JoJo's Brozarre Adventure

My first endeavor in traveling through the world in a van. I really hope I don't die.

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Carving a New Path

I've sent out so many applications. I got a job sometime in Baltimore as a raft guide in Tennessee but that guy just seemed to drop off the face of the planet. We confirmed everything over the phone after some negotiation (it's hard being a vagabond that wants to go to Bonnaroo) and he said he'd send me an email with some info. That never happened. He also didn't answer a couple calls. I really wish that just once I'd deal with someone who was consistent.

What kind of applications, you ask? I tried being a ranch hand, a horse trail guide, a camp counselor, a mechanic, a maintenance man, etc. I really liked the horse trail guide position because I would have been working with animals and the money was alright. It didn't hurt that I would have been pretty much spending nothing as far as expenses. I use the past tense because that didn't work out.

I finally got hold of Scott (the guy responsible for the raft guide position) a few days before I was supposed to be there and I was torn between the two positions, so I was going to head to TN and then see if I vibed with the situation and have a phone interview with Sarah (the head of the horse trail position) but Sarah flaked (see above). That's not a problem, though, because I was pretty much determined to stay in TN the second I got here. The people in charge are super chill and the community environment pretty much harnesses everything I love from Bonnaroo, so I really feel at home here. So, I'm a raft guide now. Well, I will be when I finish training.

The most difficult problem with coming from NY to TN was the fact that I lost my wallet THE LAST FUCKING DAY I WAS THERE. I took that as a sign I should just hit the road and make the best of my poor man training from Dylan (remember? The guy in the van from the first night?) I was going to bum my way down. I had some gas and some positivity, so I hit the road and hoped for the best. I had a back up ID and that was it. Some people I ran into were very giving and some were complete assholes, which I have no problem with because I would have turned away someone asking for money around a gas station, too. Now, my scenario was different because I offered to wash windows in exchange for gas. No one would let me wash their windows, though, regardless of if they gave me gas or not. I had one guy start to pull out his wallet, but I couldn't do that. I just wanted some gas.

That was difficult. I hated having to ask for help because I like to be the helper, not the one being help but also because I knew I had money, just no way to access it. My bank told me I could get a temporary debit card, but there was no branches in the north east. So, that sucked. So I did that for a while and then, after I saw that, once again, it was not a Wells Fargo, but a Wells Fargo Insurance that listed itself as a Wells Fargo, I got some money wired to me in West Virginia, but just enough to get by because I didn't want to be a burden on anyone until I could pay them back. Thank goodness for my brother. So, with limited funds, I got down to TN, met some sweet raft guides that were willing to help me out despite my ridiculous story. That's the reason I decided to stay. My story even sounded made up to me, but everyone was really cool and inviting and I was offered pizza and beer the first night just because I was there. Fuck yea, raft guides. Someone even let me write them a personal check (because of course I had those but no one will take them) for the little bit of cash I had in my primary bank account. Did I mention that I did all this with no data? As someone from the technological age of having a GPS in your pocket at all times, able to correct you when you zone out listening to a podcast, that was difficult.

When it rains, it pours. But the grass is always greener where you water it.

Water your garden and safe travels,

GoVanJoe

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Pretty Much Just Verbal Diarrhea

Maybe it's the time of the year up here (because, ya know, it's not a fucking ice cube anymore), but there's a lot going on in Rochester. I don't know if these types of things were happening in Greensboro when I was there, but I feel like I would have had to have heard of this much going on. What I'm trying to say here is that I am partially on this trip to find a place that will make me content, entertained, and involved. I want to find somewhere to live.

To me, finding somewhere to live has always seemed like a daunting task. I am constantly in flux and I don't really know what I'm gonna be doing in a few years and this was before I was traveling the country in a van. You can talk to anyone and get a perspective on what a place is like, but that comes with the perspective of the story teller and you never know what's feeding into that viewpoint. Then, you can look on the internet, but holy shit, there are a lot of places to live and that always seems to end in me trying to think of where I want to live but really ending up on Reddit. Then, the last option (in my mind. Am I missing some things? Tell me.) would be to travel and eventually stumble upon somewhere I want to stay. This is going pretty well so far.

