Journey of Fear

Journey of Fear is the original title of this blog. It points to my original purpose for creating all of this: to document the miracles and changes that I underwent while on an 8,000+ mile, 2 1/2 month road trip, whilst living in my converted Toyota RAV4.

  • Lessons on Fear

    The Consequence of Thought

    I feel the necessity to be honest about something – to open up about a secondary goal that I’ve had for this trip, and one that I’ve been keeping a secret. I realize now that, if I hope to truly relate to you everything that I’ve discovered along my Journey of Fear, then I simply must come clean. This alternative goal has been to test and determine whether there’s any truth to the two main beliefs that I’ve been experimenting with for the past year of my life. And from what I’ve been finding, the answer is a resounding YES. The Two Beliefs #1: Your thoughts and emotions are entirely…

  • Lessons on Fear

    The Consequence of Thought – Part Deux

    …continued I’ve experienced a profound increase in the amount of happiness in my life, due to my active decision to change the way that I think. But that’s not the reason that I initially chose to do so – that was just a side-effect. No, my reason for changing my thought pattern was because the books that I was reading on bettering my life all pointed to one, recurring concept: that what you choose to think about will, over time, make it’s way into your real-world experience. Put simply into an example, thinking appreciatively about the money that you do have will lead to more money in the bank. Thinking…

  • Journey of Fear

    Is it Coincidence

    Now that you know about the downward Cycle of Fear that I had to crawl out of whenever I moved back to Pittsburgh, as well as the Way I Believe Our Minds Work, I can explain to you the next stage of my trip. Hoosier Serendipity After spending a few hours hopelessly lost as I drove the state roads surrounding Patoka Lake, I eventually found a state trooper, who gave me directions to a free campsite. The site was absolutely beautiful, and I found a spot that was directly on the lake. Prime real-estate. There was only one other vehicle camped nearby – an RV with an American flag hung…

  • Journey of Fear

    Anatomy of a Traveler

    “The only difference between a traveler and a homeless man is a destination.” This is but one of many quotes that I took away from my stay at that Hoosier campsite, though most of them I can’t repeat. The family that arrived in the van (we’ll call them the Davidsons, for the sake of anonymity) was a fun, colorful bunch – pretty much my kind of people. For example, that experience would prove to be the first time that I’ve ever heard a three-year-old use the F-word AND the B-word together in the same sentence. But that family truly did teach me a couple of incredibly positive lessons, which I…

  • Journey of Fear

    Seeing Beyond the Spoon

    While I was packing up to leave on my last morning in Hoosier National Forest, Mrs. Davidson approached me. She handed me a small collection of bright, multi-colored pieces of paper. It was a beautifully handwritten letter. In it, she provided words of encouragement for my journey that have meant more to me than she could possibly have known. But included in this letter was also a list. At one point, I had told everyone that I was trying to see life from different perspectives – particularly from theirs. I wanted to see through the eyes of someone who hadn’t been raised with a silver spoon. In the list that…

  • Journey of Fear

    My Remaining Stay at Hoosier

    While I’ve already described to you the bulk of what I learned from my new friends the travelers, I went on to have a number of great experiences in the time that I was in Hoosier National Forest. This will serve as my disjointed diary of the most memorable events. “You’re Unique” At one point around the campfire, I was asking the whole crew about the types of people I might meet along my travels. “Oh, you’ll meet tons of people,” responded the mother of the Davidson family. “Rubber Tramps (people who live in their vehicles), Rainbow Kids (your text-book, loving hippy-types), Dirty Kids (those who take pride in staying…