Aloha readers: Owl and I talk about you every day. I feel remiss in not sharing our every gecko, waterfall, bamboo forest and accidental nude beach with you, no matter how mundane that may sound. Tomorrow we leave for a night in Hana. We hear the drive out there is kinda nice. We’ll take some photos. Yesterday evening, we braved …
Leg 4: Hawaii and Asia
We leave Ventura early tomorrow morning, SBA-PDX-OGG. In 26 hours, we land on Maui. This is the fourth leg of our digital nomad adventures. Our return in February will take us right up to 2 years on the road. I’ve been making lists. In the final day, a varying carousel of emotions: ready confident excited nervous grateful blessed having fun …
Thoughts on Home from the Road
Where is home? We are repeatedly asked this. There is not an obvious answer. AliSun may reply, “home is wherever we are.” I have been calling Ojai our “home community.” We have no house to return to from the road. Just a modest office-slash-storage space holding the dwindling remains of the way we used to live. Having a home does …
Images From The Grand Canyon
I’ve traveled fairly far and rather wide over the past fifteen months, but going back ten years or more, one question I’ve never been able to answer in the affirmative: You’ve been to the Grand Canyon, right? And as we drove out in March, stayed in Sedona, had breakfast in Flagstaff and headed east on I-40 to Albuquerque and ultimately …
Hawaii and Asia Take Shape
A big, long trip is a life event. It stays with you, fills your soul with experience, colors your view. There is a lot to plan, but it is easier the second and third and fourth time around. It is exciting planting a seed and seeing the plant grow, flower, leaf, fruit. We considered destinations for the fall and winter. …
Until Next Time, Santa Fe
I am experiencing the lasts. The last time we eat at our favorite New Mexican joint. The last time in Eldorado, where we spend the day touring art studios and having a glass of wine with Judith and Will. The last time playing with the guys at the tennis table club. The last time at Lan’s, Taberna, Counter Culture. Maybe …
The Pilgrims of El Santuario de Chimayó
Two friends walk, one covered in tattoos on his neck and hands. A family walks, wearing matching T-shirts commemorating a dear, lost relative. A man walks, carrying a large cross made out of wood, PVC and foil over his shoulder. Two girls walk, holding crosses of clothespins at their hearts. A young man walks, his steps contorted by a muscular …
Best. Crater. Ever.
A rock hurtles through space, lonely, passing through the solar system as the third planet from the sun draws near. The rock is the length of half a football field, entering the atmosphere at 34,000 miles per hour. The molecules encased on the outer layer ignite, turning the rock into a giant terra-bound fireball of death and destruction. Ten seconds …
Ascending Cathedral Rock in Sedona
I awake refreshed at 8am. The dining room table downstairs is my office for an hour, Thunder Mountain is the backdrop. Breakfast on the patio at Heartline Cafe is lovely. I have the poached eggs on crab cakes with a red pepper bernaise. We pick up a little something for the trail across the street at ChocolaTree, AliSun indulges in …
Entering the Great Southwest
Leg three of our nomadic world tour begins in Orange County before the sun comes up. By 8:30am we pit-stop in Blythe, just west of the California-Arizona border. We push forward, detour to Jerome, sit at the counter at Quince. That’s Spanish for 15 for you gringos. The waitress can’t hide her disappointment when we decline margaritas twice. The old …