The problem/solution I'm running into now is actually a theory that I ran into with another travel writer that I ran across (I would link if I remembered his name) and that is the idea of micro lives. Basically, you live the same life that you would in any location in the world but find an adaptation that is achievable in your current location. I really like this idea and have had it proffered to me in other terms but I liked that explanation the best. I just assumed that you can't find the type of life you want everywhere, but it's just a matter of how much you're are willing to work to find it. That's been my problem.

I suck at working for myself. I wish I was that guy that could sit down and know what I want, but I'm not. That sucks to say, but it's true. So I've found my micro life: finding myself through work and enjoying the avenues that I've never been able to find before. I love learning with instruction and getting to do things along side of people. The benefit of this lifestyle that I've forced myself into is that I have a lot of time to spend with myself and (sometimes) I'm lacking technology. That's a great plus because I have been a techno junkie for way too long. I like video games and the internet, but it's really just an escape from having to spend time with myself and figuring out what I'm all about and what I really like to do.

So, maybe Greensboro didn't suck as badly as I thought. Maybe, the problem was me and my hiding from the work it would have taken to do the things I wanted to. I always found an excuse in not having someone to do something with me or not wanting to spend the money or not knowing if I would really enjoy the time. Well, it's time to say fuck that. I live in a van. I'm ready to get to living. I'm ready to stop hiding. I'm ready to start finding my life.

Be honest with yourself and safe travels,

GoVanJoe

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Road Warriors

So, why in the world would I not want to travel on foot anymore? Because fuck that noise, that's why. Oh, wait, that's not helpful.

So, the good thing about being in a community of great people (as much as I bitched, the people in the community are amazing) is that tey do some really cool stuff together from time to time. I was actually feeling really lazy (because I had just gotten over being sick) and I was offered to go on a bike ride with about seven other community members. I turned them down thinking the pace would be too fast (I had ridden with Joe for lunch before and it's hard to keep up with a roadster on a mountain bike – I should name my bike) but thank goodness for Jaimee. She said she was thinking about going and I couldn't be outdone by a girl, right?

When we started, I was really just trying to keep aware of everyone in the group and the cars around us, but when you're in a group that big, you kind of establish yourself in the lane and don't have much to worry about, especially because Ed (whom Jaimee called Doug all day) was a badass on a bike and didn't take no gruff from any cars being assholes. He was the road momma of the group and he rocked at it, even going so far as to almost press into a car inching at other members of the group to defend us. Thanks, Ed.

With the comfort of Ed having my back and some great side trails to accompany the main roads, I started to get to take everything in. There was poverty right next to extravagant affluence. There was brilliant graffiti that was allowed by the city (and I like that I've heard that in multiple places). I'm really upset I didn't get to take photos, but I can describe the experience: I was pushing along side the group in a new, completely unseen location, and all around me there are these huge mirrors shouting positivity and affecting change. It's hard not to smile ear to ear when you are getting a bike tour of the city and it's best spots with motivating catch phrases literally painted along the path. It was just cool.

So we got to see a little bit of everything. A huge bridge near a fall and over a massive river (complete with sewage treatment plant, but, hey, it's a city). The upper and lower falls, as they are called. The Genesee brewery and restaurant (although we didn't wanna wait an hour after a four hour bike ride. John's Tex Mex (go there). And all the sights your eyes could comprehend. And if I was on foot or driving, I would have missed half of that because I was taking in the idiots around me on the road or too damn lazy to walk that far.

Fuck yea bikes. Now I just need a road bike to keep up with the cool kids. Maybe I just need the exercise, though.

