Zach Vincent was mugged in Mexico City's central park. It was an assault that left him sputtering, "Look at that bru.. look at that perfect family having a picnic!" 

Mexican towns are constructed in the world's imagination by films of hardship and dystopia. A creation which began with grainy westerns, the cowboy riding into a dusty plaza with the aura of violence soon to erupt. Later tales of cartels solidify the image: Mexico is a dangerous place.

A haircut in Sarajevo left me ruminating on the dangers of tribalism and nationalism. Anyone who understands history will find this clear. What can we do individually to combat this trend? Besides political action we can work to change ourselves and have that change radiate out to our friend groups and community. 

Some of the ways to break down the mental borders of tribalism are:

• Travel - Not sitting in the cocoon of a resort, but real engagement with different seeming people that widen perspective. 
• Read - Studies have shown that reading fiction makes us more empathetic.
• Shatter stereotypes in conversation - If you are part of a convo where a statement is dropped like, "Mexicans are XYZ" there is an opportunity to cast immediate doubt on the declaration and diffuse it. Silence allows it to pass into the minds of all those listening. Challenge this lazy thinking by offering counterexamples. Or you could use Socrates' trick and see if the speaker can offer his/her own counterexample, "Do you know any Mexicans who are not XYZ?"
• Go on an introspective journey to root out irrational fears - The Oracle of Delphi in Greece declares, "Know Thyself". The greatest journey we can go on is not of career or airline miles, but one into our own psyche. This takes a lot more courage than any other kind of trip. Some people who will do anything to avoid it. We all suffer from irrational fears about each other and scarcity. What lies inside that dark cave is the ultimate cure. 

How we begin our days and end them has an enormous impact on quality of life. Doing it mindlessly leads to a trap: scrolling social media, light pumping into the eyes and comparison stirring up the brain. Sleep comes later and dreams are anxious. As an experiment sit in your dark room, let your eyes adjust, and then turn on your phone. Notice the amount of light that is now illuminating the space. Next scroll social media for 5 minutes, stop, and take note of your state. Are you full of contentment and peace?
For healthier rest try these elements to a healthy evening routine:

• Stop consuming caffeine and sugary drinks 3 or more hours before bed
• Stop eating 2 or more hours before bed
• Turn off all electronics an hour before bed
• Write down at least 3 great things that happened in the day
• Write down anything you'd like to remember in the morning
• Read something uplifting or calming
• Meditate

This list is still a work in progress. Do any of you have a solid addition? What is your ideal evening routine?

Venice Beach has had one hell of a roller coaster ride, but are the twists and turns about to give way to a dull cruise into blandness? The fate of Helmut's ice cream shop could be a watershed moment for the once proudly weird neighborhood.

It's in the hands of new tech residents, the remaining old guard locals, and the stream of tourists to decide what kind of Venice they want to experience: the same options or something different? Hinano or the Habit? Groundworks or Starbucks?

The market is now testing this neighborhood for its interest in homogeneity. Is the next phase of Venice to resemble any given strip mall in the America? Where we spend our dollars will answer this question. Charly Temmel's fate may predict the verdict. 

So you had a little travel fling.. right on! Romantic connection is a beautiful, enlivening thing, It's a mind expanding experience (if you are actually taking interest in the contents of each other's brains). 
 
Now you're back home and still flirting over a texting app. An invitation appears: "Come back and see me." You flip open your laptop and start browsing flights. 

It's an admirable move. The mark of a romantic soul. However, let's adjust expectations and strategy before buying that ticket. Misadventure may await you. Are you ready for it?
Consider this:

