BLOG 60—Pausing in My Travels

The Wanderings of Kit (Do you wander or just wonder?)
With my words, I hope to throw some oblique light upon your soul.
By writing this blog I want to inspire you and show you that–

YES—YOU CAN > >
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Change your life at any time to make it more magnificent!
***Live with little money and still have an excellent life.
***Be able to live life getting very little sleep.
***Live ANYWHERE in the world and still make your life a fantastic event!
***See experiences that will add to and make your life better.
***I want to inspire you as to the wonders of the earth.
***Perhaps this is my new “gig”, traveling the world doing the same?
***And, I’m not just, “Kitting Around”.
Design the life YOU want to live, NOW, then live that life!
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Remember, to read past blog posts, go to kitsummers.com/blog/
***If you are reading this through Facebook, check out my blog on my website.
***If you are not my Facebook friend, yet, please befriend me.
***The freedom I am experiencing in my travels is a marvelous thing.
***Going where I want, when I want and seeing wonderful places and people.
***I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
***I will have secrets to unfold and good news!
I’m glad to take you on my journeys with me!
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INTRO TO THIS WEEK >>
Every week after I put out my blog I feel like I am starting on a clean slate each time –

  • New Adventures

  • Meeting new people

  • Seeing new sites and things

In Kingsville, Florida currently. The library here has all I need and not many people here. I slept in their parking lot last night, and I have enough food to last me for quite a while. Right now I don’t see a reason to move on. But, I do miss the wilderness, I may have to get out for that.
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WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU! >>
As life can be difficult now, remember to keep your humor and joy in life. The following words are from my book series, “Beyond Your Potential”

Don’t Turn into an Adult

I hear adults say to their children things like, “Stop being so immature,” or, “When are you going to grow up?” These people are trying to teach their children not to be kids. At times, I’m sure these adults are jealous of the carefree and innocent nature of kids.

Bring back that childhood fun and wonder that is within each of us. Take the time to ride your bike, fly a kite, juggle those balls, smell a rose, walk through the woods or a beautiful park, or walk barefoot in the sand at the beach. As adults, we need to explore the child within us.

Grow Up?

People “turn” into adults. They lose their childhood curiosity, fun, and play in their life. Without these traits, it is hard to learn and change. Even with the power of play, somewhere between early days and maturity, many of us stop playing and often stop learning.

We exchange play for work and responsibilities. When we do have some time, we often zone out in front of the computer or TV rather than engage in some creative, brain-stimulating play. By giving ourselves the approval to play with the joyful mind of a child, we can continue to gain benefits throughout our lives.

Some benefits of bringing humor into your life:

  • Humor boosts immunity

  • Relaxes the whole body

  • An antidote to loneliness and isolation

  • Lowers stress hormones

  • Decreases pain

  • Triggers the release of endorphins

  • Supercharges learning

  • Provides peak experiences and intrinsic motivation

  • Re-oxygenates your blood

  • Helps defuse conflict

  • Adds joy and zest to life

  • Eases anxiety and fear

  • Enhances resilience

  • Protects the heart

  • Enhances teamwork

  • Improves mood

  • Promotes group bonding

  • Dissolves distressing emotions

  • Helps you relax and recharge

  • Humor shifts perspective

With all these benefits, you need to laugh and enjoy life more. Play is as significant to our physical and psychological health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising.

The Child in You?
You remember how much fun it was as a kid to just play ball with friends, fly kites, juggle, and explore? You can keep the same enjoyment as an adult by unceasingly learning more and doing interesting things. If you find yourself missing that child inside of you, perhaps you can get in touch with the child in you again by knowing that this child is not far behind you. Let yourself go a bit, bring back the curiosity and joy of life.

A Joy!
Take time to be silly, to laugh, to make jokes about yourself. Connect with people in this way and you will lead a better life. You may have to teach yourself to bring that childhood humor back. When I find myself being too serious, I put my hands out to my sides up by my shoulders and pretend that I’m an airplane. My daughters don’t like when I do this, but it brings me back to earth again. I bring on the childhood joy. Beyond all these marvelous reasons for playing, it simply brings fun to your life. Play is a state of mind that is blissful and happy. It will change the way you connect with people and how they connect with you.