Keep Pedaling and Safe Travels,

GoVanJoe

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The beauty of an abandoned subway

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RocCity

I don't want this to be a negative post. I really don't. I have a lot of hope and confidence in the community that I'm in, but I can see kinks in the chain. I am happy that I'm here and people are amazing, but I'm just forced to look at the negative aspects of a place. Maybe later in this journey I will be able to resist the urge to bitch. Anyways,

I have to say, pulling onto Parsells Ave. was a little worrying. I was looking in the face of poverty. Empty bags danced with blunt wrappers across the ground. Little dark-faced kids stared me down (I guess you can blame sketchy looking Dono for that). I immediately realized that the corner down from my house was the slinging spot. This is going to be interesting, I thought.

Rochester's house numbering system is broken. No money to fix it. In a row were house 493, 499, and 507. Don't ask me why, but what really mattered was that I had found 499. When I reached the doorstep I was greeted with a sign that said “Remember to take your shoes off or we may have to get ANGRY” surrounded by a happy and a very menacing daffodil. Someone answered the door. A short man looks at me and I speak first, “Hey, I'm Joe. I don't know who I have been emailing, but I'm here for Workaway.” “Oh,” he says with a smile, “You showed up. We didn't know if you would or not.” He says this because he emailed me the day before at 8 A.M. – the day I'm supposed to start – with a literal “Whoops!” saying that I could come. I didn't have anywhere else, so fuck it, I guess I'm going.

He points me to a couch and says, “We're doing taxes, but you can have a seat. Do you have a laptop or anything?” After he tells me he doesn't know where I'm supposed to stay (this is the day after I'm supposed to have been there), I get my bags and my laptop to kill time. I sit and I work on trying to not be miserable at wire wrapping and feel awkward while sitting in a random kids play room sitting next to a family I've never met and have barely said a few sentences to me and a little kid timidly poking his head in every once in a while. The little bastard's cute as hell with a great jew fro starting in, by the way.

So, after a bit of time, Joe says he's gotta go for an hour and a half and I ask where I should move my stuff. He still doesn't know. So I leave my shit and I start walking. From now on, I don't think I'm going to explore on foot, but I'll get to that in a while.

So that's my intro to the community. Basically, this place is a really cool idea with a guy that's spread way too thin and is kinda pulling one over on people, but not necessarily in a bad way. So, after a good bit of digging, I'll give you guys the skinny on this place: Joe has traveled and has decided to create a sense of community. By community, I mean, he's buying up a bunch of houses, giving people a lease application that takes forever and judges people for any choices different from his own, and charges them rates that are okay, but nowhere near fair if you are really trying to take care of people. I know that the rent isn't okay because I did the research to find the prices of the houses and how much he is charging for rent and a food share (that sometimes doesn't get distributed and is supposedly coming from a co-op, which it's not), and he is paying off the house in two years. Also, the renters, oops, sorry, community members get used as labor to renovate houses as part of their contribution to the community, but not the houses they live in that need help, but the other property that he bought and wants to rent out to make more money. Oh, did I mention the fact that people must contribute labor, I mean, attend pot lucks a few times before they are allowed to be considered for the community? Oh, and then there are the lies that are fed to Workawayers who think they are going to be learning skills but are actually just cleaning this man's house and doing his lackey work, but nothing of use.

Whew. Sorry. Needed to get that out. Basically, what I'm getting at here is that I think people are really abusing the Workaway system, but I'm not sure if it's just the places I've been or if it's my negative outlook right now, or if maybe it's just America and everywhere else kicks ass. I'm not sure if I'll continue using Workaway as a constant thing, but we'll see what happens.

Stay positive and safe travels,

GoVanJoe

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Some art in Rochester

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Geocache and NASCAR

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The Power of People

So for the past two weeks, I've been bouncing from couch to couch (and a bed here and there), relying on friends that I haven't seen in a while because of moving or life making us drift apart and it's been such a great experience.

I have many reasons for starting this trip. If anyone is keeping track, keep me updated. One of the reasons I decided to do this was the fact that I hate people. That's insane, you say? Try working in the service industry. Fine dining, no less. The sense of entitlement from the customers, the lack of appreciation from the company, the apathy and lack of empathy from the coworkers, the sudden hate for happy hour, it all really leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth for humanity. Add this onto a family that runs a temp agency where people will lie through their teeth and beg for more when you've given everything you can and show no sense of appreciation and maybe you can kind of get a picture of where I'm coming from.