• There will be a disparity that didn't exist before - When the love began you had an agenda. You were traveling around Europe on a rail pass, or paragliding the Alps, or on some work project. You carved time out of that mission to make the romance happen. You may have been traveling with friends. You carved time out from hanging with your buddies to make the romance happen. The lover carved time out of their scene to be with you. These time choices send an appealing signal. Now you have no homies to hang with and you have a singular agenda. Meanwhile, they still have their friends to see, their work to do, their hobbies to pursue, etc. It's a whole different dynamic. There is an imbalance.
• The chemistry may not be there the second time around - How many romances have fizzled on the second or third date? Happens all the time. You both get a little familiar and discover unpalatable differences. He actually drinks way too much. She doesn't like the outdoors at all. It sure is nice to discover these differences down the block instead of oceans away.
• You could easily be stepping into a love triangle - Super common. Rocco tells Maria he needs a break. Maria goes out with her friends and meets you. Romance ensues. You're more exciting than Rocco has been for years, but you're also an unstable bet for anything long term. You go home which cements this point. Rocco comes back into the scene but he is halfhearted. Maria, feeling underappreciated, invites you back. When your ticket is booked she lets a little intel leak, giving Rocco a strategic hint: He better up his game.. there is a competitor on the way. Rocco doubles down to ward off the threat. He's all flowers and candlelight dinners now. You sit in the hotel room wondering when she's going to meet up. Enjoy your stay.

These are ever present possibilities, but don't be dissuaded. Instead, change your perspective and approach:

• Have an agenda - Come into the town with some purpose. Shoot a short film, take a yoga course, visit every crēperie in town and blog about the experience. Now you've got your own stuff going on... good for the relationship parity, and good for you.
• Prepare for absolute disaster - Develop a plan B in case things go in a direction you don't want to walk. Find a destination nearby you'd like to explore and be ready to turn your trip, or part of it, into an exploration of this new place.
• Suggest neutral ground - Instead of going to his/her homecourt, why not go somewhere that is new for both of you. A spot where neither person has work or friendship obligations. Find a special place where you can have an adventure together, sealing that moment in time as something uniquely shared between the two of you.

Revisiting a travel fling is always a toss of the dice, but with the right preparation you can stack the odds in favor of a winning roll. By setting a realistic frame and controling expectations one can have a memorable trip no matter which numbers turn up. And remember the goal is that both people end up feeling empowered from this interaction. Let's all leave a trail of beautiful memories in our wake. Be honest. Be kind. Be your best self. 

The "fearful creature" mentioned in the video has pointed out that I did not provide any solutions for what author Johann Hari has called the "ego addiction", an unhealthy attachment to self that is isolating us from each other. Here are my best ideas to scale that back:

1. Meditation - One of the gradual effects of prolonged meditation practice is witnessing the non-duality of existence. Over time it begins to tear the curtain of the separate self. A specific kind of meditation, called Loving-Kindness, is designed to transfer feelings of well-being to others.
2. Travel - When journeys are about connecting with the people (as opposed to checking off landmarks), deep commonalities with the rest of humanity will appear and resonate like gospel.
3. Tribe - Cultivating a group of inspirational friends, peers, and mentors within a framework of honesty and vulnerability will go far to put an ego in healthy balance.
4. Psychedelics - I hesitate to write this because of the failure of language* and malicious political policy**. The scientific community has recently returned to these substances for their value. As a device for deconstructing the ego nothing works faster. Eat three grams of psilocybin mushrooms and within an hour something akin to mythological phenomena will occur, shredding the illusion that you are a lonely soldier trudging through a foreign world.  But... This is advanced level shit. You must be ready to scale the perilous mountain to see the oracle, arriving with intention and respect. You must heed the principles of set and setting. You should have a knowledgable, trustworthy***, and calm sitter to guide the initial experiences.
5. Books - Lost Connections by Johann Hari, Civilized to Death by Christopher Ryan (preorders), Sapiens by Yuval Harari, and a healthy amount of serious fiction (which is shown to make us more empathetic). 

* The term "drugs" is used to cover everything from caffeine to aspirin to crack to magic mushrooms. Clearly there is a difference between sipping a cup of coffee and injected heroin into a vein. We need new vocabulary that does not lump all mood altering substances under the same tainted banner. 

** The "war on drugs" has been one of the most destructive and evil forces humanity has unleashed on itself, responsible for many more deaths than the drugs it purports to combat. It is fueled by hypocrisy, racism, and greed. To uncover the full perniciousness of these policies I'd recommend the documentaries 13th and America's War on Drugs as well as the book Chasing the Scream.

*** I've heard terrible stories of charlatans taking advantage of the vulnerable. Specifically if you plan to go to South America to experience an Ayahuasca ceremony vet your shaman very carefully.

