AND SO IT BEGINS…

If you know me, you know I've taken several off-the-beaten-path trips & done some not-so-traditional things in my life. Many of those adventures are tied together through what I'm calling my global family…people I've met along the way who often end up (wittingly or unwittingly) guiding me to the next adventure. I love to learn about a place through its people and its traditions. I have a special warm spot for Indigenous festivals.

(Side note: that's an unexploded bomb off the coast of Papua New Guinea)

My original plan was to stay one month in Australia but unsurprisingly, that's not how it worked out. After a 3-day tour in Kakadu, I returned to Ivan's Backpackers in Darwin and got recruited by a traveling carnival, Weston's Road Show. We went from island to island in Arnhem Land. First stop for me was Gapuwiyak (or Lake Evella). I met members of the Yolngu people who taught me many things about the islands and about the way they looked at life. What they shared has had a lifelong effect on me.  

While working at a resort in Breckenridge, Colorado, I once discovered 4 Aussie guys were living in a service closet on the property. Finding that unacceptable, I brought them home to stay with my 2 roommates and me. They lived in our living room, alternating who got the couch and who got the floor. One of them kept in touch, sending letters and cards (yes, before email!) telling me I was "missing all this fun Down Under". So one day I sent him a letter telling him I when I was arriving and asking if I could crash with him. I heard nothing for weeks. I was determined to go anyway and figured I'd work it out when I got there. Then a week before I was to leave, I got a letter. He had been away at med school and had only just received my letter. I could crash at his mum's flat. Off I went.

Fast forward many years, and one of my friends from my carnie days told me about the Kenu and Kundu Festival in Alotau, Papua New Guinea. His mother, with whom I had become friends over the years, was living there and invited me come experience the festival. It was filled with canoe races, traditional dances and crafts for sale. While in Papua New Guinea, I was lucky enough to spend a few days on Nuakata Island with an Indigenous family. I loved sitting around the fire talking about our similarities and differences. 

A pattern was starting to form around Indigenous festivals. So naturally, when the girlfriend of my college housemate told me she had a place up in the Andes in Ecuador and I was welcome to visit any time (whether she was there or not!), I quickly booked a trip to coincide with Inti Raymi which is the Inca Sun Festival. While hiking nearby, I ran into a Shaman woman who was doing a cleansing for two young men and decided to include me too. What a special accidental moment. But that's how the universe works, right? Well, for me, anyway.