The road and its adventures remain priority. I have come to understand that the path to development involves the first-hand experience. It is an immersion into the passions of one's believes and actively leaping off that cliff to follow one's Dreams. Afterwards, everything else will follow as the inclusion of trust is incorporated.

Come June '08 I will be in Australia with World Nomad's Ambassador Van project. For six weeks myself and another will be behind the wheel of a fully functioning camper van (complete with bedding, kitchen and wifi laptop) with the freedom to roam the continent in search of adventure, culture, good food and some deep lovin' amidst the surf. The requirements of the writing/photography/documentary project are three web-blog postings a week in the form of writen articles, photographic essays and/or film documentations. With dedication and discipline, I seek to open the doors of my aspiring travel writing and photography career, catching the attentions of various publications on the prowl. From Australia to Bali (see Yoga section below).

Africa entices; its cultures and issues, its diversity and complexities. I want to travel the continent to experience what the land and its people behold, documenting my journeys to share. From north to south, west to east and back, eventually reaching South Africa. Then onwards, Time passing as I skip over to New Zealand before traveling up through Indonesia, Malaysia and back into Southeast Asia. Northern Thailand, across into Laos and northern Vietnam and onto the spread of Chinese culture. There, I wish to study Chinese and spend my free days exploring this massive expansion of people, ideas and evolution.

All thoughts, ideas, actions and things are impermanent in their finest nature. Therefore, I know these dreams to be current solely within this present moment, and I accept their flexibilities with gracious movement. I lay open to all...

Writing frees something and everything from within me. Whether it's loneliness, joy or an idea spurned from awareness within and without, writing is my output to the world around. Besides the articles and poetry, I've written three manuscripts from these yearnings for expression. Today, they rest in their raw form, marinating in the sauces of development until time hints at their seasoned maturation.

Trailing Constantine's Dove and A Return With Wings are fiction founded on personal experience of a young man named Constantine who leaves the molded modernity of his known lifestyle to welcome a new world. He departs the Western World against the pull and push of today's firm opposition and enters the Far East, discovering the realities of his dreams. The stories recount, not only the cultures that begin to undress his conditioning, but also the personal effect on his emotions as he begins to awaken and see with his own two eyes.

The third manuscript, The WAWA Journals, is a non-fiction relating to the forgotten realities of Nigeria, the West Africa nation who stands as the fifth largest oil exporter to the United States. It's an adventure into the opposite world of life, a story birthed from viewing and accepting the world in its many lives, and understanding that each one of us has an impact no matter how much or how little we do. Following twenty Americans paired with twenty Nigerians, it's an indepth look at the culture above the vast resources that corporations and each functioning act of physical creation relies upon. The WAWA (or West Africa Wins Again) of the trip falls into the enduring power of the people despite outside manipulation. Africa will always live.

Upon the current travels, a photography project unfolds capturing the unique faces and lives of the fellow traveler. With their tales told in the wrinkles of their brow and the deepness of their gaze, the photography book merges to tell their tales before time passes and the journeys along the road take their separate turn. Personalities, adventures, and the things we come away with from experience may be short-lived, but the lasting impact they have for each one of us varies within its imprinted memory.

Yoga:

The path of the yogi is a constant flux, yet with dedication and a relaxation within the mind, it is one of joyousness. I'm so excited to share that Laura DeFreitas (my friend/partner....lover- mwhahaha) will be leading a retreat to Bali, Indonesia in August 17th - 31st of 2008. This retreat brought to you by Danu Tours will feature daily yoga classes taught by Laura and provides participants the opportunity to experience the Balinese culture through the eyes of local tour guides. The retreat falls during a particularly auspicious time in the Hindu calendar, when two of the most important festivals allows us to appreciate - and in some cases participate - in traditional dance rituals, music performances, religious ceremonies and other healing arts practices.

For an itinerary and for more information, please visit the two following links:
www.danutours.com/bali_yoga_laura.htm
www.lauranidra.com