ON THE ROAD Part I : HEADS AND TAILS Jessica (B.A.Psychology-Trent University), just returned from 3 years of world travel; her diary will appear in a sequel in Cross Cultures as promised in our last issue .. she has since become Mrs.Jessica Hall, and is honeymooning as we go to print .... We wish Jessica and John a happy and successful life journey together !

After completing three years at university, I was eager for a change in lifestyle. I gathered my summer savings and 'took flight' in the fall of 1989.

The trip started in Florida when I accepted a ride "going west" from a car-full of colourful people! "Sure, no problem, we got room" insisted one of the long haired people. I crawled through the hatch of a window stickered VW bus and was greeted by smiles. The round of introductions which followed blended to the music as the creative re- decoration of bodies and their gear promised comfort until the next pit stop!

Meeting a family of friends who loved the Grateful Dead music was a brand new experience. They travelled around the United States days on end, enjoying live music and reunions with old members. Crafts and food were traded and sold to finance the next journey. I was so enamoured by this colourful collage of people and their attitudes, I decided to pursue this to a meaningful conclusion, to find what it was all about ..

Over the period of a year, some of my values were re-equated: There were other ways of life besides what I had experienced in the last 23 years. I learned that by becoming environmentally active (recycling, pollution control, resource management..) spiritually tuned (practicing meditation, acting not reading..) and eating healthily (more whole grains and fruits than processed..) I could enhance "my quality of life". Through my travels, I saw that most South Western people had a different perspective than back in Eastern Canada. I stopped travelling in order to work and experience how their different set of values and habits mingled in a cosmopolitan city like San Francisco.

Despite how much I enjoyed my days tasting new foods and swimming in the ocean, I was commited to sampling more than this culture. The opportunity to continue my travels around the world arose when this now familiar Grateful Dead band and its members announced a European Tour. I sold my VW bus, made several batik T-shirts (to trade) and bought the cheapest one-way ticket to adventure land. In the next issue I'll report on a 'meaningful conclusion" .... this artwork is by Jessica Henderson

This article was originally published in Cross Cultures Magazine in Volume 1 - Issue 5 - 1992. Unauthorized copying, distribution or other usage without express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.