I purchased my first smart phone when I was 34, with it came the Panorama feature. I have added a few notes to each picture, as they are surrounded by a story, saga or event.
The photos are in chronological order of time, from when I left Ojai CA to start a law degree in Vermont, to walking the footpaths of the Lake District.
This is a view in the Ojai Valley, in the foreground a camping spot most likely used by the Chumash as it seems to be a perfect place for ceremony. To left is Lake Casitas, now considerably less full of water.
My parents rented for ten years until they purchased this house in Ojai. It has provided us all with a space to retreat too. It's not been easy, since we first emigrated to the US with nothing, but we are grateful we have somewhere to live.
In a mad rush, I applied to do a Masters Degree in Environmental Law in Vermont. While I waited, to find out if I was going, I went lawn bowling with my dad in Santa Barbara.
I also took a drive down to Malibu; and
Went hiking with a friend into the Sespe Wilderness, where we found a spot to take a dip. Amazingly it rained for a brief moment, a rare occurrence in Southern California.
I did make it to Vermont. When my birthday arrived, and since I couldn't seem to find many like minded souls in college and in a impromptu moment I decided to rent a car for a few days, drive to the White Mountains and hike up to a hut that provided a bunk bed and food. Next to the hut was a lake, here I took a sunset dip; nothing like being in nature to clear the mind, expand the heart and breath the fresh air.
Every year a small fair comes to Royalton, Vermont, where I attended law school.
It gets slightly repetitive sitting in the library all day reading law books. One day I decided to help my mate build an igloo on the school campus in Vermont. Everyone made fun of my friend for being different; I was bloody grateful for the change and to be outside, plus I learned something.
I had to buy some smart pants for college. The retailer that helped me at a store in Burlington was very beautiful, a lady from South America. I asked her out, but she had a boyfriend. However, she said I should go out with her roommate. So on our first date we walked on the frozen ice of Lake Champlain, frozen from one side to the other for the first time in decades. It's kind of like watching a scary movie on a date where two relative strangers are thrust together clasping each other in terrot; except here, all of a sudden we were holding each others hands making sure we didn't fall over. I thought it might be a good omen but we only met a few times.
During my Masters in Environmental Law degree I attended and helped bring a number of students from Vermont to an Environmental International Law Conference. The most memorable part of the trip for me was hanging with my mate Marc and seeing the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.
After Vermont, somehow I got roped into doing a law degree at Tulane University. Well, I had my doubts but i still made the choice, and in the end I struggled greatly in New Orleans. Before I left Vermont I had to collect my belongings. I car camped by Lake Champlain.
There are many things I love about Vermont, the people, the culture, the farming, but especially the nature and the mountians.
Lake Champlain has a trail that runs across at one point, a great place for a dip, I took many on a sunny humid day, before collecting my belongings and heading to New Orleans.
This was the backyard of a friend I made at Law school in Vermont. Before I left for New Orleans I spent the day with her eating fresh veggies from her garden, skinny dipping in the river that backed by her house, jumping in Lake Champlain, drinking green tea and rubbing each others feet. It's a poignant picture for me because three months later she committed suicide. I was very angry when I heard, because I had spoken to her about a month before she took her life. She was at a crossroads, contemplating going deeper into the often depressive field of law or calling it quits and doing something else. I tried to help her but I was already in the rabbit hole at Tulane University, and I never imagined with her spirit that she would give up. She had so much going for her, but I know the burden of pressure the field of law can play on one's mind from personal experience. I miss her.
About six months into the first year of Law School at Tulane I went to a party in an old project outside New Orleans in the Metarie. I had fallen for an exchange student from Hong Kong. She was up for doing things that I like to do, like riding a bike out to an unknown adventure. She had a boyfriend back home so it never really went anywhere, despite my attempts to convince her otherwise. The party was on the other side of this building. It was strange to think that this project once a place of so much struggle, segregation and despair was now a spot for people to create and express themselves. Of course projects still exist in a big way not only New Orleans but elsewhere; they are just painted with new brushes and renamed.
One of my favorite spots in New Orleans is the sculpture garden at the Museum of Art housed in another refuge the City Park. There was an area in the City Park I used to go barefoot walking to get some grounding while I was at school. It was a wild place, let go after hurricane Katrina. Originally a golf course, it had became overgrown, and I often spotted coyotes and large birds. Unfortunately a developer managed to get a permit to turn it back into a golf course. People protested because like me they relished the wild open feeling. One man even took to living in a tree to stop them from chopping down some of the beautiful oaks that existed. A hardcore treehugger. The police hounded him out with spot lights and a fence to stop him getting supplies. He lasted 11 days and eventually he fell braking his foot in the process. The $25 million golf course got built, a sport I am not a fan of for it's huge environmental impacts around the world. I don't mind golf courses in places like Scotland, where it originated, because they have an abundance of rain. Combined with the amount of water and chemicals used to keep the grass green, I think there are limits to how many golf courses there should be. But then again who am I to stop a bunch of dudes riding around on carts hitting balls in a small hole. There is no money in keeping a space wild, but many people like me got so much from it, so much healing, something a golf course I don't think can anywhere close to, not as yet anyway.
I lived in the French Quater for three months right near Jackson Square, pictured below. The Mississippi River is close by, only a few feet below where the houses stand. It was always interesting to take a stroll and have a look at all the comings and goings.
Living in the French Quater has changed a lot over the years. Tourists flock to see the french inspired town, as most of the USA lacks character in it's buildings and layouts, it's a small city with a lot of character that you can walk around. Do strip malls inspire you? I always like Monday mornings when it was quiet. I'd go for a stroll around Jackson Square. Sit at the bar at Stanley's, talk life with the barman and have my usual - eggs benedict poor boy.
