"Listen as your day unfolds,
Challenge what the future holds
Try to keep your head up to the sky"
"Lovers, they may cause you fear,
Go ahead, release your fears
Stand up and be counted, don't be ashamed to cry"
"You got to be, you got to be bad,
you got to be bold,
you got to be wiser"
I was living in Mount Shasta
I saw on a bulletin board in a grocery store
This like janky handwritten like van for sale
1972 Chevy G 20 High top low mileage for two thousand dollars
I called the dude. He drove into the lot
And it was this beautiful aqua looking van with high top.
It was gorgeous.
It was my power color
And in that moment I was like I'm getting it. It doesn't matter.
And bought it that same day.
I traveled with it in California
One of the places that I stopped was in Joshua Tree
I was just so moved by the beauty of the desert
and I wanted to move out here
So I bought 20 acres of land out here in Joshua Tree
Things kind of fell apart when I decided I was going to move out here
Like my marriage ended. She ended up running off with my best friend's husband.
some friends left
Like things were shifting and moving a lot.
I was absolutely frightened.
Sometimes like the your desire to follow your excitement and to live authentically and to follow your heart like overpowers the fear
that's kind of my cue my cue to even the more I should do it because I'm scared of it
I remember sitting in Mount Shasta planning out my next steps and being like, I'm so ready
signed the escrow to purchase the land
sold all of the furniture
put all of my stuff in this van and just drove straight down here
started living on my van on this land
and it's been really pretty amazing
So this is my van. This is Rosalie.
She's a 1972 Chevy G 20.
got my tiki torches
nice chill spot over here
I love the high top because I can stand up straight
and if you're living in a van it helps a lot
like if you don't have a high top you're always crouching in
and you don't really feel like you're in a room
I'm an earth worshipper so all my decorations around here has to do with my spirituality
This here is my pantry.
It just has all my groceries in there.
spices, my keys, my dog food
I have a cooler that I keep in the back
Umm, I'm vegan. I don't eat meat or dairy.
so I just have like all this produce
umm, that I just keep and I eat it like quickly
I'm really proud of this kitchenette.
Essentially I just went to Home Depot
and bought this $50 vanity like, bathroom vanity
I pulled out the sink
painted this white
and like distressed it a bit
so this has all my kitchen stuff in it
This is my table butcher block
which I love because then I can just chop my vegetables
And when I'm done, the cool part about it is I can lift this over
It's velcro-ed
And then kind of let this rest on the seat in the wheel
And it's actually pretty sturdy
And this is my stovetop and I'm cooking, you know?
Then I have my pot. I can put the pot of tea in
you know, cook breakfast here
And when I'm done I'll just stash it
And I have these velcroes on these ends
Then I just put it over here
And it works really well
This one is a chair down here
But what it really is, is a spare tire
So I just cover it in cloth
Put a pillow over it and let people hang out here and chill here when they're not using it
This is my living room, and my bedroom
This is my coffee table which is basically a tray
And under here are actually more of my crystals
I really like to collect crystals
I really wanted bookshelves for my van
Because I love reading
And if you want to know who I am, just look at my books
And this is everything I'm interested in
You have everything here from like,
Learning about finance
What the world looks like without debt-based currency
And crystallography
I haven't read all these books but
I'm getting pretty close
And I have my little altar here, so I like to burn sage in the morning
Have a cup of tea
This is my higher self portrait that was done by an intuitive artist
And I just like to look at it every time I feel down
Because, she's just smiling at me and she's in a good place
So it's a good reminder
The cool thing with this is that I didn't want to custom build the bookshelves
I bought a bunch of wine crates
And just kind of, pegged them in between the wheel well and the vanity
And it just stuck together pretty well
It worked perfectly
I didn't even measure, I just bought them and I was like 'wow'
That works really great
This is kind of like my lounge chair
This is my dog Obie
The cool thing about this is that
If I want to make this a full sized bed
This mattress can fold over here
And this is where I keep my clothes
They're just two drawers
I really minimized to my most essential
The clothes I love the most
So I fold it over
And I have alternating slats
All I have to do is pull this out
And then
Pull this one down
And there's my bed
I have like, sheets and a blanket that I put up here
So I have the Goal Zero 400 and a Boulder 30, which is
A Goal Zero solar panel
I think I'm gonna get one of those 100 watt renogy ones
'Cause they're cheaper
And like Goal Zero because they're very plug-and-play
You know, you just have it
And you plug in your solar panel and it's done
As opposed to getting a kit and having to set it up
And mounting it somewhere
But, I would think twice about getting the Goal Zero next time I think
It costs a lot for what you get
I think you can get a lot more with a renogy set if you wanted to be efficient about it
I love to sing, so I have my guitar here
And my uke
It's a work in progress
There are some things I still want to do
It really works well for what I need right now
"Some may have more cash than you"
"Others take a different view"
"My, oh my"
You know, I came from a family of doctors
And was going to go to college here in the US
And go to medical school, and go back home to be a doctor
During my senior year of college I came out to my parents
And it didn't work out
I ended up having to take care of myself
And being far away from home
And that was really scary
It was scary but I had my college girlfriend that I married
And she became my family
And I thought that I could rest after going through such a traumatic experience of coming out
And having this moment of being drawn to the desert
And discovering what my purpose was
Again, suddenly losing family with my marriage falling apart
Was really frightening
I was a really frightening experience going off on an adventure on my own
But I'm really grateful
You know, for the hard times in my life
When I got estranged from my family for being gay
And when my ex-wife abandoned my marriage
And ran off with my best friend's husband
And abandoned me
You know, those times I left jobs that burnt me out
I'm really grateful for those moments
Because even though the were hard,
They brought me to this incredible place that I am now in my life
And the friends that I've met
And the person that I'm with right now who's amazing
I'm really grateful for them
And I'd never thought I'd say that, but here I am
I think that approaching life where everything is a gift
Even if it seems unpleasant at first
Is a great approach to have
Because if you approach life where everything is a gift
You'll just spend the rest of your life unwrapping presents
And that's just
"Love will save the day,
Love will save the day"
"Love will save the day,
Love will save the day"
"Love will save the day,
Hey, I'm in Venice, California right at the moment
And I know you guys enjoy the content that I create for you
And that you're always looking for new ways to help support the channel
I've got an opportunity for you to help the channel
that might actually save you money
Click the link in the top line of the description
That'll take you over to ACN's website
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And if they do, use that money that you are now saving
And put it in your travel fund
And now you're just one step closer to taking that trip you've been waiting to take
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And until next time, I will see you guys later