There were five minutes between first nodding off and the knock on the window. Startled, he looked up to see a security guard holding a piece of paper in one hand and a stern finger in the other. The stern finger suggested the guard wanted to discuss something."You can't park that vehicle here with that for sale sign on it ya know"..."No, no i didn't", he said still half asleep."Well, i've written out this ticket of warning, you'd best be on your way""Right, sorry i...

A lone man rolls into a town called Santa Barbara, he's just spent the last month meandering down the West Coast of Oregon and Northern California. The 1984 Chev van is tired after another long day on the 101 and grounds to a halt under the shade of a mall tree. The man steps out of the blue bonaventure and is greeted by two young mexican gardeners in a golf buggie.He is perplexed, 'what have i done this time'."Sweet Van", says the smaller man."Thanks""you sell...

The Wild Elk lay like old Italian men at 2pm on a monday afternoon. Redwood forests, full of Giants and Bigfoots, were like a slow blur as Mazzy Star kept the old van running up and down mountain ranges. It had been three and a half hours of mild weather and open road. I pulled over to stretch the legs and buy a beer and chicken sammy. The strawberry blonde behind the counter blew a bubble , chewed and said in her most uninterested tone, "why'd ya choose the one dirty...

My friend Keison and his band letting me sit in on a few...great guys and a very enjoyable night somewhere in Japan 2005. Photo taken by Tadashi Yaguchi

my traveling companion for the coming months sojourn down the west coast of Oregon and California. The 'Bonaventure'.

I never meant to find myself walking through a sea of people that included priests, construction workers, joggers and an array of weathered surfers. Yet here i was at Huntington beach on the afternoon Fred Hemmings was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame. I stopped, leant against my guitar case and took a moment to breathe and listen. As this happened i heard the eloquent words of Mr Hemmings wash across the corner street crowd. "Who are we as surfers?" he mused,...

driven to the earth wing and wheelthrough citiesbeyond the hillsTomorrow I will have spent a week in San Diego, CA. Today i saw a man holding a sign that read "broke traveler, anything will help". I thought he might like my hat to shield his burnt face from the sun...he declined politely. That speaks volumes about my hat.This week i plan to travel north and have a little look, meeting friends and making new in LA.

The hum of the Cessna had me reminiscing of maths classes in high school. I'd lose my concentration to an audible drone and try to sing up the major scale over it, sure i was a nerd but i wasn't a mathematician...Flying over billabongs and mountain ranges of red dirt and scattered scrub, the phrase "classic croc country" kept coming into my head and making me giggle to myself. I don't know exactly where i had heard that phrase but it helped me tune out of the reality...