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Hello friends,
Happy Saturday morning to you all! I’m thrilled to announce that am finally writing you from the comfort of my sisters home here in Tucson. I arrived here yesterday afternoon from Phoenix after spending a day with my longtime friend Isaac. I have so much to say and feel so grateful so making it home safely after eleven months, two weeks and a day on the road. I am in reality very much spent both mentally and physically from the tour but so overwhelmed by the entire experience.
My last 120 miles from Isaac’s home heading south, a familiar road for me, never felt so special and satisfying as I recalled the nearly one year on the road. So many different memories and occasions raced through my mind as I sped home in the warm sun baked highway of my beloved Arizona desert landscape. I know it will take a week or so for me to settle in a normal routine, although I believe my life will never be normal or routine ever again! I will say I feel a great sense of accomplishment and pride as I think back on the adventure but I want to as I often do, put it in perspective at times. After my last stop with Isaac in Phoenix I get reminded of the real survivors in this world, and as it turned I despite my own personal struggles on this journey, am not even close to being a survivor in the real world sense.
Isaac, who like Beth in Iowa or Juliette in Fargo just to mention a few, have endured and survived far more hardships, life and death situations and tragedies than I ever have in my life and on this tour. I frequently was praised and admired for my will and perseverance during my trails and tribulations associated with this journey and with the help of so many people, familiar and strange, I was able to move forward and endure many trying days at times. But the simple fact is that I as you well know, was doing this special project on a voluntary basis. The world is filled with stories of folks who endure and have endured far more than I ever have and by no fault of their own. They didn’t ask or deserve the hand life dealt them in their particular challenge but they fought the good fight and came out on top in the end.
Many more people continue their own personal battles with life’s never ending bumps on the road and deal with them in anonymity. I certainty know a few my self and ironically some have been some of my biggest supporters on my tour. They seem to know the meaning of the word struggle and endurance and despite my adventure being a research project, were inspired and thus in turn inspired me to not give up when things got difficult. So that being said, I certainty appreciate each and every person who not only took interest in what I was doing but also helped propel me along with a simple email or comment on this website.
The end of phase two has now has come an end as I rolled up the driveway yesterday but now begins the difficult and maybe even bigger challenge of finding the right publisher for this story. I have resisted all attempts by publishing companies these past few months on the road to convince me that they are the right institution for my story but I refused to even make that decision until actually completed the fifty-one stops. So now I plan to explore my options in the next few weeks and finally make a decision soon and also have been thinking about another exciting feature to my adventure lately but will tell you in greater detail on my next post.
So now I will try to get some rest the next few days, get a few jobs done and then sit down each evening and write my book about my last year on the road as I drove across America! I have interviews set up here locally with the newspaper and television stations already as my community and friends have been waiting for months for me to get home and tell them first hand all about my experiences. It fills my heart with joy knowing that people have taken great pride in my journey as one of their own and cant wait to see me and treat me to lunch or dinner as a special guess to hear all my stories, I will certinately gain a few in the process I suppose!
Well friends I thank you once again for your support and helping me get home to my family and beloved pup Kalani who couldn’t stop licking me when she saw me. Stay tuned for the next developing story lines which will hopefully lead to the publication and release this book in the next couple of months. Take care and talk to you soon!
Juanjohn