Welcome to CALI!

Sunday- June 7th update: Lake Havasu, Mexico, Cali.

Santa Barbara.

This is one of my favorite cities. I came here when I first visited Jazz and fell in love with it. The entire college campus gets around on bicycles and it’s awesome to see 1000’s of bikes just zigging and zagging past each other.

I went from Las Vegas to Lake Havasu to Mexico to San Diego within 24 hours!

Lake Havasu was the first night I slept in my van. Perhaps what I’m actually doing didn’t hit me until this night. There were campgrounds available for $15 to park, but then the nice woman at the info-booth told me there is free public land a mile back. So I took the’ free ‘option- but not before I went to the campgrounds and collected some gemstones off the lake’s shore. I enjoyed some serenity by the water and prepared for my first night in my van. I drove it out in the dessert and was literally in the middle of nowhere away from all society.
I found a spot. Turned my van off. And on the first night……My first step out of the van…I step right next to a white snake. I jumped back in, but more out of conditioning, then fear. The snake didn’t attack or anything. It just slithered away calmly. I thought it was a bad omen, but later looked up, that a white snake symbolizes a ‘spiritual rebrith’. It’s funny how you look at something while you’re going through it compared to how you look at it in reflection. So I ended up driving my van to a different spot. I looked around and felt real comfortable in my situation. It’s kind of a toughie because sleeping in the middle of nowhere, leaves you with no resources or help in case of an emergency; But that’s completely fear-based. We live our entire lives robbing ourselves of being present with our lives based on a hypothetical unlikely situation. The human mind has an obsession with the unlikely to justify their fearful minds.
So I made myself comfortable in my van the best I could. I turned on my computer and watched a comedy to keep me in good spirits. I had trouble falling asleep though. I was woken up to what I thought was a human being next to my van, but figured out it was an animal brushing against the side of it. It was pretty hot but I stocked up on some water. I really had everything I needed, but my mind still had to become trained on how to rest and how to simply ‘be’. We struggle everyday with simply existing. Our thoughts create our prisons. Our thoughts create our keys. Everything is based on our perception of our experiences. I know I haven’t overcome my 25 years of conditioning yet, but I’ve taken the first step and feel content with how I handled my first night.

I then woke up and drove to Mexico to get my teeth fixed. I’m glad I did, because I had a bunch of cavities that would’ve became root canal jobs. I had an intuition to go but couldn’t really afford it. My Vegas trip is even more precious now. The amount I won is exactly what I needed to fix my teeth and do a little van work.

I then drove to San Diego to see an old friend of mine. She’s an amazing woman I met at the Raw Spirit Festival a year ago. She drove Jazz from Cali to Sedona that year. While I was there, I got a text message from a woman named Lani that I just met on Myspace a week ago. Come to find out, that Lani and Sabrina are actually friends. What a small world! Neither of us knew about our mutual friend when we first started talking. The synchronicities are amazing! Lani text me and told me I can stay at her place, as long as I’m okay with leaving in the morning, because she has work.
So I said Bye to Sabrina, which was surprisingly tougher than expected. We had a nice conversation, but our greatest exchange of words happened at the very end, when were completely silent and just standing there holding each other. With one final glance deep in each others eyes, I received her blessing and send her my love. We smile each other goodbye in silence and our individual journeys continued out.
So then I met up with Lani and we instantly connected. It was refreshing meeting someone my age who’s into spirituality but is still down to earth and can make really funny jokes  We just hung out all night getting into deep conversations, silly conversations, and just embracing each others presence.
So the next morning when I woke up as she was getting ready for work, she told me that I could just stay there while she’s at work. I was very grateful for this, but perhaps didn’t realize how much of a blessing it was until that afternoon. It was great that she was that comfortable with me and trusted her intuition. A young female living alone and inviting a ‘stranger’ guy to spend the night, let alone be in her apartment by himself, is definitely against the norm. But that’s the thing…Me and her weren’t strangers. When we saw each other and hugged, there was an instant memory of several past lives. Friends. Soulmates. Soul Family indeed! And being able to recognize those moments of beauty and trusting your soul’s intuition leads to beautiful possibilities.
So she went to work. I got a couple hours more of sleep in. Was able to shower. Shave. Catch up on emails. Relax. And was FULL of energy by the time she got back. After all the driving I did, I didn’t realize how exhausted I was and how bad I needed that re-charge.
So she came back from work. We went out near the beach and enjoyed a beautiful lunch. Sprayed some water on each other. Stuffed our faces. And then back home to say goodbye. We did a book exchange, which I LOVE doing. It’s about building knowledge with each other. We then said bye to each other, but I had this tickle in my heart that I’ll be seeing her again, so I just smiled as I drove off and kept it on my face during the rest of the day 
I then drove to Santa Monica where there was a poetry open mic at the International Youth Hostel! How perfect! After I performed there, I hit the boardwalk and hung out with the houseless ones. I took a box of food down there, fed them all, and just talked about life and tried giving them as much light as I can. I was planning n sleeping out there, but my other half was yearning for me. So I drove to Santa Barbara to be with her. I had to pull over every 15 minutes to close my eyes because I was THAT tired. But when I saw her, it was completely worth it.
The next day, I found out about an open mic happening. It was at Giovanni’s pizzeria. When I first showed up, there was 1 person there. But once it started, dozens of people showed up. They set up a DJ outside, and it was a complete back in the day hiphop barbeque setting. We were just all rapping and ciphering and spitting poetry out on the street. I had a complete blast. And then on my way out, I saw another hippie-fest out on the grass with jugglers and dancers. I got to perform at that event too.
Santa Barbara is funny like that. I never know of any events until I get here. Perhaps that’s what it’ll be like in each city. You can do as much research online, but most of the best spots are the underground hidden gems that you can only find by completely diving head first into each culture. A part of me wants to double this trip to 2 years instead of 1, so I can stay in each city for 2 weeks. I feel that’s the only way to truly deeply experience it. Anything less than that, and I’m judging an entire city and culture based on my extremely limited interaction with it.
But either or, I’ve had a blast so far. Reunited with some soulmates. Reconnected with my twinflame. Inspired. Got inspired. A beautiful circular exchange of energy.
I’m now off to L.A., San Fran, Mt. Shasta and then Oregon.
So many stories already. So much inspiration and love. And I feel more ready than I have ever been. It truly is the PEOPLE that provide the fuel for this trip. My faith in humanity grows stronger each day. And the great thing is, that this trip is JUST getting started. 
Love and light to you all