Hey everyone!
Sorry i can't keep up with the blogging right now, were just kinda, movin a million miles a minute right now, and the trip's in its final stages, and we never know when we'll have internet next so i promise once everything gets settled down, i will posting so much about the trip. but anywho, heres more pictures, you'll prob get sick of em, but enjoy as much as you can take! CHEEEEEERS!!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255720&l=6932b&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255985&l=94857&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255966&l=fcd27&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255978&l=60313&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2255671&l=47252&id=6005294
What's up from Wellington!
we just got into the capital, Wellington last night, and it reminds me a lot of San Fran, the architecture, the buildings, the victorian style homes, the vibe. I def didn't expect it at all to be like this, cause i heard as you move more south the population gets sparse and everything gets more green and spacious, but it is the opposite here. But anyways, today we have the day off and were just gonna be filming some trip thoughts, and exploring Wellington. Tomorrow, I'll probably write a more in depth blog and just talk a lot about the specific instances and experiences here in NZ that have stuck with me and really got my wheels turning about my life, the united states, my family, my friends, and the extraordinary position i feel blessed to have been put in.
Here's a journal entry i wrote last night while just thinking about the trip as a whole.
I've been blessed to meet people all over the spectrum of life, I've spoken to: a mountaineer fighting to get out of his father's shadow, a fashionista who rewrote my thinking on "high" fashion culture, a Hip Hop pioneer who came up as a way to find a voice for his people, a professional rugby player with a burgeoning fashion company, the top hip hop producer who's as humble as God makes em, a prim and proper thoroughbred breeder who use to drive a truck and even played a knight of rohan, an activist surfer in his mid fifties who got sick in the middle of our interview, a zany brained potter who built his own railway, and is a character that even the most gifted storyteller couldn't create, a maori tour guide entrepeneur with no formal education, a happy family of vegan organic wine makers, a human tourism center dressed up in vintage clothing with with enough wit and facial animation to carry a silent film, and a musician who use to go to school at 13 to get high and sell drugs, yet now owns one of the top songs in New Zealand.
Not one of these successful fulfilled people share the same story, and all traveled radically different roads from each other and even more so from myself. Yet, in them i see myself, i see my friends, I see every single person struggling to raise up their true hearts voice because their conditioned logic, critics, and the so called "norm" tells them it can't be done, it shouldn't be done, and it won't be done. I've come to see that contentment in life isn't a single chance moment of Hollywood produced fate that turns your world upside down and reverses all of your life's previous hard luck fortunes. But it is a vision, a passion, and a series of small steps towards that vision quest that culminate in highs and lows, walls and breakthroughs. It is the unwanted results that are part of the process, but yet you learn to fall forward and see that failure is only a perception, and in actuality is our pride learning a unique lesson in order to gain new hindsights. But most of all, it is a collage of various experiences that illustrate to yourself that you actually are living, breathing, feeling, existing, and not a human doing, but truly in every essence, a human being.
Hello Hello!
Long time no correspondence! Man, for the first part of the trip we stayed in Orewa Beach and Auckland for 4 days and 3 days, but ever since, the mad dash of road tripping and driving long days, and hustling to interviews has started! So running into internet is a gold mine for me! A chance to take myself out of the dizzying but rewarding head space for a minute and just see how everyone is doing, and getting the news on the world. I just suffered the blow of finding out the GSWs just lost Baron B Diddy Davis, OUCH! But, this roadtrip right now, is blowing my mind, and just so above my head that I feel i'll need many many days post road trip to really contemplate, and take in everything that i'm learning, and comprehending for the first time in my life. I'm learning things i never looked at, and it's truly humbling. It''s rocked me in a way that I'm realizing how similar i am to other people in this world that i have never met, but also how our experiences and environments differ, and just how much i can learn from that. It makes you feel the need to wanna see the rest of the world, and everything around me, and just pick everyone's brain and learn from their experiences, young, old, rich, poor, school educated, street smart, lazy, hustling, open minded, close minded, ALL OF IT!
But I just felt as though i needed to stop by and leave a post, so when i have more time ill def start blogging about the individual personalities we've interviewed and have deeper insights i guess about the trip as a whole! PEACE!-Ray
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252257&l=28c18&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2252319&l=2e2a9&id=6005294
What up what up!
So after a crazy day 4 yesterday, of just basically becoming immersed in the Maori culture and meeting some the most influential leaders in that community, I finally got pictures up! Deinitely the most powerful thing for me yesterday was our meeting and interview with D.L.T, basically one of the pioneers of hip hop in New Zealand, and a practioner of all elements in hip hop. Check out the mural he did in the albums. He brought a different perspective, and just drop KNOWLEDGE! He was insightful, straight shooting, encouraging, engaging, and just all in all one of the most interesting people I have ever met. But I'll def write about that more in the future, here are the links to my photo albums though! Enjoy. PEACE til next time!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249884&l=3abdf&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249858&l=c445f&id=6005294
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249873&l=329a3&id=6005294
Whats up everybody,
I have just an update to give you guys, don't have too much time, but def wanted to drop a little line. Still no pics, but in the next two days that'll happen, as I''ll be uploading all my stuff for my Tourism NZ blog, and i can show you everything that I'm talking about. But today we took the camper van and started painting it green and blue to make it Road Trip Nation ready! We got most of it done, but we'll finish tomorrow.