But this trip has really made that go away. In just a few short weeks, I've really been humbled by how amazingly good people can be. I've been let into people's houses, given food and beer, have had people show me their cities, and had some people donate to my cause in whatever way they could. This is just a handful of experiences:

I was treated to a home-cooked steak dinner on my first night by a friend's father who had barely met me. If that wasn't enough, he handed me some cash for drinks that night with his daughter (an old friend) and said to keep whatever was left. My friend wouldn't let me buy drinks and fed me the entire weekend. I was also given a lovely coloring by her niece.

I was given a brand new portable grill by a friend's father (dad's love this trip, apparently) and was given a great lead on a possible job. The job didn't pan out, but it was a great opportunity that I would have never known about, otherwise.

I was given a place to stay and a tour of Baltimore by an old friend who I haven't spoke to in years and she took basically three full days to show me a good time with trips to the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters History Museum, a great cafe and restaurant, and a few great bars. In one of the bars – Ottobar, if anyone wants a great place to go – we were given free songs on the jukebox (which, to me, is a phenomenal gift) and met a great crew of people who donated to my gas fund and bought us both drinks. I really have no words for how nice and fun those people are. I hope you read this and thank you all, again.

Next, I got to shoot around the Metro in the DC area and was treated to my first Irish meal, complete with Guinness by my old coworkers and loving folks who moved away from my home not too long ago. This alone would have been great, but we ended the night at their amazing apartment with cocktails and literally THE BEST WINGS I have ever had. Oh, my goodness. And, without a charger because I'm horrible at leaving things, I was donated a freebie to replace my idiocy.

And now I'm here, sitting in the home of my childhood friend whom I haven't seen in ages with beer, gin, and great Indian food.

Oh, and showers. I can't believe how much a good, hot, high water pressure feels. Just heaven. Also, I never knew how great it was to poop under a skylight. Amazing.

This is all anecdotal but I write this because I wouldn't believe these stories if I was hearing them. I have to write them down so people can understand how huge the hearts of the people around them are. We have become so numb to the fact that we're all people and we're all connected. It's so refreshing to actually FEEL connected to people through the fact that I've been welcomed like a family member by all these people, some of which I've barely or never met.

I rushed this trip, I'll be the first one to tell you that. I rush through a lot of things in my life, but I'm working on that. But it's been through the power of people acting as a community that I've been able to survive and succeed. If I forget something or find out that something doesn't work the way it's supposed to, I've had people there. When my pants ripped, Chloe was there. It's refreshing. Just like this gin.

Stay connected and safe travels,

GoVanJoe

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The beginning of the happy meadow.

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The Hornets Room. Terrifying.

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The First Ending

So, a quick update. I've left the napping institute. It was a little sad, but it was magical. The few days leading up to the end were a perfect vignette of what life at the farm was all about. We had a bonfire, complete with PBRs, tequila, box wine, great stories, a huge fire, and some creepy vibes from some parties involved. But alcohol does that. It's to be expected at a last week event.

Then, the next day we started working the morning just like any other day. I cleaned the house and baked bread while the others went out to garden. I went to... ahem, clean the bathroom... and when I came down, I was met with the glorious news: work was done after an hour, we went on the search for the school bus. Now, let me educate ya'll on the majesty that is the school bus: We had heard legend of this abandoned school bus from the second day. Hannah got a golf cart tour and Tom showed her where it was. Now, we had trusted Hannah and her sense of direction. That was a bad idea. We spent our first trip looking for the school bus looking at a bunch of trees and tall grass. Beautiful, yea, but not what I needed in my life when we're talking about the school bus.

