Okay, I'm bad at blogging so here's a BIG recap post.

Well folks it has been a minute since my last post. I've been hauling around and boy has it been a time and a half. Sorry that these haven't been more consistent. But the cool thing about waiting this long to make another post is the number of experiences I have had on the road in the last couple of months of travel. Ups, downs, around, and memories that have been some of the best in my life. So here's my little (not so little) check-in and update on my adventures.

TL;DR: Not dead, I'm bad at blogging, had a lot of fun travelling this summer, having to hunker down again in North Carolina for a bit.

So from my last post, you all know that I started in Grand Isle, Louisianna scouting out the location for the Ride The Bull Kayak Fishing Tournament that will be happening later this August. What I didn't tell you was that before I got there I earned my first road warrior's badge.....I blew a tire. Big time. I was on my way south on I-10, just an hour outside of Houston when all of a sudden I saw a large piece of some kind of debris go under my car. I gulped, his wasn't gonna be good. A second later I felt a jolt and lo-and-behold in my rearview mirror I saw that I had blown one of my tires on the trailer. By a miracle, the traffic had let up behind me so I made my way over to the side as far as I could go and parked the trailer. Unfortunately for me, that was only to the very edge of the exit off of the interstate.....on a bridge.....fun fun fun. I walked out to assess the damage. The right side tire was blown, pretty gnarly stuff, and the fender above it had been ripped off (I'm lucky it didn't take the side paneling with it). I grit my teeth and did what I had to do and called a tire company. They were great, came and replaced the tire on the side of a bridge with my spare, led me back to their shop and I got all the tires replaced with brand new shiny tires. I loaded up and got to Grand Isle. A lesson learned on the road: be prepared for anything to go wrong, grit your teeth, and deal with it. That's all you can do sometimes.

It was a great time in Grand Isle. I went fishing with a family that was staying next to me in the RV park and I caught my first fish in over 6 years, a nice 30 lb red snapper. It tasted like steak when we cooked it with an interesting baste made of barbecue sauce, butter, hot sauce, and mustard. Don't turn your nose to it too soon because it was incredible on the fish. I got to do a walkthrough of the Marina where the tournament is being held, and where my trailer is going to be parked. It's a nice place, a great set-up space for the Los Buzos booth, and this tournament takes over the WHOLE marina with nothing but kayaks. It's going to be a really cool sight to see. I lounged on the beach, worked in the trailer, and had time to ponder.

The time with myself is something I'm getting used to. Time with my thoughts, my views, my problems, and everything about myself really. It can be hard sometimes, a little lonely, a little maddening, but also a gift. How lucky am I to be doing what I'm doing? 24 years old and traveling the U.S.A. I tell everyone that I wasn't expecting to have this experience until my 30's, 40's, or beyond, but here I am. Rolling with the universe and whatever it has planned for me, and learning whatever I can about myself and the world I live in.

After my stay in Louisiana, I headed back to Florida for a stop in Santa Rosa to see my Uncle Riley and my first fishing tournament representing Los Buzos. Santa Rosa is an interesting town, very touristy in some places but very fun to drive in. Now, most of this stay I was in my uncle's office apartment above his construction company's warehouse. I had to leave the trailer at a graphic wrap shop to finish the wrap job we had started in Houston, big blown-up photos of our guides catching monster fish in Panama. It's a real eye-catcher on the road and great free marketing wherever I go. I've had three people honk at me on the road who I assume know about Los Buzos, and one guy who tried to have a full-on conversation with me on the highways of Louisiana, flattering, to say the least. Like I said earlier, I was mostly inside the apartment during this stay to prepare for the upcoming tournament that weekend, organize the trailer, and get caught up on online work with Los Buzos. The funny thing about the apartment was that it had no windows and therefore no light coming in. I'd been there a week and some days I'd be inside doing work and not realize that HOURS had passed. Kind of a self-solitary confinement moment. Only went a little nuts, it was great. But I did have some fun. I had dinner with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Then I made a day for myself to go out and enjoy the beach (and get called out of the water for a shark warning, fun), go on a bike ride, enjoy fresh oysters, and have a good night out at a local bar. A little work, a little fun, and a little madness.

The tournament I was supposed to go to that weekend was called The Goat, a kayak fishing tournament in Navarre, Florida, only about an hour away from Santa Rosa. It was all set and I was ready to go, shirts, videos, booths, the whole nine yards........uuuuuuuuuunfortunately the weather had other plans. A tropical storm formed and had pushed the tournament to the next weekend, and I had to be in Ocean City that weekend for the 3rd Annual Fish N'Paddle Saltwater Slam. Fortunately, one of the guest guides for Los Buzos was coming back to the states during the reschedule for The Goat and was able to make an appearance! So I loaded up a day early and decided to go to my next stop early, to see my Momma in Murphy, North Carolina.