After, Tourism NZ straight took care of us like crazy, definitely a blessing, and something the five of us are all thankful for. Sam and Tim from Tourism NZ picked us up, and then they took us to a spot called burger fuel, and man, it was the shiznit! I had a ford freakout, a ginormous burger with avocado bacon and the fixins! While i was in the bathroom i saw an ad for Burger Fuel, and it was making fun of the whole Hugh Grant prostitute incident years ago, and I thought to myself that would never fly in the U.S. It's funny, the one thing you notice in New Zealand is how liberal so many things are, and you'll see what i mean when i post my pics, but I love it. Everything that could be considered offensive, people here just decide to pass it off as funny, and they don't make a big deal out of it. But it's something that opens my eyes, that in the U.S, straight up we are just a bit too uptight, and just need to relax a little sometimes with escalating innocent things and trying to make them huge issues when they're not.
But anyways, after that Sam and Tim took us up to ATVing. I have some video and this was in one word: RIDONKULISTIC!!!! We rode in the middle of a storm, hitting crazy puddles through a forest that look like something out of lord of the rings and I was looking around for Orcs. After the forest we rode upward over a hill and when we cleared the hill it was a black sand beach with some of the roughest tides i've ever seen, it sorta looked like it was gettting ready to swallow us. Then we made it to a lookout point high above everything, and then that was when i realized i really didn''t deserve all this, but i'm just gonna keep on being thankful and soaking it in!
So tomorrow, Tourism NZ set us up and we're just gonna take in the Maori culture. We'll be watching someone getting a traditional Moko, the facial tatos that you see on the Maori, and i guess its a rare thing to see that so def another big thanks to the man upstairs. After that we'll be watching some performances, and chillin with the locals! I'll stop rambling now and just be back when i've got some pics to post up!
GOD BLESS!!!!!- Ray
Whats going on everybody! 2 days in here in New Zealand and man, the contemplation and examination of everything in your life is already going wild in my head! The vibe here is just so laid back, no one's in a hurry, no one's stressed out, and everyone's trying to help everyone out. It's the way life really should be man. Bernardo was telling me when we were visiting Road Trip's office that,"It's about productivity" and that they get a lot of freedom to do what they want as long as their productivity rate is high. And he said when they take breaks, they are just so hyped about what they are doing, that a lot of their breaks turn into creative motivating breaks. I just feel like one needs to not sell them self short and sacrifice things and live difficult for some time, as long as in the end you can find an environment that spurs your motivation and your drive, and settle for nothing less, because YOU deserve nothing less!
So i was journaling today, and i decided to put this here, it's very simple, but it struck me very much after thinking about it.
Went to New World Grocery and it was calming but exciting. It was connecting with NZers doing everyday tasks humans do, yet seeing a unique culture unfolding before me. It was a simple but meaningful task. It was seeing how their cultural traits and differences applpied to everyday things i'm used to doing. It was also the first place that had value! On the maybe mile and a half to 2mile walk back along the streets and the beach, we walked in the pouring rain and wind, but without a doubt it was beautiful! It was calming and reflective, it made me think of times when i felt bad for people walking with their groceries, but now i was firsthand experiencing the beauty of it. It was taking your time and enjoying doing something, and not worrying about what your in a rush to do next. It was admiring the world that might be around you but you take it for granted cause your too stressed out to savor the most simple but essential things in life. It was a mundane task but the moment and environment changed it into an experience of juxtaposing my life and tendencies with New Zealand life, and sharing it with my extraordinary Road Trip Fam.
So, i won't be able to post up pics for awhile until we get some wireless and i can take them from my comp. But ill def get them up ASAP!
Also! We'll be blogging for Tourism New Zealand on NewZealand.Com, so check that out in about 5 or 6 six days, I'll be writing the first one, and then you can check out the writing talents of Allison and Fawna too on the subsequent ones!
PEEEEEEEAACEE!!!!!
We've arrived in Auckland!!! Its June 25 here, 8 in the morning, and were still in the airport but this is CRAAAAAAAZZZZZYYYYYY SONNNNN!!!!!!!! In my interactions i've had here already, I can tell the people here are so dope and so friendly. We had some issues with customs, seeing as we forgot to go through them in the US but the customs agent here was very accomodating and helped us out and got us through. Next stop is we pick up our camper vans and head on over to Auckland North Shore at Orewa Beach and set up camp over there for the next 4 days. Til later, RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