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MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>
3/14—Still have a sore throat, yikes. Corona–nawww, I drank some Corona beer, that is all. At 5am, I was out to a local McDonald’s to get online. I saw on the floor a fairly large spider, and I knew it would be killed eventually being here. So, I scooped him up, carried him outside and let him go in a bush. You see, I care about life.

Today I was back with Jim and Julie Mackenzie. Thanks for allowing me to wash clothes there and what great friend you are. Coached Jim on his juggling, saw improvement with 5 clubs. Yet, because of their cats and my allergies, I had to skedaddle, couldn’t breathe. So, now I am heading toward San Antonio.

At a McDonald’s now. People are here, I have been seeing many places and no people. Are people worried about dying? I have no fears about the end result of life, I am comfortable and ready to go. No plans on that now, but I know it is coming (as you should know, too.) I am trying to find the most joy I can before the end, as would be a suggestion for you, too.

This afternoon I spoke with my sister, Sandy. There are so few in my family I can talk with now, great to talk with you, Sandy.

Now it is 5pm, I am the only one here at this McDonald’s. It is Sunday, I guess people are scared and staying home where it is safe?

On the map, I saw Attwater Prairie Chicken National Water Reserve. With such a silly name, I had to go and check it out. Nothing but fields for as far as you can see (yet, a few trees thrown in there.) I drove about five miles down Prairie Chicken Road.

I found a turnoff and this is where I will bed down for the night. Very quiet, no cars or people near for miles, just how I like it. Away out in the wilderness it is.

Offline, on battery power and writing, I do like this.

Some people might think, “What if you get stuck out there?” Like I’ve written before, I always keep enough food and water to last me at least two weeks. And, my feet work, I can walk the miles back to the freeway to get help.

For now, it feels great to be back in the wilds.

Hope you sleep well tonight, I know I will, “Goodnight for now.”

3/15—I ended up not sleeping so well. At midnight I was awakened by a sheriff’s Deputy named Andrew Young (at my age now he did seem “young”.) He asked me what I was doing there, of course, I said, “Trying to sleep, can’t you tell?”

He told me I could not sleep there, I said, “But I am bothering no one.” He said I would have to leave, and, at midnight, I did not want to argue with him. So he told me to follow him, as he drove some miles out to a busy truck stop and told me I could sleep there.

Highway trucks often leave their engines on while they sleep, as they were doing here; just too noisy. So, being so busy and noisy, I knew I could not sleep there. Down the road I went, tired as I was. I found a dirt road and took it down to where I found a place to park. I ended up sleeping until about 5:30am, a night of good sleep for me.

I got onto I-10 and went west toward San Antonia, my next destination. So I McDonald’s was ahead, so here I am. Four hours at this place on my computer.

Just “spending time” today. I am at yet another McDonald’s on their wifi. I got in a conversation with one of the employees here and told her my story. She ended up buying a copy of my book, Accident, thank you for that, Annie.

This time of isolation we need to figure out what is truly important to each of us. We have to make time for introspection on your life, how you are living, and how you are helping people.

I pulled into Palmetto State Park, and I like it. Nice to back in a wilderness/park setting, which I have missed. At this point I have no rush for anything, maybe I will be here for a few days?

I was at Palmetto in the afternoon, too early to park for sleepies, so down the road to a town with an interesting name, Luling, Texas. A small and flat town, I found a place to park for the night next to a park, nice.

My van went past 200,000 miles today, still running well.

With this Corona thingie going on, I feel quite safe living in my van. I can just drive to a safe part of the US and keep myself there until things settle down. If you need me to come and help you with anything, I could be there in a few days or less.

A gentle rain just started, from reports, it might be around for the next few days.
I will let you know.

Here are my plants I grow in the van.

3/16—I did sleep well last night, although, I awoke for the day at about 3:30am, as usual.

