Just as I was getting situated in New York and trying to find a place to live I got a call from a friend. She was working on a reality show/scripted comedy and offered me a part in it. The part was to be a hippy nudist. I jumped on a plane, and before you know it, I was back in California. You have to take opportunities when life gives them to you. I said goodbye to Jessica and said I will see her again soon!
While I was in New York, I ran into this statue of Theodore Roosevelt. My favorite quote is by Teddy, which has the title, “ It’s not the critic who counts.” Around the same time I started claiming this was my favorite quote. A researcher named Brene Brown wrote a book called “Daring Greatly”, which is a line from that same quote. Talk about vibing on the same frequency. Her speech at Ted Talks about vunerability went viral, and is really profound. I also made a movie about Teddy’s quote.
You can also see Brene Brown’s Ted Talk HERE.
I ended up getting a professional makeup job so I could be an Indian zombie wolf for Halloween. The blond beard showcased the gooey blood quite well. I looked so gross I even creeped myself out.
So until this point in New York I hadn’t seen Jessica yet. Our plan was to see each other for the first time in costume. She was dressed as a snake goddess. Our interaction was so awkward and it wasn’t the best idea to reunite in costume. We were both hiding ourselves with our costumes. It was still a great night, but it was painfully uncomfortable. There is some great footage from that night that I will post soon.
While I was in New York, I had the opportunity to film Matthew Van Dyke in my Happy Prius. He has such an epic story. He was riding his motorcycle around North Africa and the Middle East and ended up in Libya. While he was there he befriended many Libyans and decided to fight with the rebel army groups to defeat Gadhafi. In this process, he ended up getting caught and put in solitary confinement for six months. In those six months they tortured him in all ways. He thought he was going to die. While he was in prison, the Libyan revolution occurred and he was let loose. He is now in Iraq training with soldiers to combat Isis. He has had one of the most interesting lives of all the people I have met. In Wikipedia he is quoted as the next Che Guevara. There is footage of him in my car that will be posted soon. He is also a great filmmaker and made a movie about what is going on in Syria called “Not Anymore. A Story of Revolution.”
For more information about Matt, you can go to www.matthewvandyke.com. Also, check out his great movie!
So after 24 days on the road, I finally ended up in New York. It was close to Halloween and I had the sudden urge to die my beard blond. I thought I could incorporate a costume around my blond beard. I ended up looking like a Hulk Hogan imposter! The good thing about hair die is that it doesn’t last forever. I ended up never dying my beard blond again.
After New Orleans we went to Asheville, North Carolina. The only reason I went there was because of Aloka, the guy I met in Sedona weeks before. After being on the road and traveling for many weeks, I was getting really tired being constantly on the move. When you’re tired you do stupid things… I drove under a parking garage forgetting that my bike was on top of my car. It totally ruined my bike rack. Instead of getting pissed off I thought, “I will go to a bike shop to get it fixed, you never know what experience might happen to me there.” I ended up getting referred to a place called Hern’s Cycling, which happened to be the oldest bike shop in the whole U.S. They also happened to hire deaf people and homeless people to work on fixing the bikes. It was quite the special place.
I am in this photo with a guy named Monroe, who was homeless. He was a great guy with such an upbeat attitude. He had a very rough life. His son recently passed away and he was stabbed three inches from his heart, but survived. This trip kept putting me in contact with survivors with such positive attitudes. I felt honored to have spent the time I did with Monroe. There is some great footage with him that I will be posting soon.
-Tim
After I left Houston, we went to New Orleans. When we got there, the idea popped in my head that I should have a happy hour with the Happy Prius. I thought, if I’m going to do it, I need to find a band to play. Within a day I stumbled across this amazing band called the Ford Theatre Reunion from Lexington, Kentucky. They were busking on the street.
They had agreed to play the event. So it was a go, and two days later, we just posted my car up in a neighborhood called the Bywater and set up shop. We were on a small street corner and the band played and I had a “Free Hugs” sign, and was giving away free coffee, juice and tea. I met some amazing people that day, and around a couple hundred people passed through. It was a giant success. We filmed the whole event it will be posted soon.
To find out more info on this amazing band go to www.thefordtheatrereunion.com
-Tim
This is Paul. I met him as he was in the midst of biking around the United States. Throughout his journey he got injured, but it didn’t stop him from keeping up on his journey. I think it’s really ballsy to do a journey like this on your own. I really can respect Paul because I don’t think there are many people out there that would be brave enough to, number one, just take a bike around the US, but also do it alone. What he was doing was living outside of his comfort zone all the time and when you’re doing that special things will constantly appear in your life.
After leaving Dallas, we headed to Houston. I have some really good family friends and I wanted to spend some time with them. In this picture is Warren. I spent a lot of time with him when I was 11. My family spent a summer in Houston because my dad was having alternative cancer therapy there. Warren has been like a big brother figure to me all these years. This was the first time I made it back there since that summer 22 years ago. Once again, my dad’s spirit was felt. I learned the reason Warren’s parents even met was because of my dad. My dad had a friend who suggested that Warren’s parents go on a blind date. I also got to meet his kids for the first time. Connecting with Warren and his kids was very special. I also met the coolest cop I have ever met while I was there, which was very refreshing. A great little stop over in Houston. I have great footage with his kid’s and the cop it will be posted soon.
What I was learning from the road trip was all these magical moments were happening because I was totally living in the present moment and I was following guidance from the universe. I wasn’t occupied in making plans; nothing was taking me away from just connecting with people around me. If you can just focus to a place where you’re in the present moment all the time, life will always unfold itself on what to do. It supports the theory work smarter not harder which I am a huge fan of.
-Tim
