Category Archives: Adventure

May 15, 2013

I’ll keep walking, walking at the end of the world

By Drew Jacob

Photo by Chuck Coker. End of the Great River Road.

I have never seen the End of the World, but I met those who went there, and it is good.

The End of the World is in New Orleans. Did you know that?

More specifically it’s in the Bywater, a ramshackle neighborhood that used to be swamp and then plantations and only when the city really, really grew did it become actual houses. The Bywater is the ghost of Before the Flood and it is a town unto itself, a town of hand-built drum machines, lumbering vardos, secret gardens and working artists.

You know how the grinds settle out in good coffee? If New Orleans were a cuppa, the Bywater would be that last rich sip with the grit in your mouth.

And somewhere in that mouthful, right around where you make that wrinkled face, you can find the End.

It’s just a strip of riverbank. It juts past the levee, unpoliced, a place to smoke your hashish. That is the end of Orleans Parish; that is the end of everything.

Then fog, murky water, dragons, Arabi, chemical plants, bayou.

I tell everyone I biked the whole length of the Mississippi River. It’s a lie. New Orleans isn’t the end, though many an adventurer has stopped there for good. Siduri has a back door, and she says keep going. Go past the End of the World.

So Saturday I bike 80 miles. 

With me is this sly East Coast girl who’s never pedaled more than 20. In her words: “what’s the worst that can happen?” I like her accent, like Old Fashioneds and empires.

80 miles on a narrow road in a land of semi trucks, refineries and sun. There’s nowhere to camp, nowhere good that we confirmed; but there are places no one looks.

What do I do things like this? Why go into the unknown? Is there, as it feels like, some current in the land that gathers in these lonely spots? And if there is, why is it so hard to feel once you’re out in the thick of the heat, the sweat, the fear?

The journey may be gentle or ungentle. We might succeed or fail. Smoke and towers in the bayou, two hearts under the sun. It’s worth the sweat. Somewhere down there the road just stops, it stops, and I’ll see it, and keep walking, walking at the End of the World.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Adventure, Bicycling, New Orleans, The Great Adventure, Travel

May 4, 2013

How to Cross Mexico

By Drew Jacob

Sea kayak training

I was a stranger and this guy had a gun. He told me he took it everywhere so he could shoot whoever tried to mug him.

I told him I was camping out at the County Fairgrounds.

“You’re not gonna wake up,” he told me. “There’s stabbings there every night.”

But the police said I could camp there. They thought it was safe. He laughed.

“Go anywhere else. You don’t know this town. You’ll get robbed!”

I asked if I could camp in his yard instead. Of course not. So I went to the Fairgrounds.

It seemed really nice. I showered, I met the other campers and I slept all night in a windstorm. It was cold but the cold wind never did try to stab me.

That was in Mississippi. A white man named Whitman said I was going to die. He knew all the black people and how bad they all were. They all had knives. I only saw their kids learning to dance in the park and then some of the teens listening to music in cars. I guess they keep the knives really well hidden.

“They’ll cut your head off,” everyone says about Mexico. A lot of Americans tell me that. They sure know a lot about Mexicans.

But the dangers of Mexico are real. The top 200 miles of that country are a war zone. Foreign travelers aren’t really targeted but someone traveling alone on the highways would really stand out. Mexico is one of the safer countries I’ll cross on my journey—safer for an American than the US is—but parts of it are not safe at all.

Options

I basically had three options for how to cross Mexico on my own power.

  1. Bike it. I can make 50-90 miles a day and if I reach hostels before sunset I can just tear through the danger zone. I think this would be a poor way to go because it’s essentially fleeing from one of my favorite cultures.
  2. Pilgrimage. I could join a pilgrimage headed toward the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City. We’d be on foot and I’d be in a large group, with a spiritual purpose, which is probably safer. I love this idea but it would also veer me away from my course toward Yucatán.
  3. Take to the sea.

Guess which one I chose.

Something like this.

Something like this.

Kayaking

Dawn lights up the waves like crowns on enemy kings. The weather report is clear—eat quick! Slam that coffee. Up, to the water, up!

The tide is going out and our little barks with it. We face the surf, those pounding walls of water diving into shore. They want to take us back; we are not going back. Paddles in the water, struggling from the hip, struggling from the back, arms taut and hair drenched in foam. Is this to trade one fomhór for another?