Still have somewhat of a sore throat. Not worried about any Corona stuff in any way, though. In fact, I have no fears of death at all I have lived a good life and helped many people, that is allH I care about.

Death is something that, it seems, no many people think much about and/or talk about. It is, sorry to say, coming to all of us.
Are you living your life with joy?
Are you helping as many people in life as you can?

Not that I am not taking precautions. It is about 7am and I have been at this McDonald’s since 5. I had to poop, and, instead of sitting and taking care of of matters, I put the seat up using my foot and squatted some as left my doo doo in the toilet.

Sorry to bring up this dirty topic. Yet, it’ s not dirty, it is part of life which each of us does (come on now, admit you poop!) And, sorry, no photos for you to see.

So, I came to San Antonio because I know there is a coop bike shop here and the bike needs some work. I must say, this city is not nice. Dirty, bad roads, not laid out well. It is 2:30pm now and the bike shop is open from 5pm to 7, so, time to spend (not waste.)

Here I am at yet another McDonald’s plugged in and on their wifi. Not many people frequent these places in the last week.
Where are people?
Where are you?

Looking forward to going south and back to smaller cities.

8:51pm Writing to you offline of battery power. Still heading south, pulled into a small town to park in for the night.

This afternoon I went to “https://www.earnabikecoop.org/ ” to do my bike repairs. They had a wheel that fit well and, after I cleaned it up, it was like a new wheel. Philip Behee is the manager and also my initial contact.

So, I worked with Philip Behee and Oscar to get the bike going good again, which made me so happy. And, in the end, they did not even charge me (see my big smile?)

If you are in the San Antonio area and need a bike or need work done on your bicycle, go see earnabike, they will do you well and make you happy! Contact Philip at 210-350-8598 or philip@eabsa.org (you will be glad you did!)

Also, check out their website and how they help people, especially kids, you will be quite impressed. If you can donate and help their cause, that would be wonderful.
https://www.earnabikecoop.org/

3/17—Spent some time at McDonald’s online this morning, then moved on to the local library. I am the only person in this huge place, strange. Seeing all these books and no one to read any of them.

Such a big change for the whole world, has it gotten much bigger than you really is? Was this a manufactured crisis? Or, pandemic? Through it all I have tried to jovial and joking with people. Even through the worst of things we much keep our humor going.

Went to a McDonald’s further to the south and found out you could not eat-in, which means no computer work there. I checked GPS and discovered there was a library about 3 miles away, so here I am.

This thing we are going through is quite strange. Is there someone behind it trying to control the masses? I am hearing that everyone is supposed to stay home with family and such. I have no home, I have no family to speak of, what am I to do? (will you be my family?)

It’s been more than a year since Tina left me, I still think good thoughts of her, daily. I guess I will never understand. I simply want to be her friend, she will not even have that.

Boy, while I am driving I think of many things I could write to you, then later I forget some of these. I will try harder to remember for you.

So, I am now in the southern part of Texas, in Pharr at the moment. While driving down I started seeing palm trees with cows around them, made me smile.

On my way, while driving I stopped by Alice, Texas, just because it’s a funny name for a city (I never did find out who “Alice” is or was.) I looked up and found a food bank which was open from 1-3pm, so I went. There were about 15 people eventually there.

At the library I am at now their hours are 8am to 9pm, the longest hours I know of any library. I might be here for a few days at least. Only a few people in the library, strange.

I hear of people who travel like I do who spend up to 14 days in a campground. My question is, what do they do with their time? I would quickly get bored, I believe.

3/18—I came down to southern Texas for the warmth, last night was about 27c (80f degrees), so, uncomfortably warm.

My sore throat is better today, I have been worried because of this corona thing. By the way, do you know why they chose the name “corona” for the name?

I am finding that many places and businesses around the world are shutting down, that scares me. The panic is much worse than any virus. Do what you can to help other people do better in their life. Remain positive as you deal with others.

Like I’ve written before, I have no concerns or worries about death. I’ve brought joy to many people, taught many to live a better life and written many books to help advance in life.

