the long way raus

under any other circumstances i couldn't imagine all of us meeting like this. we all come from different places, different friends, yet we all feel so limitless in our connections and ability to form lasting friendships so quickly. we break bread together and talk of the road. in the blink of an eye our plans could change and we could be on the open highway together watching each others backs as if our lives depended on it.. and they do depend on it. we put our backpacks between us at train stations and watch carefully over our shoulders so as not to draw suspicion to our status as drifters. and i mean just like that we decide to travel together. we decide to run away together. we are closer friends than anyone could have ever imagined and just as quickly and randomly that we came into each others lives we vanish for years on end. the silence is deafening.

let me tell you about the long way raus and what it means to me. i've learned that the best source of information about the world comes from fellow travelers. they are the eyes and ears of god's highway and we, unlike the scarecrows, will care about what they have to say. we too might walk in the opposite direction of that road to see the travels they hail from.

we sit together, my brothers and sisters. friendship and romance grab at our backs like the claws of wild animal. we laugh at the beauty that is mother-nature-random and we speak in such obscure esoteric riddles that few will ever understand what we are laughing about. we are quick to passion and often our nights blur into memories we hardly speak of yet smile over and we play footsie under the table with the notion of pride; i made that happen to you.

i have planning to do. fierce planning. planning on how i'm going to survive the long way raus. expecting nothing and everything: a beautiful illumination of the path before me and a sudden change of intonation. my words less cryptic, more revealing. with richer heart i will speak.



an updated and ever-evolving map to kyrgyzstan