide opportunity organic farms) I'd say going to Italy is an absolute must. It is the spearhead of the whole organization. There are over 650 farms here and it's so awesome how organized they are. The sense of unity is really somethin else. A goal they have is to connect all the farms via hiking trails which is so cool. This day we (or should I say they) mapped out the most scenic way to get to the next farm, which would go down by the river. The day was dedicated to checking it out to see what it would be like. I couldn't have planned a better last full day at La Casa delle Acque.

The previous day I was taking a nap and I woke up to the sound of people laughing. I open the door and turn to my left and I see Mattias (homie from Belgium that I stayed with at my first farm for a couple weeks)!! Whaaaaat in the hell! Best surprise ever. We talked for a while as the sun was setting and he told me Salvatore & Francesca (first family I stayed with in Sicily) were on their way. Wow. I was so stoked. They had come, along with several other people, to stay the night and explore the trail the next day. On the drive over Mattias wondered if I was in Morocco yet. When I surprised Salvatore and Francesca I gave them a big hug, but it was kinda hard. I could feel my love for them, and I could feel their love for me, but I wanted to express my appreciation for my time at their home in words but I couldn't.

And so the adventure begins...

TaTa! 

Ruthy throwing up a gangster pose. Ha. 

Just call me the green power ranger. Straight up. 

I feel cooler than a 7th grader listening to rap. I think imma patent a new name I came up with for a type of hair color. Super Sicilian Sun Dried. 

Chillin with Borus while the group was having a discussion in Italian. 

Me and Ruthy had a blast doing little photo shoots along the way.

Had to attempt my signature move. And I succeeded, although I almost fell off head first. Everyone gasped. It was worth shedding blood.

It was so cool one guy spotted some wild licorice root along the way and a bunch of us pulled some out of the ground for a taste. Yup. I knew immediately from the woody sweetness. It's so useful and fun to know about herbs. My mind instantly gave the overview, like licorice is a great remedy for dehydration, it's a potent liver cleanser flushing out over 1200 known toxins, if taken with other herbs it works to harmonize and guide the herbs to where they need to go, good anti inflammatory, etc. 

Look how chill Borus is.

Tasting some Volcanic salt. Good stuff.

We connected back to the main road and then cut through this property, right as we entered this part the walls created a sort of sound barrier so it was dead quiet.

Mattias and I are seriously like a married couple. We were pulling jokes and laughing and no one knew what we were talking about. 

Made it to the next farm.

Sitting down for some acque and pomegranates.

Trashy streets that are synonymous with Sicily. Nirav went ahead and brought his truck back and picked us up for the ride home.

The dude himself. Mattias.

The Brazilian Morpheus! And some dude who was biking across Sicily with his girlfriend on a double bike.

Great times in the yoga room.

I love how I've fully immersed myself in experimentation. That's what it's all about, always finding new ways to enjoy and elevate life. For example, I tested out waking up and literally the first step I take out of bed I start dancing. Using my body to elevate my mind and my mind to elevate my body. Also, I adopted stretching almost everyday and the benefits are countless. There is a definite link between physical flexibility and mental flexibility. Life is fun. 

Had an epic last night dancing for what felt like hours. It's so fun when we all take the barriers down. Everyone knows how to get groovy! 

That classy purple outfit you see was left behind by another wwoofer. Right when I put the jacket on for the first time I started dancing it was so perfect. Just before I left I was sitting down and noticed a quote on the pants. It said,

"Discover and enjoy the adventure of the unknown, unexplored, and unexpected..."

This trip as a whole has been the best experience of my life. Throwing myself out into the world with no plans or itinerary and seeing what happens. It's been so incredibly enriching, not to travel like a tourist, but rather to live with the people, work with the people, and experience life with the people. That's first hand experience that will be with me for the rest of my life. 

I refuse to stop exploring my inner and external world.