read it in the strata

the goodbye's dont mean anything. its the hello-hug that matters most to me. its the hug that follows immediately after the first hug that says, 'god i've missed you guys', and suddenly you feel like you are home again. for seven days i am home. i was tired at first, slapped with jet-lag and insomnia. there was a hazy glow to the faces of everyone i've comed to call family for the last eight years and then a surprise visit from an old friend connects the full circle of life under the principles of which everything will eventually come to be. at first i was worried about coming home but i feel stronger now, i am ready to return to my new home in istanbul.

bolder, broader eyes and a slight shift of my brow brings me to the next chapter of my travels.. and it is fracking huge.. armed with a few new supplies and a one person tent for shelter i am beginning to see the proverbial ship on my horizon. something enormous is calling to me from the far east and i am preparing. i dont yet know what to think of my journey and knowing myself i would bet that i remain this way until the moment i begin. i want to see istanbul shrink behind me to the west as i make those first steps towards the black sea coast. this week is more or less the three month pre-aniversery of my departure and things are about to pick up from here; there is work to be done. i dont know when i'll be back again.

every journeyman feels a calling. they know to listen to it and they know the dangers of ignoring it for too long. that voice slowly disappears into the sands of some endless desert and burried like ancient ruins it slowly becomes a memory. we know better. you know better. it burns from within us. it sticks to our faces like sleep lines and we are always dreaming. just go, man... i respectively become silent... i wont tell it again.

for now i will become quiet, a wide-eyed and open-minded listener. the sun is warm in istanbul, she welcomes me to relax. one day i will watch her set on the far off horizon behind me as i plunge myself into the most epic journey my lifetime has taken me thus far. god bless.