The past is the past, the future is unknown, the present is now. Live in the present.

I’m shaking the dust of Southern California off my boots and heading on. My time here has been good, nearly great.

I will miss the friends that I have made. I will miss the close proximity of Mex and my beloved Joshua Tree N.P. What I will not miss is the city, the commute, the traffic, nor the California laws and regulations.

While my heart will forever be drawn to The Southland, on Saturday I’ll aim the nose of The Beast northward. Take the coast and catch some waves along the way to Bend, Oregon. 

I visited my good friend Winston and his lovely wife Hillary there a couple months back and came to realize that it is a special place. A seemingly perfect blend of city and country, surrounded by National Forest, mountains, Smith Rock, and filled with down home folks. 

Here’s to a new chapter. Here’s to the present.

To hug the mountain.

I want to drink sweet iced tea out of Mason jars.

The elders of Ka Twa Twa Village, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I arrived in Guatemala City this morning after my longest marathon of travel yet. Eight airports and sixty some hours separated Lubumbashi from Guatemala City. I’m thankful for a rest day.

Still processing my experiences in The Congo. What a place. The people we were there to see were very welcoming. Those who did not know our business looked confused to see so many “Muzungos” in Lubumbashi, a place that is well off the typical and non-typical tourist’s map. Everywhere we went there was singing and dancing, and they are dang good at it. Mind blowing in some cases.

Southeast Congo is very dry eight months out of the year, which, like much of Africa, contributes to many of their problems. There is a serious lack of fruit and vegetables. My entire fruit intake for the 9 days I was there was 1.5 oranges and 3 bananas. The only veggies were canned peas and carrots and some cabbage. Everything else was rice, potatoes, plain pasta, bread, and occasionally chicken or fish. When Tayler asked what I wanted for dinner when I got back, I said, “green vegetables!”

Leading up to and during my time in DRC I was reading a book on the history of the region title “King Leopold’s Ghost” by Adam Hochschild. An eye opening work of history that I highly recommend. It is truly amazing the amount of wealth and natural resources that have been taken out of Africa by the West and how little has stayed among the people that dwell in the land. The Congo, for example, is one of the most naturally rich countries in the world with trillions of dollars worth of natural resources, yet remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

There is so much injustice that I sometimes feel overwhelmed. I want to tell these stories. Pretty stoked on the footage I got and photos I captured. Hopefully they will help.