Now I cannot even go into a McDonald’s to get on the internet. But, I can stay in my van in the parking lot and get online on battery power. But, today I was near Brownsville, Texas I could not stand so many vehicles and people, so I drove 60 miles to get to a small town with a small library. At this point, I am much happier in smaller towns with fewer people (wish you were here, though.)

So much change in the world right now.
I am here to help you, as well as I can.

Drove out to South Padre Island. It is 7pm and I will sleep as close as I can to the beaches. So, I will be sleeping amongst million dollar properties – with a smile on my face. I will explore the area tomorrow. I plan to start riding my bike more and more, this will be a good place to start.

At this point, there is no rush for me to get anywhere. But, as might know, I get bored easily. I will have to reexamine things and find better ways.

Right now I am parked outside a McDonald’s sitting in the back of my van on their wifi. With my additional battery power, I could maintain for about ten hours.

Boy, it’s kind of exciting, what is coming next in the world? We cannot panic and must maintain whatever joy we can find; as I am.

8pm—Found a turnoff for South Padre Island Convention Center, which is on the beach with NO one around. I will sleep here tonight, very nice. It should be very quiet, the way I like it.

See, even with all these terrible things going on in the world you can still find good things. Open your mind to all the good there is, don’t look around the problems, just look through them and continue on. Your life is a magnificent event, remember?

Along with seeing the magnificence of life, remember to help other people all you can. That older person who lives five doors down from you, can you help them? And, at least, let them know that everything will turn out alright.

The plants I grow, cilantro, lettuce and spinach, I planted new seeds a little while ago, now that I am in warmer weather, they are coming up good. I will feast on these little plants soon.

3/19—The main reason I came down to southern Texas was for the warmth. When I was in Brownsville I was thinking of crossing the border into Mexico, but then I thought again. What if I were down there and they closed off the borders, which they have down.

I would have to learn to speak Mexican (not Spanish), worn different clothes and only eat Mexican food. Might have been an interesting change.

It seems that most people are bilingual here, speak both Mexican and American. These languages are different from Spanish and English, think about it.

It was time, so I went out and parked the van with the side doors next to a wall, then I open the doors and no one can see me as I shower naked. Feels great to be all cleaned up.

With this corona thingy the roads and somewhat empty and, of course, the library is barren.

And, by the way, my sore throat is better.

The library I am at now closes at 6pm, but they have outlets outside and internet is out here, too. So, here I am.

As I am “spending time”, I have to remember that there is no rush, for anything. All my life I have been go-go-go, I need to teach myself to go slower and enjoy the smaller things in life.

As I am parked in the library lot, I will just be bedding down there for the night.

For dinner, as a treat when I sold books recently, I picked up some shrimp and I will be making shrimp tacos. Just one word to describe them – delicious.

3/20—Slept until about 5am, that’s late for me. This morning I am out in the parking lot on battery power, but able to hook into the libraries wifi.

I’m back in the library now. Thinking about it, I could just stay here for a long time because I have enough food to last for a month and there would be no cost for gas, a good thing. Later today I plan on going for a bike right, a unicycle ride, and a juggle.

All day at the library on the computer, writing and such. I did a Facebook post which got over 100 reactions, I was surprised at that.

For dinner, I had some leftover shrimp, so Fetachini Alfredo with Shrimp it will be. Very comfortable here, wish you were with me.
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MY CHALLENGE FOR YOU THIS WEEK >>
CALM PEOPLE THIS WEEK. As you do, it will calm you down. We all need help, find people who could use your help.
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NEXT BLOG>>
Heading over toward New Orleans, I think, I’ll let you know.
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1 Comment

  1. Bob K. March 25, 2020 Reply

    Hey Kit – Met you about a year ago at Big Bend National Park. We only spent one night there, but I continue to get your blog posts, which I don’t get to read that often because gmail is not my main email. If you like thoughtful writing, here is my web page again. I may have shared it with you a year ago. http://www.arcofthehawk.com

    Bob

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