This summer I'll return to Serbia to dig deeper into a vexing mystery and explore new destinations.  Would you like to come along? I'm limiting the number of co-adventurers to 10, plus a cameraman who will document our journey. As a small, intimate group we will better bond with each other, our environment, and the locals we meet. 

Registration time is now at 10 days. 

More information here.
or
Grab a slot now.

Have a question about the trip? Please write it down in the comments.

Last Spring I made a blogpost which featured my pixelated buttocks. ​The post appeared on a popular hiking Facebook page. While most comments were supportive, a couple men blasted me. They were profoundly offended to see a bottom even blurred. One dude told me I should register as a sex offender. 

When did these men consciously decided they found the gluteus muscles (and the skin and fat which surround them) so offensive? Did they sit down one day to figure out which body parts were cool and which shameful? Of course not. They were impressed at a very young age through a variety of mediums.

Now I had my awareness completely on the subject. What was wrong with the backside of the human body? For that matter, what was embarrassing about the frontside? Did we not all have similar features from little innocent babies to sweet old grandparents? I couldn't seem too find fault with this design when putting full reason on it. 

However, the disesteem for ourselves runs deep. So deep that I discovered a new pocket of it under the full moon in Goa, India. Once again the matter cleared up when put under the full gaze of awareness and query**.

Have you had a similar experience? 

*Book reference in video is Lost Connections by Johann Hari. He speaks about some of these thoughts on this podcast.

**There are some thorns imbedded so deep, however, that noticing them is just the beginning of a long process of pulling them out. The most pernicious, given to us by the same advertisers who have contributed to body shame, is materialism. Extrinsic thinking that acquiring a possession will make us happy. Study after study contradicts this belief, but it's so dominant all but the most enlightened fall under it's bewitchment.  

The above video does not truly convey the beauty of Rishikesh. It's located on a stunning stretch of the Ganges headwaters. It's full of soft-hearted pilgrims trudging not towards a religious obligation, but rather a personal search for enlightenment and transcendence. As the birthplace of yoga, the town is full of ashrams and studios where one can sleep, eat, and practice for as little as 15 USD a day. The surrounding hills are laced with steep trails and the riverbank provides opportunities to scamper, boulder, or find blissful seclusion.

The town is also a massive resource of wisdom (and a bit of chicanery) as dozens of "gurus" hold open meetings, called satsang,  free of charge. Naturally there must be some commercial incentive for pasting glossy headshots of the charismatic leaders all over town. There is most likely a sliding scale of intention, from those hoping to accrue power and wealth via a spiritual avenue, those looking to share a message while keeping their operation afloat, and those who believe these two objectives can be ethically integrated. 

I visited several of these satsang, dividing my attention between the guru and his/her audience. The teachers ranged from pure charlatan to well intentioned. The best had  informative wisdom on the nature of consciousness. They attempt to drop the right insight or pose the right question which will enable the seeker to break free of the dominant paradigm of what the Hindu's would call "maya" and the modern world would understand as "the matrix". That is the illusion of a separate self schlepping through a foreign world, motivated by fear, lurching toward ephemeral pleasures and away from pain. Keep climbing until you reach the promised rung of contentment or die on the ladder. 

The audience of these gurus tilts heavily towards the wide-eyed and credulous, the majority of skeptics perhaps having written off the whole scene. This is an understandable division. There is quite a stew of woo woo sloshing around the sphere of Rishikesh. One will hear many insightful observations about the experience of consciousness mixed in with improbable yet assured metaphysical claims about the nature of physical reality. Unfortunately this combination means that many savvy intellects who could benefit from the baby in the bathwater will stay away, and the overly impressionable will drink the whole concoction down. Con artists thrive among the latter group, the wise have a small audience among the former.

Although I too may be self-deluded, I believe I've plucked some diamonds from the experience of Rishikesh; including a more committed yoga practice and deeper meditation sessions. It's a place I recommend all "spiritual" seekers visit, with a healthy balance of openness and critical thinking. 


-----------
Links related to video:

John de Ruiter according to Globe and Mail
and according to Vice

Two gurus I would visit again (this does not entail an endorsement nor do i concur with all their ideas. Rather I believe them to be well-intentioned, humble, and in possession of some unique insight)

Swami Atmananda
Shantimayi