Tonight Soraya and I are camping in a tiny valley on a “lay line” with a full moon rising up over the tree line and feeling wonderful. Destiny has brought us to a beautiful place at a special time.

Are we feeling the magic of this little valley nestled in the new age town of Cassadaga? Or are we just having a great day?

The locals, many of whom offer physic readings and healing from there homes, claim that like Sedona Arizona, this special valley is right on a high energy lay line. The story goes that in 1894 a spiritualist in New York named George Colby was “guided” by an Indian channel called Seneca to found a spiritual center in this tiny village surrounded by trees and lakes.

The center became a winter refuge for spiritualists and today is populated exclusively by dozens of “certified” spiritualists who provide tourists with guidance, healing and spiritual education and classes. Those who live in the center area of town must be spiritualist to live there.

Imagine living in a community where every one can read each others minds, bend spoons or commune with ghosts. The locals claim there is no crime. I can understand why.

Learn more about the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp and its spiritualist principles

Soraya’s Tarot Card Reading

This afternoon Soraya had her cards read by a Dr. Rob. Apparently he was granted a PhD by the local Center and has been doing spiritual readings for over ten years with over 7,200 readings to date.

His bare bones office had less charm and frills than a gas station restroom, with a credit card reader sitting on an almost empty desk. It was so unpretentious that it was impressive – $25 for fifteen minutes and $40 for a half hour.

Soraya has read tarot cards for her personal friends for years. Her insights have often proven to be dead on and her predictions prophetic. Before she had barely shared her name with Dr. Rob, he recounted her past and present as accurately as an old friend. Dr. Rob’s reading genuinely impressed her. Apparently Dr. Rob was impressed by Soraya’s psychic abilities as well because he offered her a job doing readings.

While Soraya would not divulge what Dr. Rob predicted for her future, she did share that Dr. Rob predicted that I would travel continuously for the next two years around the world, while creating this site. I hope he’s right.

Hearing the Inner Voice

The town of Cassadaga, with its rolling little hills and mix of tropical and northern trees does not feel like Florida or any other place in the US or in the world. It feels universal and eclectic.

Only fifty miles away from Mickey Mouse and all the happy plastic bullshit and two hundred miles north of Miami, where so many people run tirelessly from themselves, Cassadaga is a place to slow down and stop running. It invites and encourages visitors to slow down and catch up with themselves – to become quiet and hear the inner voice.

I believe in listening to the inner voice and trusting in intuition. But I’m skeptical of trusting others to see my way for me or predicting my future. To me it feels like giving over ones personal power to another.

The spiritualists believe that the existence and personal identity of the individual continues after the change called death. Personally, I’m not sure and so I won’t pretend to know.

The universe is full of mysteries that we can’t even ponder, let alone know. I’d rather deal honestly with the ambiguity than substitute false certainties, no matter how convenient.

Gangsters and the Spiritualists

Most spiritualists and new age practitioners believe that everything happens for a reason. So how do they explain Al Capone building his vacation hideout right on the edge of their spiritualist camp? Personally if I were hiding from the Feds I would not live next to a large encampment of psychics. The locals I spoke to did not have an answer.

I wonder if the spiritualists accurately predicted that he would do hard time on the Rock in Alcatraz prison for tax evasion of all things and then die after a miserable bout with syphilis?

Hitler also consulted with psychics and mystics. But I don’t believe they were willing to tell him the truth about his future and Germany’s. If they could predict that Berlin would be destroyed as he huddled in his bunker would they really tell him? They could safely predict that such a prediction would probably get them executed.

Perhaps we are all better off inventing our own futures rather than having them revealed.

Next Stop – Dolce Vita in Florida

My long time French friend, Soraya, flew in from Spain to join me in South Florida for the first leg of the road trip up the East Coast. Our game plan was to roll on up the Atlantic coast all the way up into New York, New England and Quebec.

Our first stop on our way up the coast was the famous  Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. The rich know how to eat and where to go to avoid the cold. For the East Coast elite of the nineteen twenties the Breakers in Palm Beach was the place for dining during the winter.

My fabulous French travel companion, Soraya, and I decided to sample the life and lunch at the Breakers. Yes, RVing can be elegant if you know where and when to pull over.

Next Stop – Camping with the spiritualists in pyschic town of Cassadaga, Florida

Since the days of the Caribbean pirates the Florida Keys have been an escape from the straight and narrow – a world away but just off shore. Of course now there are cruise ships docking in Key West rather than pirate ships. But the soft balmy Caribbean breeze and teal blue waters remain largely the same. Some of the recklessness remains as well.