There is no other way: to reach the open sea we must break through the surf.

Out on the open, science is our concern; check the compass, point the bows, re-check the weather; are all heads present?

We go so far we cannot see land. Here the water is calmer. It is slow oliphants, not charging bulls and rams; it is the heaving shoulders of sleepy giants.

20 feet up on the swell; a glimpse of horizon, a blast of wind; drop back to the trough 20 feet below. A few paddle-strokes will do you but stay together mates, stay together.

We go like this for some time. There are snacks at sea, cameras come out of drysacks, distant boats are sighted and avoided.

Dolphins jump beside us. Did you know that dolphins will escort kayakers on the open Gulf?

Perhaps it’s sunset, perhaps the GPS says it’s time to make our camp. A hard starboard and we cut toward land.

Now the surf is with us, that hammering crashing wall will carry us to our beds—but it is not tame, no it is not tame. It is on the backs of bulls now, the churn of the stampede that we ride. Like Pamplona we make our run.

The final hundred yards. What speed! The beach looms pink before us, come in at an angle now, turn it to the side—there is no reason to rough up your boat.

Come aground, stow that gear; who’s scouting town and who’s making camp tonight? We need street food, we need cold agua. Welcome ashore, bold spirits, welcome ashore.

How?

The plan is this: reach Texas. Get a sea kayak. Learn to use it. Kayak 1,000 miles from Texas to Coatzacoalcos (see map), stopping every night at a different town or beach.

Considerations:

  • I will be a fluent Spanish speaker before crossing the border,
  • I will cross legally and abide by the 6 month maximum stay in Mexico.
  • I will train extensively in sea kayaking before making the voyage.
  • Assume I will procure all reasonable navigational and safety equipment.
  • Some cartels have boats, however as one experienced Gulf kayaker said: “Kayak jackings are distinctly less common than carjackings.”
  • I would prefer not to go alone.

I leave New Orleans in late June, and will arrive in Corpus Christi, Texas around August 7. I plan to practice on kayaks until late 2013 or early 2014, then begin the voyage.

I invite you to join me. 

The Open Call

I believe the myths are real. I believe we can do great things.

Adventure is my path to that. Adventure tests me, frees me, shows me to shatter past my limits. We are capable of great things: to adventure is to breathe them every day.

It’s not always pleasant. It’s not always safe. The adventurer shies away from unnecessary risk, makes every precaution, but when risk is unavoidable—we grin into the wind.

But it is to live, it is to know, it is to know the self, it is to know the self triumphant.

Often I say: there is no call to adventure. There will be no owl with your invitation letter; no wizard will abuse your door.

Today I prove myself wrong.

I invite you to adventure. I’m giving you notice. The true call is silent, it is urgent, it is in the blood: you feel it if you have the call. You must decide for yourself.

But today, one adventurer is reaching out to you. Come with me. Meet me in Texas, we will find you a boat; we will train together; we will do something great. It may not set records, it may not change history, it will challenge every limit we have, we will throw ourselves to that challenge because—

To adventure is to experience myth.

If you feel a call don’t put it off. Email me to discuss it; whether it’s right for you, individually. We don’t need to make a firm plan just yet. Let’s just talk options.

I’m drew@roguepriest.net and I would like to adventure together.

-

If you’re a new reader you may enjoy the report on the adventure so far.

23 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Adventure, Mexico, Sea Kayaking, The Great Adventure, Travel

April 30, 2013

Friend, you are talking about yourself

By Drew Jacob

This is an excerpt from a piece from Vodou Priest/blogger Gary Howell at Knitta Please.

Chapo m tonbe nan la Mer.

I have, for most of my life, enjoyed change. In whatever fashion Saturn reared His bearded head, I greeted him with a smile. “Burn the field,” I’d always say, “to make room for the seed.”

…As we sat over a tasty rose, I started to talk, and the more I talked, the more I sounded logical, sane, and strong; not traits that I think I carry on a day to day basis. Was it the wine? Was it the air of gotten stronger from not getting killed by the troubles that have been plaguing me the past months? I can’t honestly say, and I never want to find out.

