Friends ask me "how was the tour"? It's hard to describe what it's like to be out there traveling around America in our white van (our protective little eggshell) with a futon in the back and all our gear. In the six weeks we were out there we dodged hurricanes, watched the economy nearly collapse and roll into unchartered territories to offer our music and ourselves to complete strangers who became our best friends every night. We were embraced and we embraced. Most of the six weeks when driving I would just sit and stare out the window I could hardly find the energy to even look at the map. I would just watch the world roll by. After awhile when I knew that Gio was in a zone with driving I would crawl into the back on this perfect little space we reserved among our stuff that would offer the perfect nap, but I never really fell asleep because it is so blissful rocking down the freeway. 45 minutes of this would turn into 3 or 4 hours. This spell would only break because one of us would have to pee so we had to pull off and out of guilt I would offer to drive for the next 4 or 5 hours. My favorite place in the world became that little sleeping place on the futon among all of our suitcases and gear and stuff. Gio would hold the wheel steady working out his own internal knots.
How was the tour? Intense, calm, exciting, humbling, scary and most of all revealing. It was revealed to me how flexible I can be and how much I love not knowing whats next even though in "real life" I'm a control freak. I realized how little stuff I need to get by and that I can live on a diet of chicken salads and coffee across America. How nobody calls you while your gone as if you've traveled to the moon...and you're thrilled about it.
How you realize your happier with less and your scrappy and tough and you can pee in a cup if you need to, and how great it can be to not shower for days. To learn these things about yourself is like remembering whats at the core of you...like when you were growing up and everything was new.
I learned how to love each new town for it's uniqueness and how the reputation or your ideas of the town shape you experience (or not). How congenial people can be and how they all don't just muttle through their days but how extaordinary and ordinary they are all at the same time.
We were grateful to them for listening and being so kind to us, they made us happy and we made them happy...this was priceless. I also saw how much love
Gio has for the art of simplicity; there is nothing better that traveling, playing music and being with friends or perfect strangers who became new members of our life story. I can't wait to get back out there.