Hello travelers ... Elissa here. My friend Tim just sent me this link and I had to share it: ethicaltraveler.org. It's a cool site that helps adventurers of all kinds explore our world with a clean conscience and a pure heart. Sounds very evolutionary to me. A quote from their site sums up our kindred spirits and moves me to ... move! Check it out: Nice.

Bit of a break in travel stories to bring you this bit of poetic goodness from Persian poet Hafiz:

The words guru, swami, super swami, master,
teacher, yogi, murshid, priest -- most of those
sporting such a title are just peacocks.

The litmus test is to hold them upside down
over a cliff for a few hours. If they don't wet
their pants ... maybe you found a real one.



And, maybe you don't need to look outside of you...regardless of whether or not you'd wet your pants.

Trip out west, part II:

So, the plan was for Jan to pick me up in Spokane where we'd attend a show with her 8-year-old son, Gabe, and then swing back to her home in Montana to regroup before heading out on the road. The show was great, to be sure, and was especially fun to see through the eyes of a little boy--awe-struck and out-of-his gourd excited.

Back at Jan's place in the Mission Mountains, we were out on her deck late in the evening taking in the clear Montana sky and wading through where we'd been over the past few months on our respective journeys. Lots of to dos. Lots of head down, get-'er-done energy. Lots of challenge. Lots of raw, emotional stuff.

I mentioned to my friend that what I really wanted to return to is the sense that there is so much more out there than have-tos and obligations.  Somewhere along the way that had been overshadowed.  I threw my head back, spread my arms wide and declared, "The world is full of POSSIBILITIES!" At that moment, a shooting star blazed through the sky right over our heads. No. Lie. Jan and I stared at one another with ever widening grins creeping across our faces. Not sure we could have asked for a more potent signal from the universe.

The beautiful thing: that star caused both of us to shift; it changed our focus. Light and buoyant, open to possibility, we were ready to hit the road.

This is an entry that's both long past due and right on time as well, I suppose.

Thanks to e>volutionista Molly G. for sharing her notes from the road:

I was surprised on my trip to Europe this summer when some of my "baggage" starting popping up. I honestly wasn't expecting it to--even though the e>v guide had warned me that it might. What was great was that I felt prepared to handle it. I paid attention to what was going on around me and internally and had a greater understanding as to what was causing it to show up. I challenged myself by asking if I needed it.  When I decided that I didn't, I sent that extra baggage packing!  It was a daily exercise, but at least I had an action plan in place to handle it.
 
The prep section of the e>v guide was also helpful in that it helped me set the tone I wanted for my vacation. It got me thinking in advance about things I wanted to notice, energy I wanted to tap into, how I wanted to "be", and what I wanted to gain. I still think about a moment I had on the trip when I told myself, "You have to remember this when you are back home and settled into your routine!"  And it worked. I think about that moment every day and invite it to influence my thoughts and behaviors now that I am home. I am consciously choosing to allow that moment to affect my future and that's a powerful feeling.


How has e>v shown up in your travels?  What have you done differently as a result?  Step on in to the conversation and share your adventures in a comment or, if you'd like to be a guest poster as Molly was, shoot us your story: info@evolutionthroughvacation.com and see your evolution in print!

Come on! Sing along in your head ... this simple, wonderful, glorious little ditty......

I think I'm going to make it my song of the WEEKEND as I head to a cabin in Wisconsin, the e>v e-guide in tow.... Freedom, here I COME!!!

-Elissa



If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
by Cat Stevens

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
cause theres a million things to be
You know that there are

And if you want to live high, live high
And if you want to live low, live low
cause theres a million ways to go
You know that there are

Chorus:
You can do what you want
The opportunitys on
And if you can find a new way
You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can make it undo
You see ah ah ah
Its easy ah ah ah
You only need to know

Well if you want to say yes, say yes
And if you want to say no, say no
cause theres a million ways to go
You know that there are

And if you want to be me, be me
And if you want to be you, be you
cause theres a million things to do
You know that there are

Chorus
Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
cause theres a million things to be
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are

Hi all ... Elissa here. And, as clichéd as it sounds, I'm having one of those "today is the first day of the rest of your life" sort of days.

You know, suddenly things feel all fresh and new ... and your cup of tea tastes crisper ... and the sun seems shinier ... and you look around at this glorious place called earth and you just want to EXPLORE.

You just want to bust out the door and explore and meet and greet and skip through the streets yelling to people you've never met, "Come out of your holes! We're alive! Let's have an adventure!"

And so you would ... You'd all come out and we'd meet in the street and we'd all go to the train station and choose a random destination by each asking a stranger where they're going, then all the destinations go in a hat and we'd draw one and -- BAM!  -- that's our destination. Then, we'd settle in our seats and drink champagne as we watch the world whiz by for three days and we'd share stories about our lives and loves and what we believe and what we're willing to unbelieve and then... we'd arrive. And we'd go straight to the best hotel and say: we need your entire top floor because we're on an adventure. And they'd say, "Well, absolutely." and they would give us their best rooms for free because suddenly we're like this flash mob art group that's traveling the world, being followed by all major networks and newsmagazines because we were living each day as if it really was the first day of the rest of our lives....

And then ... what happens next?

Hey all!

Reading You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers right now--after it sat on my nightstand for 3 years.  Of course, it invited me in at just the right time. 

Here's a passage with Hand, one of the main dudes, philosophizing that struck me on the bus this morning and I just had to share:

"I want others to go out in the world with an idea, with intentions and means, and come back with a story about how their actions affected the world and how they themselves were shaped by the results.  I have a belief that such endeavors can improve the world, however recklessly, especially when these people go forward and interact, give, solve, change the situations they encounter..."

Sounds like a kindred spirit. 

How are you going out into the world? On vacation--and today?