But, as I was doling out my soothsaying, I more than realized that half of what was coming out of my mouth was meant for me. “Get up!” “Understand that you don’t need to go a long way, to find out you are something!”

Along my journey, many people take on themselves to deliver to me this sagely wisdom: you don’t have to travel to find what you’re looking for. I’ve learned to turn a stony eye to the arrogance of it: invariably, the words spill out of someone who has done little traveling, who lives a completely settled life. They sure feel confident in their evaluation of travel as a practice.

It might carry more weight if Gilgamesh said it.

But more than that, it’s just inaccurate: the journey has changed me. I am not the same person today that I was July 3, 2012—and the changes are an immediate result of how I have pushed my boundaries, far away from home and friends; and the continuous psychological challenge of being the only one to keep me going, toward a dream, toward a horizon I can never reach.

It’s a beautiful heartbreaking practice. It’s what defines me.

Out of all the people who have said “you don’t have to travel” Gary is the first person who then added that what was coming out of his mouth was meant for himself. And as soon as I saw those words, I understood every person who tells me the same advice: they mean it for themselves.

 

So, if you think I’m going to go 8,000 miles only to discover that I had what I needed the whole time, well, maybe you are right or maybe you are wrong, but certainly—definitely—you are talking about yourself.

Or, as Gary says:

“You know who you are, not all the time, but most of the time, so FUCK everyone else!”

I hope you’ll read the rest of his piece and share it widely.

7 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Adventure, Spotlight, Travel

April 24, 2013

The State of the Adventure

By Drew Jacob

Progress, Money, Health, Sex, Prep, Mission: Here is the State of the Adventure.

So Far

I set to cross two continents and meet the gods.

I started from the source of the Mississippi and went 1,800 miles to New Orleans, where I have been practicing Vodou.

In June I will embark once again, this time to bicycle to Texas. I will spend my time there training on sea kayaks. Then I’ll paddle down the Gulf of Mexico to continue the journey.

I. Progress and Pace

The pace of the journey is acceptable.

One of the biggest errors I made in communicating about the Adventure, at the beginning, was not talking about its slow and intentional nature. The plan has always been to allow for (a) taking time in communities to get to know the people and (b) meandering without adhering to a strict itinerary.

Many people tell me this is the “only” way to travel—not true but I feel you—but many were also surprised. They expected, essentially, a marathon bike/walk/paddle to the end destination. That is a different kind of adventure.

I do have pacing concerns. I had always planned to spend an extended stay in New Orleans, the first of many such extended stays along my route. Originally I pictured several months; I did not set a hard deadline, and it has bled.

New Orleans readers will laugh because this city does that (some local friends wrongly think I won’t continue on at all). But it was intentional. I originally planned to stay November – April in order to have the option to undergo Vodou priest initiation in April. That became extended because:

  • Initiations are more likely to happen in May than April
  • It would be unwise to rush to leave at the same time as initiating

So I extended my stay till June. And since there’s a major Vodou ceremony every Saint John’s Day (June 24), I naturally set my departure date at the end of the month.

That will amount to 8 months in one city. It’s disappointing for two reasons:

  1. Priestly initiations have been canceled this year, at least for this spring.
  2. This really is too long. I’ve developed a settled life and I don’t want to until I complete my purpose. I love New Orleans and maybe I will live here one day, but not now.

It’s hard to explain my feelings about settled life. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. There’s a mix of temptation (to simply stay) and regret (that I didn’t come here earlier). Yet all the happiness I have here—all the friends and experiences—would not be in my life if I’d stayed in Natchez, Vicksburg, Memphis, St. Louis, Dubuque, Mexico City. All were temptations as different levels.

It seems insane to give up the happiest life in the world, but my lifestyle is one of exploration and discovery. The happy resting point is only fulfilling as one dot in a greater constellation.

So I would not be pleased with this 8 month stay in any case, and even less so since the initiation I came here for not possible. It would be easy to say I “stayed for nothing,” but I stayed for many reasons and it has been a joy.

The lesson I draw is never to put a secondary goal ahead of my purpose. The Adventure is my life: it is my bark. Long after I am away from the beeswax scent of the Hounfo, when my sisters and brothers are nowhere for me to clasp, I will have the journey and the journey will have me. How could I put one faith above that?
I am a journeyman priest. I will learn from many masters. Seek them out, initiate, give dedication and service. But the heroic way is my highest calling. It must always come first.

