man. sometimes i forget that i just had the most amazing 6 months of my life. let me lay it out for you.
my best friend joined the airforce, terrible thing. BUT. i got to go see her in texas. this was the start of the summer for me. i had to drive her car to wichita falls and then drive to dallas and fly home. little did i realize that was going to be my life for the next few months.
june came and went. my lease was up so i packed my suitcase. july i was a nomad in a familiar place. and then august came.
oh august. who knew it would be such an event.
i repacked my suitcase, said my good byes, and off i went. first stop denver. i met two roadies there, kind of by accident. and by kind of by accident i mean that is just the way that it worked out. together the three of us flew to san diego. we were greeted by what would become my new family. the first week of august was awesome.
and then the door opened up.
an unexpected meeting and all of the sudden i am digging in couch cushions for money. i was invited to go to africa. after days of arguing, weeks of pleading, and a few sleepless tear filled nights i decided to jump on what would be the greatest trip of my life.
august was jam packed with new things, all of which seem to be a blur now.
l.a. for the day to get my passport. i still look at it all of the time, amazed that i have it.
september. fly from san diego to minneapolis to amsterdam to entebbe, uganda. drive a few hours to kampala, finally sleep for longer than an hour. then a grueling 1o hour bus ride to gulu, uganda. the it took a full 2 days to get there but it was definitely worth it. stay a couple of weeks and then its down to jinja to raft on the nile. yeah the real nile. back to entebbe to amsterdam to detroit to pittsburgh where i met back up with team beast coast. a couple of days in pittsburgh, up to eerie pa, to buffalo ny, to rochester, to nyc, then back to pa where we find out we are losing a teammate. that was so rough. we rocked new jersey and delaware with just 3 people, which was hard and i feel like broke us and build us all in the same body slamming motion. OFF TO PHILLY!
philly was my favorite. it is where i met my newest brother. back to a team of four and a fresh start. after philly we did dc and baltimore and west virginia. i get dropped off in pittsburgh.
tour is over.
from pittsburgh i fly to cincinnati and then to home for 2 days. my team drive to michigan and then to indy. we eat dinner and sleep for a few hours.
early in the morning we drive to nashville to meet up with team new england and then down to new orleans. we also meet up with gulf coast.
we stayed in new orleans for a day then we drove straight to phoenix. that was 24 hours of driving. 5 drivers for 3 vans. we only stopped for gas and food.
phoenix was refreshing.
it was nice know we were 6 hours from "home."
finally we make it back to san diego.
debriefing and wrapping up our programs.
thanksgiving with a new family was nice. i was thankful for them.
i got to go to the chargers vs colts game in san diego. colts won, i was stoked.
december made for an epic trip to san francisco with some of my favorite people ever. leanne, kev, sooz, and kristin. san fran became my favorite city. and high way 1 stole my heart.
back down to san diego. and then up to l.a. for an acoustic performance by aaron weiss from mewithoutYou, jim ward of sparta, chris conley of saves the day, jon foreman of switchfoot, and dustin kensrue of thrice.
back down to san diego. and its time to go. a 6 month landfill of emotions rushes over me.
let the tears flow. the gates opened and i left.
it was a pitiful couple of flights. bags under eyes and in both hands i fly to chicago and then home.
the family was excited that i was back.
it was already christmas and not a single person at home really understands what i just did.
i am back in school and they dont care kind of adventures i have been on. they have no i have slept in mansions, 15 different plane seat, in a house with 55 people, in a van on the streets of new york, under nets, in a jungle gym of bunks, or on more college dorm floors than i knew existed.
its crazy but i know i needed to get back to the real world.
i have more stories than i remember and i am so grateful for everything that happened. and i love all of the people that came into my life with this experience.
its 3:37am
bed time.
AINT GOING TO PROOF READ IT !
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