Now anybody who knows me knows that I love my mom. We're thick as thieves, peas in a pod, the source of my sass. So it was a great time all around. We didn't do anything crazy or adventurous, we just chilled and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We caught up on gossip, stories on the road, work, etc. It was what I needed, and it was a great time. Got to see my aunt, uncle, and my grandparents. Worked on the trailer and organized for Fish N'Paddle. Long conversations on the porch and my family around me, and it was exactly what I needed.

From Murphy, North Carolina to Ocean City, Maryand (more accurately to Pocomoke City where my camping reservation was) is about a 12 hour drive after you add in stops and hauling around a travel trailer. That's a long haul, especially in a trailer, but lucky for me smack dab in between the two was my alma mater, Elon University. I made a call to my old boss at Pandora's Pies and was able to set up a spot for me to park for the night. I got in and had the chance to walk around my old stomping ground. I hadn't been back at Elon since I graduated back in 2019. It was almost surreal to walk around the campus. The sun was shining bright in the summer heat and it brought me back to when I first visited Elon as a student in high school. I went to the CFA (Center for the Arts) and looked out from and onto the stages that I had the pleasure of calling home for four great years of my life. Had a video call with my old professor, Kirby Wahl, and updated him on my travel adventures for the year. I had the best truffle fries in the world at The Root, had a beer at The Oak House, and enjoyed a slice of pizza at Pandora's Pies where I used to be a server. Hung out with old coworkers. It was a trip down memory lane that I didn't know I needed and it was a good trip indeed.

The next morning I loaded up again and hit the road north. Only about a 4 - 5 hour trip so I had plenty of time to get to my campsite at Pocomoke River State Park, get the trailer set up, and head into Ocean City about a half hour away and make it to a captain's meeting for the Fish N'Paddle Saltwarer Slam. On my drive in I got to see some great sites over the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge and Tunnel.

My first tournament representing Los Buzos Resort. I was daunted by the task at hand. My job at these events is to spread the word about Los Buzos, what we are about, and sell trips to Los Buzos for the remainder of the year and into next year. I've had to wear a lot of hats over the years as an actor and artist, and now it was time to try on a new one: salesman. Like everything that is daunting ahead there's only one thing you can do. That's right. Grit your teeth and do the work. I had been preparing for this for a couple months, and I had everything ready. On the first day of the tournament I rolled in with my Los Buzos shirt, got my 10 X 10 booth with banners up, video projector up and running a video of one of our guest guides catching a 500lb Black Marlin from a kayak (an eye catcher for sure), another monitor playing a loop of activity videos, and t-shirts laid out for sale. It was a great couple of days at the tournament and I'm happy to say that I was able to make my first set of official sales on behalf of Los Buzos. While I was in Ocean City I also went on a date for the first time in a couple years, hadn't been on one of those in a minute and I had a lovely time.

Now we arrive to the stretch of nonstop travel. After Ocean City, I spent a quick couple of days in Mardela Springs at a Boondockers Welcome site (an RV hosting service across the world that allows property owners to host RV'ers, kind of like Airbnb for RV's but a lot cheaper). Made friend's with the host and his wife and was spoiled by the amenities they offered. After that I took a trip up to New York City to see my old roommates and friends from college. Had a great time hanging out with all the old Oozma Kappa brothers (the fictitious fraternity we called our apartment in college) my brother from another mother, Logan, and my sister from another mister, Claire. From there I drove to Cape May where I had another fishing tournament, Duke of Fluke. Spent a week there and made some great connections for the family business. From there I parked the trailer and drove to Baltimore for a flight to Orlando for the annual ICAST event. ICAST is a huge convention for fishing and outdoor retailers, so a big market for a fishing lodge to attend. There I was joined by my father and some of our guest guides to work the convention and made some great contacts. I was only there a couple of days before I headed back to Baltimore, drove to Cape May, and took a ferry and drive all the way back to Ocean City, Maryland for two fishing tournaments back-to-back, Big Fish Classic and the White Marlin Open. Both events were fun to attend and I got a taste of what the large-scale tournaments were like. Unknowingly, these were gonna be my last few tournaments for a while.

After the White Marlin Open I loaded everything up and headed back to Murphy, North Carolina, what has become the unofficial stopping place when there are no events or locations on the calendar. Traveling and staying at RV sites can get expensive quick, even with options like Boondockers Welcome, so anytime there isn't a place to be or a plan in place, the rough backup plan is to stay in Murphy where I have family and options to park the trailer.

So I stayed in Murphy for about two weeks with Mom and took the time to decompress. Went on a whitewater rafting tour on a river near Murphy and had a blast with Ma and some of her coworkers. Peep the totally calm demeanor I had going down the last big wash of the tour. Really though, it was a great time.