This lesson comes a little too late. When I leave New Orleans it will be nearly one year since I started. It may be nearly another before I leave the US. That puts a barb in my spirit.

As a touchstone, I believe my “extended stays” in a place should be about 4 months. Texas may require longer.

II. Money

I have increased my earnings and I feel confident in my income.

Earnings on the road were (barely) sufficient while bicycling. On arrival in New Orleans I plunged into a dangerous financial situation, but ultimately recovered.

In 2012 I earned a total of US $16,964 primarily from freelance writing. I love off my income; I do not have large savings.

So far in 2013 my freelance earnings are the strongest they’ve ever been, and I make over $2,000 per month. If the current trend continued I would likely make between $24,000 and $32,000 in 2013.

But the trend will not continue:

On the road I will be forced to give up some clients and scale back freelance work. It may not be as easy to build them back up once I arrive at my next extended stay.

Nonetheless I expect Texas to be easier than New Orleans for several reasons:

  • Cost of living is lower in Texas.
  • Less debt.
  • Stronger client portfolio (more diverse) means less danger from losing a few clients.
  • Experience handling New Orleans will make preparation easier for future extended stays.

Thus a second crisis is unlikely. The challenge is meeting additional financial goals, such as:

  1. Paying off remaining debt.
  2. Financing the sea kayak leg of the expedition.
  3. Earning enough to buy health insurance.

The last point is the most serious and many readers will likely be horrified that I am doing all this with no health coverage. Others will be completely unsurprised—not because it is acceptable but because it is the reality for most bootstrap travelers and much of the rest of the population.

I consider health coverage a medium-level priority because (a) I can go into debt to cover health costs if the worst happens, (b) once I get out of the US health care will be more affordable and (c) in any case there is no realistic health insurance plan for me after I leave the US. Policies for travelers exclude adventuring or sporting injuries, by far the most likely kind of coverage I would need.

So my financial goals for 2013 focus tightly on:

  • Paying off all of my remaining consumer credit card debt (about US $7,000) before December 31.
  • Outfitting the sea kayak expedition.

If I can successfully reach these goals I will consider health insurance a nice second priority.

III. Health

For 3 years I’ve worked hard to reshape my health, and the last year in particular has been challenging but helpful. If there are no injuries, I expect to be in better health by the end of this year than ever before.

(In this section I will often talk about my weight, but weight loss is not necessarily a health goal. If you eat a healthy diet with a lot of vegetables and exercise regularly, your health can be above average even if you are slightly obese. Conversely thin people can be very unhealthy.)

I feel like I spent the first 30 years of my life abusing my body and will spend the second 30 years taking damn good care of it. I enjoyed abusing my body but it’s more enjoyable to treat it well. Ultimately, I derive more satisfaction from vegetables, yoga and water than from sweets, bread or alcohol.

Weight

I desire to be thin because it increases range of motion, decreases the difficulty of endurance travel like bicycling or kayaking, and correlates with lower risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It’s also aesthetic and increases how much sex I can have.

I have found that I am one of the lucky people who can reliably control weight through diet. However there are thresholds.

For most of my life I have been at least slightly obese. Previously I looked and felt my best in college age 19-21 at 189 pounds. Throughout my 20s my weight increased with sedentary lifestyle, worse diet, heavier drinking and unhappy marriage/work life. My weight was between 240 and 260 pounds. I am 5’11″.

In 2009-10 I began to make changes to decrease my weight. By decreasing calorie intake I dropped to 215 pounds. Further weight loss became difficult, but more exercise helped get me to 200-205 pounds.

At that point I turned to healthy diet changes. Specifically I used a 4 month Chinese Medicine diet regimen that cut out carbs, meat, alcohol, gluten, and other specific foods. This resulted in substantial weight loss, which was not stable. After fluctuation I reached a stable weight of about 195 pounds.

By early 2012 in Mexico City I began to use limited alcohol intake and careful choice of foods (mostly vegetables/meat) as a de facto calorie control along with increased exercise (walking). I finally reached my old college weight of 189 and at the very thinnest, just as I returned to US, I reached 178 pounds, my lowest adult weight ever. It looked and felt good.