Then, like the brave, wandering souls they are, Adrian and Cynthia went out on a walk and found it, with some extra tips and tricks from Tom. Apparently, just past where we stopped on the first endeavor, was the mystical meadow that housed the school bus. Now, this doesn't seem too epic or crazy until you find out just how it went down. We trekked through the woods of the mountain into fields of golden wheat. Next, we traveled into what looked like the elephant graveyard from the Lion King, with petrified pieces of wood that looked like they were pushed through a wood chipper. After that, there was a barren land with stone and sparse grass that looked like a desert grassland. Then, after this barren tundra we trekked through, the path opened into the most lush grass I've ever seen in my life. Tall enough to be be inviting, but not derelict and the most picturesque green anyone has ever seen. Immediately to the right was the beast of legend: the school bus. TWO OF THEM. We all gawked at the result of our adventuring. Cynthia started climbing through the open windshield slot and I lead a team through the back door. There was graffiti on all sides of the bus on anything that could take a penciling.

But that wasn't the only amazing part. Across the meadow spanned building after building of abandoned treasure. We found an old stable, huge open warehouse like buildings with everything from old trash to a brand new tractor and hunting gear. There was an abandoned house that had a convenient Lion King poster (the movie kept coming up that day) with the sketchiest basement I have ever been in, complete with doors not just hanging from their hinges, but the frames hanging from the walls. There was a room filled with hornets, complete with a random hammer hanging from the claw on a wall. And after that defensive barrier, we found random clothes sitting in a closet that looked pristine and freshly pressed. We promptly GTFO'd.

Looking back, if I wasn't with a crew of people and hadn't known that the property was abandoned, I probably would have avoided the place for the fear of being caught and yelled at. But the security I felt with the group (and the helpful hint that no one was going to be on the property) made this a completely new and magical experience. I really can't even put into words how amazing it was to come into this amazingly different world (completed with a slew of mini biomes).

I have a long way to go in terms of being completely in touch with my self and being able to go do things alone, but this is a step in the right direction. Sharing these magical moments are really what this trip is about.

After this great experience, it's hard to say goodbye to friends, but I'm realizing that I hope it's not goodbye, but until next time.

Safe and happy travels,

GoVanJoe

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Yo bitch you don't have an ask link. Da fuck is up with that? How are people supposed to ask you things?! HMM?!

Oh, you mean that one that you can use after you use your eyes?

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The List/Ramblings

I've got poison ivy. It sucks. Just thought you should know.

I like having people around. I say this because it's two days before I'm supposed to be gone but I have no idea where I'm gonna go next. The next stop could be me staying with some random person with no one else around for miles. Don't worry, avid readers, I will live. I have a gun, as a man in the ABC store told me. That's not true, I just wanted to point out that the clerk in the store thought I was robbing him because I said I was mean mugging in my ID. He heard mugging and assumed that I was going to pull a gun out with my Yankee accent.

Back to the point of the story: I have no idea where I'm going. There are a lot of people on workaway, but it seems that I didn't have a large section of my profile filled out and will assume that's why, after approximately 30 requests and got about 2 responses. In case you were wondering, they said no. So I've broadened my search to a variety of directions and I'm looking at Last Minute Hosts, which need help immediately and could be a good source to get my reputation on the site up a little, meaning more likelihood to get hosted later. For now, I'm gonna focus on sending out a decent amount of requests and hope for the best. If nothing else, I'll just float around the country in Donovan meeting up with friends and making friends in bars, coffee shops, and maybe I'll look at some random Craiglist auditions.

Auditions? Oh, yea, I have a list of some things I want to do before I come back. I don't know when I'm coming back, so I'm gonna keep adding to the list. One of the things on my list is to be in some form of media, whether it be in a play or in a random no budget film. I've already done one and added some that I didn't think I would.

On top of that list, I'm making a habit to write an accomplishment down every day, sometimes more. It's kind of amazing to have this record of my thoughts, picture and video collected and stored on YouTube and my laptop, and then this simple little list riddled with great memories in just a few words. The list really helps me stay positive and remember that even though I'm floating a little bit right now, I'm constantly climbing mountains, no matter how small. B-12 helps with the positivity, too.

Safe Travels,

GoVanJoe