So now we come to what I like to call "The Disasters" portion of my journey. The first disaster came on my trip back down to Louisiana for the Ride the Bull Kayak Fishing tournament in Grand Isle, Louisiana. We had been looking forward to this tournament for months. It's a huge kayak fishing tournament that takes over the small island of Grand Isle. Hundreds of kayak anglers come down to compete and it would have been an awesome opportunity for me to sell some trips and market Los Buzos to customers who hadn't heard of us yet. Emphasis on "would have been". I got down to Grand Isle by August 23rd, a few days before the tournament to have plenty of time to prepare. Mother Nature decided to reward my diligence with, have you guessed it yet? A hurricane. Didn't know this at the time, but I was on the island that Hurricane Ida made its first landfall. Fun stuff, right? On the Thursday before the tournament I messaged the director of the tournament for a dinner meeting that day. He responded back that the event was being canceled because of the storm. It was only projected to be a storm a few days prior, but quickly gained power and was projected to be a hurricane AND make landfall by the day of the tournament. Now I have lived through several hurricanes in my life and I know when it's fine to hunker down and when it's time to GTFO. This was a GTFO scenario. So I packed up my rig shortly after that call, canceled the rest of my reservation, and drove as far north as I could before people started evacuating. Luckily for me, I discovered I had a small network of friends, family, and family friends in Hattiesburg, Mississippi about two-ish hours north of Grand Isle. I contacted some old family friends from my childhood and crashed at their place for two nights. Have to give a huge shout-out to Robert Kelley and his family for hosting me and my rig while I escaped from a LITERAL incoming hurricane. Also a shout-out to my friend Lorena Cohea for hanging out and catching up! Loved seeing you and hope you keep crushing it!

So I drove back to, you guessed it, Murphy, NC. That was already the plan for after Ride The Bull anyway so I just decided to head back a week early. The plan was to crash with Ma for the month of September and plan the rest of my travels for the year and see where the road would take me. I had a Fly Fishing event lined up in October that would be the launching point for the rest of my travels for the year. Are you detecting a theme yet? Disaster strikes again: COVID-19 canceled the Fly Fishing event. Two big events canceled one after the other, it's too ridiculous to make up. With Covid numbers skyrocketing due to the Delta variant it made us take a hard look at full-time travel for the rest of the year. With that in mind, we made the decision to cut full-time travel for the year and opt for short trips from Murphy to different events as they arise. It just makes more sense for the rest of the year until things are more stable in the country.

On the bright side of things, for the last month of September, I have been taking priority on my health. I've been watching what I eat, exercising regularly, and I haven't smoked a cigarette in a month. (GASP, I SMOKE???) Shocker, I know. It's a nasty habit and I have no good excuses for why I started, but I am happy to be quitting. Seriously folks, never start. It's nasty and it's a hell of a habit to quit. I've also been getting to spend time with my mom and helped her move into her new place. We're both helping each other to get healthier and having good times as each other lockdown buddies. It's also nice to be in a stable place to work and get ahead on some projects for work, save up that money, and get my headspace right for future plans (NYC, keep the lights on for me until I can make it to you next year.) And my 2nd audiobook dropped a couple months ago too! Check out Lies That Bind by Daniel Fox on Audible and listen to me be all suspensful.

So for the remainder of the year, I'll primarily be in North Carolina with trips to events or places here and there. I've got one lined up in Shreveport, LA in October that should make up for the one that got canceled earlier. I'm not sure how much I will be blogging. Not the most consistent blogger as you all can tell, and I'm trying to see if it's something I really enjoy (and what things I can write about that I think are worth writing). The few I've done have been cool, but writing is a beast. If you've read the few I've posted, thanks for following along, and who knows? Maybe it's something I'll pick back up when my life has a little more movement to follow.

A few personal notes / calls to action:

1. Please get the damn vaccine. It's safe for the majority of people and the surge in cases is LITERALLY being led by the unvaccinated. Just do it. Listen to science. Listen to statistics. If you aren't worried about yourself getting it (even though you should be) please think about the people who are at risk if they get Covid. It's been two years of having this virus wreck the lives of so many people, and it's time to end. GET VACCINATED!!!!

2. Listen to the universe. Sometimes it sends you a little message that might lead you on a path you didn't think you'd get to experience until WAY later in life. It's okay to be scared, but take the leap anyway.

3. It's okay to not participate in your passion or career in every season of your life. I am, and will always be, an actor and artist. It's the career I have chosen for the rest of my life and every day I am not pursuing it is hard, not even gonna lie about that. And I know that there are artists and performers across the world who are experiencing the exact same feeling I am. But your life is composed of different seasons, and it's okay to live in them. I'm in a season of growing and developing some life skills. My season performing will come back again, and it's okay to miss it, but don't waste being in the moment now and whatever it has to offer.

4. DON'T SMOKE CIGARETTES! AND IF YOU DO, QUIT NOW!!!

5. Take care of yourself. Love yourself. You'd want that for others, so want it for yourself.

Much love to you all, thanks for following along if you have. Keep carpeing the fuck outta all these diems!