Since then weight has been very unstable mostly from frequent drinking and inconsistent sedentary/active lifestyle.

It has become apparent that with my normal habits my body “normalizes” around my old college weight of 189 pounds. Regimens and diet plans will not result in further, reliable weight loss.

If it is possible for me to lose more weight and keep it off, it will require lifestyle changes at a broader level.

Alcohol

Alcohol plays a role in the weight management outlined above but it presents special issues worth discussing.

I was raised drinking routinely and I adore alcohol. This is true in all aspects: the taste of good drinks, the pleasant sensation and its social role. It takes effort for me to choose not to drink daily.

(After extensive honest discussion with recovering alcoholics, as well as testing myself, I believe I am not an alcoholic and am able to control my drinking or abstain completely long-term.)

Additionally, weight loss interacts with alcohol tolerance. I’m used to weighing 250 pounds and easily consuming 4 or more drinks without feeling drunk; at 180 pounds just two drinks is a challenge.

Between weight loss and aging, hangovers can be severe and I no longer enjoy heavy drinking. This is particularly problematic since I now have no intuitive sense of what constitutes “heavy” drinking for me.

Finally, I am immersed in a culture of bacchanalia and the assumption in New Orleans is that heavy drinking is part of social activity and fun. I have discovered that my friends are (wonderfully) supportive when I choose not to drink, but it’s still hard to be in a drinking environment and abstain.

The result is that I am heavily focused on adjusting my alcohol usage. If I consume 2-3 drinks and stop, or pace myself at less than 1 per hour over long festivities, I find my reaction tolerable. Even at that rate I worry about the immediate recklessness of intoxication as well as long-term health effects.

In my ideal health world I would never drink. In my ideal aesthetic world I would drink freely for pleasure.

Food

I greatly enjoy vegetables. I also enjoy carbs but I recognize that in many cases they are not a healthy choice.

Meat is a poor health choice. Killing animals for food is 100% ethical and I will never support a righteous vegetarianism. However for health reasons I would prefer a largely vegetarian diet.

Often I will snack on fruits or nuts and eat two meals of only salad per day. That’s one of the healthiest possible diets. When eating that way, I find it no problem to consume some sweets, carbs or meats each day.

However, I am caught in a back-and-forth. I can eat healthy and enjoy it for 2-4 weeks losing weight the whole time. Then I will get intense cravings for sweets, carbs, cream, meat and alcohol which lasts for 1-3 weeks and regain the weight.

My body has been in its slightly obese form for so long that is panics if I lose too much weight. It takes intense effort to continue healthy eating habits during these craving periods. It is part of why I believe I need to change habits at a broad level in order to continue transforming my body.

I no longer seek a “program” like the Chinese Medicine one. I can easily make dramatic changes to diet and achieve impressive results, but they erode afterward as the cravings set in. What I need are sustainable healthy habits I can maintain long term.

Presently I adhere to the “mostly salad” intake (which I enjoy) but I give myself free reign with a daily dessert and some light alcohol intake. My hope is this will bolster my willpower to keep my healthy habits during the cravings and, ultimately, change my habits and my body’s expectations.

Muscle and Exercise

I am physically strong and have no particular muscle-building goals. I value flexibility over pure strength.

I practice Ashtanga yoga five days a week and it’s wildly effective. It increases muscle, flexibility and my desire to eat and live healthy.

Overall

My health desires are to look like a lean athlete, which to me is an inspiring image, and to have the physical capability to perform extraordinarily when needed—either for my own survival or to help others.

By losing approximately 15 more pounds of fat while maintaining muscle and flexibility I will be in the fitness category that satisfies me. I believe I can do that before the end of 2013.

IV. Love

I have adapted well to the short term, passionate relationships of the road.

I value romantic love over one-night stands but have enjoyed both. I have sex frequently which is healthy and proper.

I sometimes wonder if, eventually, I will want a long term relationship. Right now I find the fatal nature of my short-term loves to make them sweeter—not only sweeter than a long term relationship overall, but sweeter than even its “honeymoon” phase.