Before I went to NOLA I passed through Asheville, NC. While sitting in a coffee shop I noticed a young lady working on a laptop, she was wearing muddy boots. We started chatting and eventually on spring break I took the Amtrack train up to Asheville area where she picked me up and I stayed with here for a week. She was studying herbal medicine and was a farmer, I have a soft spot for earthy women. She had to work while I was there and I went for a walk one night in her neighborhood. I found this place intriguing and rather bizarre. A gas station with a bar!
This isn't where I stayed in the french quarter but it is rather similar. It's the slave section in the rear of the main house, I stayed in a similar building except it had been updated, however it was still riddled with mold, something almost inescapable in the French Quarter, and a reason for me leaving and moving uptown to a house on stilts.
After quitting law school in Vermont I rented a Uhual Truck and drove back to California. On the way I made a stop in San Antonio to visit a friend. Rohn has converted his pool into a natural pond with bog filter attached. I am a huge fan of natural pools and strongly believe we should convert many swimming pools across the USA into natural swimming pools. Rohn's backyard is like a nature preserve, it may look green but it's safe to swim in. He also holds movie nights in his backyard for his neighborhood.
After quitting school and returning to California I had another seizure. Previously, on an adventure through Mexico with a now ex -girlfriend I met a friend of hers who lived in Merida. We stayed in touch and when he heard of my health struggles he offered for me to stay at his adobe place outside of Toas, NM. You can see it in the middle of this picture. I rented a car, drove out there and spent a month in the open space of the high desert near the hot springs of the Rio Grande. It was a healing time for me, removed from society, with no internet, contemplating life and enjoying nature. I used to sit and look out the window and watch the storms come and go.
One day without much preparation I drove into the mountains, parked the car and started hiking. I took a small bottle of water, my cell phone, a pair of sandals, and no jacket. On the way up the mountain a storm rolled through, it was a severe storm. I created a little shelter with some pieces of bark and logs and huddled in the fetal position. I lay there for about 45 minutes thinking to myself, this wasn't the smartest move, will no idea when the storm would pass, in a place where no one new where I was. I slowed my breathing to try and conserve energy, and in this moment I overcame all the anxiety in my body , becoming calm. The storm passed and I hiked to the top, where I took a nap in the sun to get warm. I had to bushwhack, but on the way down I drank from a small stream that started near the top. I hiked down in the dark and there was a peace that I experience on this hike, a moment of 'I am'.
It was in Toas (NM) that I formulated a plan to go to Japan, with the help of a friend that lived outside Tokyo. First I would visit Australia to attend a five day event with Prem Rawat outside Brisbane. Sometimes I would get a little restless at the event and go for a walk, taking pictures.
While at the event I went on a few walkabouts, something I've been doing for long time. I dropped my phone the first time I went and so the next day I had to do the hike again, amazingly my phone was sitting in the middle of the trail.
Prior to the event with Prem Rawat I stayed in a youth hostel on Straddie Island, outside Brisbane. Every morning I would see a women walking a dog on the beach. On the ferry ride back to the mainland we started to chat. After the event I went and stayed with her, she had a new business riding a bike fitted with a small kitchen, which she made Italian bites. We went to a bike event in Brisbane.
After arriving in Japan I went to my first Onsen. This was in Yugawara, outside Tokyo. It would became a regular pastime while traveling Japan. A great way to keep clean and relax while on the road.
An old friend had offered to lend me his VW van and for my first week long trip I went into the Izu Peninsula. This was a road side stop which also housed a museum showcasing a Japanese garden and classic house. I spent three months traveling Japan in this van.
The Izu peninsula grows horseradish. Horseradish has to grow in flowing water and high in the mountains, just near this waterfall they grow horseradish.
My new friend who I met on Straddie Island came and travelled with me for ten days. One of our adventures was to drive up a mountain and camp in the woods. The next morning we hiked to the top, where some locals offered us some food. A group of men played with toy planes and family members brought the elderly to enjoy the view. This was on Shikoko Island.
I camped all over Japan in the VW van pictured here. Mostly winging it, and in fact some of the best spots were not in campgrounds, off the side roads. Japan has roads crisscrossing many mountains that at one time adjacent valleys would house separate clans almost inaccessible to each other due to the steep terrain.
A spot I ended up staying at for three weeks was this little sliver of land you can see in the picture, crossing from one side to the other. I met a local women, when I was walking across the sand spit, with a Spanish hitchhiker who had asked when I picked him if I would take him there. I was joking with him on the way, that he could act as my translator as he could speak some japanese, and low and behold he did because after making eye contact with a lady as we walked back and forth across the sand spit _ I asked him to invite Yumiko for dinner. This would be the start of my Japanese romance. Although I parked in a parking lot right on the sand spit, it had everything I needed. Within walking distance was an onsen, food, shops, coffee, a natural spring for water, peace and quiet. Mainly Japanese tourists from Kyoto came here on the train to walk across the sand spit. Every day me and Yumiko would walk the sand spit. Sometimes she would drive me to a new restaurant or onsen, two of my favorite things to do while in Japan. Soak and eat. Our relationship fell apart partly because of me, but mainly because google translate can only get you so far.
I spent some time in and around Kyoto, a city with a lot of culture. This is a hike I took leading to a view spot above the city. Despite how close everyone lives next to each other in the city, there is a large amount of nature surrounding the city.
After a tour through Japan, Bali, France, Spain and Portugal I ended up in England. If you have never walked the public footpaths of the United Kingdom it's one of the great last remaining public things to do. You can still walk all over the UK, across private land. One of the best places to do this is in the Lake District. I spent a week hiking from one youth hostel to another, it was a spiritual experience for me. The Lakes have been farmed by some of the same families for over 600 years, despite this there is still a feeling of raw beauty that over time gets into your heart, like you have been here before.