The Beginning

 (So, I'm actually writing this first entry about a month into my journey... but you know, inspiration be crazy!)

Frank and I left our home in Austin, Texas June 12, 2013. We planned this road trip approximately 2 months beforehand and watched in awe as all the pieces fell gracefully into place to enable us to embark on this adventure.We left together, both with a growing and persistent drive to remove ourselves from the confines of the structure of society. Not completely understanding the form of what I'm searching for, but understanding the craving for freedom and magic.
   Our first stop in Balmorhea, TX to see the spring there and camp. On the way there, I was driving when we got lost and I started getting frustrated and impatient. We pulled over to check Frank's handy dandy atlas and he turned to me and said, "Hey.. you just gotta remember one thing... We're free." That statement would prove to be the theme for the adventures to follow.

I've been keeping a journal and have decided to type up my entries as they are written.... prepare yourself, things will be getting all kinds of existential in the entries that will eventually follow....

June 13, 2013 (first entry)

 Sitting in Marfa, Tx right now. Dark Horse Saloon at around 5 p.m. waiting til it gets dark to see the famous Marfa lights. We were directed here from the town hipsters who had a mysterious white dog with mismatched eyes.
 Day 2 on our journey and things couldn't be going better. I already feel the freedom  from breaking away from my (old) life. With this freedom and time for introspection I also feel the lessons I'm going to learn and identifying things about myself I need to examine and move through.

  Day 1
 Got my car loaded to the brim with all my supplies and loooots of food! Went to pick up Frank and all the way to Balmorhea we had discussions about ALL THE THINGS. Driving and watching the land change from city, to country, to desert...
 We made it to the campground and set up the tent in hurricane winds and the unforgiving desert sun. But it was totally worth it when we jumped into the cold beautiful spring. Desert oasis. Couldn't help but think of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
  While swimming in the spring I noticed it is the exact same layout as my neighborhood pool I spent everyday swimming in during the summer growing up... Only a larger version. All of a sudden I was seeing through the perspective of a child. I think thats when I knew I'd have to conquer the diving board.
 Snorkeling was amazing and hunting for "cannonballs" (round rocks at the bottom of the spring)... I'm so grateful I have a travel companion who is so down for playing like kids and using imagination. I feel more than ever our trip has endless possibilities.
 We later met with some of Franks friends and their parents who were there on vacation. They're all such cool people, we hung out all night talking and laughing. We eventually fell asleep under the stars with the sound of crickets and coyotes.
 The next day we went swimming first thing. There is a hole in the wall of the spring that feeds into a river... Naturally we decided to swim through it. It made me feel like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. As we swam through the tunnel there was a school of fish hanging out in there that got startled by us. They swam our frantically into our faces, it was so beautiful and surreal. Soon after that we just lounged and read books til we started hearing thunder. On the horizon we saw a storm-a-brewing. We got our tent secure and went to a field to talk pictures of the storm on the hills and wait for the grey clouds to make their way to us. The lightning, clouds, and thunder was inspirational and calming at the same time. The wind picked up and the temperature changed... Everything about thunderstorms seem healing, but playful and mystical all at once.
 Being free and in the Flow are the themes for this trip, and I feel myself severing the ties of attachment and expectations... more than I've been able to in a long time. Without obligation and responsibilities I'm free to revert back into my childlike awareness, but I've replaced the naivety of a child with true appreciation and joy. I appreciate freedom so much more and can embrace the moment and the magic with a better understanding and awareness of what that means. To let go into the mystery with an open heart is to allow the magic of the universe to conspire.

Now we're sitting in a dive bar where all the cowboys apparently go, and the bartender has an eye patch. Both Frank and I are having a drink and writing in our journals, respectively.
The beginning to something greater than a journey over land, it is the start of my journey into Spirit.