I suspect I’ll continue to make love to many different women as I travel. I’ve become much better in bed and am a more romantic, relaxed man. I remain (often close) friends with the women I’ve loved. I believe they too are happy with our time together, and in turn that brings me great happiness.

V. Prep

My 1,400 mile shoes have done their time and need to be replaced.

Renting a furnished apartment in this country is stupid ridiculous. This country is not for travelers. I need to reach out ahead to contacts in Texas and have a network on the ground before I arrive.

I should probably get a new laptop.

The Giant needs a new seat, professional air pump, more hardcore tires, tire goo, new front light, and a lighter load. I will ship some stuff ahead so I am carrying less. I may install a sound system on the bike.

VI. Mission

The purpose of the Adventure is intact and succeeding. This is more than a way of life, it is a statement, a belief, and a credo.

The world is good; humanity is good; we can do amazing things; travel and you will find it.

The heroic faith is my religion and it has brought me to the very gates of Forever.

Thank you for sharing it with me.

Journey

—

The State of the Adventure will not be an annual report. It will be released between each major leg of the journey.

 

20 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Adventure, The Great Adventure, Travel

April 17, 2013

Sometimes you stand alone

By Drew Jacob

Photo credit: “Venture” by orangeacid

Adventure is a way of life. It is putting your ideas ahead of your abilities, and your dreams ahead of your fears.

Before you begin to adventure you are mocked, judged, criticized: that will never work! But once you take your first step the whole world is rooting for you, the people you meet are amazed, they want you to succeed.

Not every single one of them, but enough.

Along your way you’ll find the lowest times, the deepest pains, fears in your soul that you did not know you harbored. You will look around, gasping, for anyone to blame—and there will only be yourself.

At these times you must pull forward, one hand over one hand, until you can walk again. You will want to give up, but adventure has its own siren call, and you will perhaps keep going. First you must forgive yourself.

You will meet companions. Some whom you trust, some whom you don’t; some likable and some grotesque; you will learn to check your judgment, to silence it, and not to mock others as you were once mocked. Sometimes the people least like yourself will be the ones you love the most.

You will enjoy nights of fatal bliss, nights beside a friend you will never see again: one you understand perfectly, and who understands you. You will speak in hushed tones like two thieves planning conquest. And you will know that, no matter where you go, you will always find your kin.

And when you kiss! When you kiss, it will never be halfway. You will grab them and possess each other.

Then you will learn to talk to storms, winds, streams, and wooded glens: the world will become an old chum, a well-known companion in her own right. You will learn her temperaments, and speak to her not as shaman but as lover. Her rhythms will beat warm against your skin, her temperaments endearing.

The world has both good and bad. When others run in fear, you will walk peacefully toward the wind.

And your fearlessness comes in. Not rashness but a knowing smile. You pull the arrow from your side and tend your sewing kit. You give shelter to those who shrink, you forgive those who run. Sometimes you stand alone, sometimes you are creatures of legend.

This is a simple process. It is not elusive. Adventure gives you hardship, victory, and unshakable peace. It is the practice of heroes.

Can anyone adventure? Yes but—no one will ask you. Every force will hold you back except your heart. If your heart aches for it, the door is open. Adventure is open.

It is the practice of heroes.

-

You might also enjoy my essay The day I had nothing left.

18 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Adventure, The Heroic Life

April 11, 2013

You are at a river with Legba

By Drew Jacob

O koto bouke, parenn se’m pote ouvre!

“You are at the edge of a river with Legba. The river is fast, it roars over rocks. You want to cross the river, but the current is too strong. You try to yell over the river, but the rapids are loud.”

“Legba hits you with his cane.”

“He hits you hard. Papa is not fucking around. He sends you reeling.”

“You fall in the water. The river washes over you, and you flail. The current is too strong! How can you swim in this madness?”

“You gulp water and air, a rock strikes you.”

“Sputter, scramble. Stand up.”

“The water is waist deep.”

Saut d’Eau waterfall in Haiti. Credit: YoVenice.com.

This is a dream a mambo had about me in December, as I crashed into bankruptcy.

In essence, the same story I told yesterday.

I stood up, Papa. I stood up and now I must go down the river.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Adventure, New Orleans, The Great Adventure, Vodou

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