This string of over thirty major islands below southern Florida (the keys) is connected by by a single highway (Hwy 1). It begins with the big island of Key Largo and ends 100 mile later in Key West. One stretch of the highway spans across the ocean for seven miles. Each key has its own flavor and pace.

The key to enjoying the keys is slowing down and getting off the main highway, which is largely an eyesore. It’s the sleepy lagoons, inlets and bays that are off the main commercial drag that are the real Keys.

I’ve always made it a ritual to stop at the first island, Key Largo, and decompress by snorkeling. In my experience the snorkeling tour of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is excellent. The boat takes you through the mangroves and then out a few miles to the teal blue waters near the reefs. It’s like swimming in a gigantic aquarium.

You can also kayak in the mangroves and swim on a beautiful beach at the John Pennekamp State Park. If you swim out a little ways from the beach you can dive down a few feet to see several sunken cannons from Spanish warship from the 1700′s.

The big party town in the Keys is all the way out at the end of the string in Key West. The main street, Duval, bisects the old town from one water front end to the other. You can stroll or stagger along this stretch through endless bars, restaurants and stores. You can buy goofy paraphernalia and get plenty goofy yourself. Rent a bike to explore the island or take the tourist train for an interesting historical tour. The old homes built from the original hard wood pine salvaged from shipwrecks are amazingly beautiful and sturdy.

And be sure to try the stone crabs, key lime pie . . . visit Hemingway’s house . . .

Ok, forgive me for playing tour guide. I just want to make sure that if you make it down to the Keys that you have the time of your life. I know I have.

The above photos are from several trips I’ve taken over the past few years. I love the Keys and with their extreme latitude and attitude they are a fitting first stop for the Great American Road Trip. It hurts to leave them behind in my rear view mirror. But the magnificent North American continent is calling and it’s time to hit the road. I drove North along the Atlantic Coast past an almost endless and unbroken chain of towering developments until we reaching West Palm Beach.

Next Stop – Lunch at the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach

Fort Lauderdale – Launch pad for the Great North American Road Trip

Bringing my newly purchased Destiny back to my home in Fort Lauderdale was a fantastic maiden voyage. But it was now time to move out of my apartment and prepare Destiny for the rest of the Great American Road Trip. Her hideous florescent lights and carpeted floors needed to go. With the help of my friend Chuck (aka “Antoine the decorator”), we installed Brazilian wood floors with strip lighting, a new stereo and lounge lights through out. The motor home was now the motor lounge.

The below video is a brief tour of Destiny – after the make over.

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The new Destiny motor lounge was ready to party and travel in style. It was time to say goodbye to my neighbors and friends at “Hamilton Landing” – a small apartment community populated by laid back people on a sleepy canal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I grew to love this sweet spot and its down to earth inhabitants during the two years I lived there. Tucked away on a quiet canal near the ocean, this small community was a sanctuary within the boob job botox bloated money and toy culture of South Florida.   I grew to both love and hate aspects of South Florida (see – Florida – A Love Hate Story).   But I always loved this sweet community.

Fort Lauderdale, with its 300 miles of canals and river ways, is known as the “Venice of America”. But unlike Venice the water does not smell of raw sewage. It’s also known as the “Yachting Capitol of the World”. It’s a virtual water world on the ocean nestled twenty miles north of Miami and thirty miles south of Palm Beach.

Hamilton Landing’s Bistro -
Where the drinks, conversation and live music flow freely

On a good day I roller bladed in a nearby rustic park, grilled out along the inter coastal waterway on the West side of the park and then crossed over to the East side for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. After that I’d return home to the dock in time to launch the kayak for a sunset cruise.

After Kayaking, Chuck and Jamie were typically on the edge of the dock at the “Bistro” with cocktails in hand and an open invitation to make me one. Neighbors drifted in and out of the Bistro and the drinks and conversation flowed.

Hamilton Landing Lifestyle

Unlike the typical condo association in which condo commandos battle over lawn maintenance and assessments, while residents got caught in the cross fire, as renters we really didn’t care enough to fight. So we didn’t.

Everyone helped each other out in big and small ways. When Ronnie lost her husband, Chuck and Jamie helped her redecorate her apartment to give her a fresh start – at no charge.   When Chuck and Jamie went to Europe Ronnie watched their cats . . . it goes on.

They became my friends and my adopted family. It was a sweet life with sweet people in a sweet spot. Moving out and into my motor lounge and saying goodbye was not easy.

Christening Destiny with Champagne – Bon Voyage!

To move on down the road you have to leave behind what you often grow to love. It’s the real price that vagabonds pay for their travels.

But I know that like family and friends we will stay connected even when far apart. I know that our paths will cross again.

Next Stop – Leaving Florida