Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter One
“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger
than your faith.”
—Mary Manin Morrissey
T
here's always that moment before the big moment. Those last sixty seconds before an
actor steps out on stage when he forgets his lines, sweat breaking through his costume, and
he wonders why he ever thought this was a good idea in the first place. But then he steps
out, and he knows in the very core of his being:
this
is what he was meant to do.
The night before I left, I wondered whether leaving LA was such a good idea after all.
Work, relationships, routine—they have their trappings as much as they can make one feel
trapped.
“So don't go,” Lina suggested casually, but I could hear the tightness in her voice even as
she tried to play it cool. That's one of the downsides of loving someone: You always know
what they're thinking. Or at least you think you do.
It might have seemed like a nonchalant enough suggestion, but in it, I heard, “Marry me
now, or I will leave you forever.”
It's no wonder I failed as a mind reader. Because though Lina didn't want me to go, she
believed in my dreams. I just couldn't see that yet. What followed Lina's suggestion was
what most people in relationships call a fight—although I prefer “minor disagreement.” By
the time we went to bed, we had attempted to make up, but all I could think was, “Tomor-
row, it will just be me and Kindness One.”
The next morning I could hear Lina in the kitchen as I got dressed. My dog, Winston,
chased me around the house as I packed the final contents into my small black bag: a com-
puter, a couple of changes of clothes, and some motorbike tools. In the back pocket of my
bag, I tucked a postcard I had picked up on my previous journey across America. It read,
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Other than a bright yellow gas canister, that
was all the luggage I would be bringing with me.
