Let’s take a look back to where it all started. This is a little about my life before leaving for this adventure, and how I prepared for Thailand.

If you caught the tail end of my last vlog post, you might already know what I mean with the question mark.

SO much love to all my beautiful friends and family, new and old, who helped make my adieu one I wont soon forget.

Before leaving to Thailand…

Going Away Party in L.A.

1) He loves to wear his fedora. (I think it’s his favorite accessory)

2) His laugh is really loud, and when I hear it, it makes me laugh even harder.

3) He has a ton of awesome friends conveniently planted around the world.

4) He has a serious knack for adventure. (Ten Points)

5) His mom is hilarious. I love that lady!

Going away party, part II

1) If he thinks a girl is pretty, it will be one of the first things he says to her.
2) He’s a strong believer in faith – and has the word tattooed on his arm. Twice.
3) He’s totally easy going. (Major plus!)
4) He uses a southern drawl to call my Mom “Ma’am” in such a way that she doesn’t get offended.
5) He can be trusted to take great group photos.

Bouldering in Joshua Tree, California (Summer 2009)

I’m totally igniting the Buddha within.

I’ve always been interested in East Asian philosophy, art, history, and so on, but Buddhism in particular has held a consistent and comforting place in my heart – or chakra. Sutra? I don’t know, but my guess is I will soon uncover a milieu of mantras to share and to hold dear. (Thailand is mostly comprised of Buddhists, btw.) In his sense, this trip is not just an adventure in newness, but it is, perhaps more poignantly, an exploration of what is already within me.

There was a time when I was younger – teenage years and early 20′s, for sure – when I was the baby of my circle of friends. I was the naive one, the one with a lot to learn, maybe even considered a little dim. Now, most of my friends are younger than me and I notice myself taking the position of an educator, or as one friend called me, “a healer”. In this sense, JS0 is definitely an extension of a path that I was already on to share the broader points of view in the world with people, and to be fueled by the core of human existence: love, beauty, and freedom.

I have no expectations of this trip other than that if I continue to be open, honest, and motivated by love and my actions and thoughts are processed with the appropriate energies, than I will assure myself a transformative experience indeed.

And my heart swells….