I believe in all cases that getting lost can be good for the soul, whether it is humility, spontaneity, wonder or peace, taking to the road and letting go of authorship is always a good thing in this world of stress, over connectivity and constant demands. And when things feel like they are at their worst, I think it all the more reason to get in the car and lost.

Universal Prayer of Swami Sivananda

O adoring Lord of Mercy and Love! Salutations and prostrations unto Thee. 
Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient; Thou art Satchidananda. (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute) 
Thou art the In dweller of all beings.

Grant us an understanding heart,
 Equal vision, balanced mind,
 Faith, devotion and wisdom.
 Grant us inner spiritual strength
 To resist temptation and to control the mind. 
Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred and anger. Fill our hearts with divine virtues.

Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms. Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms. Let us ever remember Thee.
 Let us ever sing Thy Glories.

Let Thy Name be ever on our lips. Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever.

Harī Oṁ Tat Sat

(Usually, a single mantra is used as a closing mantra – ‘Harī Oṁ Tat Sat’ includes the name of God with form, the Absolute, and as Auspiciousness.)

I’m in western Maine looking out over a smooth slate blue lake reflecting the burnt autumn foliage of the mountains under stormy New England skies, even as in my mind I gaze back over the past few months. Exactly a month ago I sat high on a steep hill looking out over the vast cerulean blue of Lake Malawi, imagining Tanzania and Mozambique somewhere out of sight, trying to understand my weeks in country as I swatted the persistent flow of micro ants off my dress.

As a frequent traveler, whether local or international, I always have a weekend bag packed and know what goes into my international bags, work and vacation – though I’m not sure when I last had one of those. Needless to say my camera bag is always at the ready, like sports gear, when you come home, you reset, so I will skip that one.

I don’t believe in buying things on the road when you have the items at home, so here are some critical things from years of experience. And in many countries you cannot get things you might consider essential or as on Sundays in Zurich when you have a bad cold, you cannot find goods so best to always be prepared. Of course shop local if you can, but I have some links as well if you cannot.

When I arrived in Livingstone, Zambia to join African Spokes, Jen Gurecki gleefully warned that I should be prepared to be “the most disgusting version of myself.” An organizer and veteran of the 70 day trip, riding from Nairobi to Cape Town, she was on to something.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julianne Snow Gauron.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.

I studied industrial design and spent over a decade working on apparel innovation teams in India, the UK, at New Balance in Boston, and North Face, before going out as a consultant four years ago.

A few weeks ago I had the extraordinary opportunity to direct a film about women exercising a vital American freedom, the right to choose with Windy Films and Planned Parenthood. Although it is very hard to believe that we are in a moment when progress could roll back, but the defense of women's reproductive health and choice stands in the hand's of two senators, Sen Susan Collins of Maine and Alaska's Sen Lisa Murkowski.

I have spent the last weeks in shock, dumbfounded by intensity of the sadness and pain of loss I feel with Mia’s passing.  I thought I had prepared for this, having spent so many years with her in ER’s and hospitals, she had been to more types of specialists and doctors in her short 6 years and 5 months with me than I have seen in 37 years.  I used to expect her to pass on the regular, placing my hand on her curly blond torso for the rise and fall. This was so familiar, from nights with pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, surgeries and unnamed scares, that when the breath went out of her the final time in the hospital I found myself utterly unable to fathom that her tiny body was truly still. 

After the African Spokes crew departed to the south of Windhoek to traverse Namibia's gravel roads on their way to South Africa I headed to Hohewarte Guest Farm for a few days, to slow down from the perpetual motion and reflect before I headed stateside.

I did not realize that this former Colonial Police Station and Post Office located on thousands of hectares of land at 1400meters above sea level would in itself be such a special experience.

Camping outside for 2 weeks, we got into a routine, and the midst of wildlife, all a big part of being in Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

Chobe National Park in Botswana is famed for its abundant wildlife, best seen from a water safari, and is an amazing region where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe all come together along the mighty Zambezi River - the only intersection of four countries in the world.  This is one of many areas I hope to return to, and travel west across the Caprivi region of Namibia.

Days were measured in kilometers traveled, and wildlife spotted, and the butt pain meter. But most exciting was this day, and the 14 elephant day, including many babies, almost white from the salt pans.  When we passed most they raised their trunks in unison, trying to figure out what we were, bicycles not being very familiar.  For this reason we rode in packs when in elephant territory.

I have arrived in Livingston Zambia a few days before I am set to join Leg 4 of the 6 Leg cycling expedition called African Spokes.  The trip runs half the length of Africa, from Nairobi Kenya to Cape Town South Africa, crossing through 7 countries and over 6500 km in 68 days of riding on a range of road conditions you might expect in, well Africa.  Participants from around the world are joining in a leg or 2, and 6 hardly souls are riding the full 3 months.  I was still training indoors while the snow fell outside my home in Boston when the first group of riders set out towards the Masai Steppes in March, and the group will arrive in Cape Town in late May. 

On a ride in upstate New York two collies sitting in the seat of a tractor caught my attention and I stopped to meet the pups, Massey and Fergie-named for the tractor they sat in, and their owner Richard, who invited me back to see the maple syrup making process.

I am a major lover of all things winter-in truth my only non favorite New England season is spring (I know this is incorrect grammar, as well as an unpopular opinion) because around here it is mostly a long winter followed by mud season and a week of spring before summer.

Photographs from a family visit in southwest Montana.

New England snowstorm photographs.

My father and I arrived at Portillo Hotel on a Saturday in July amid full blown arrivals and departures chaos in the chalet style hotel lobby which felt more reminiscent of summer camp than anything we had ever seen at a ski resort.

When a road appears passable on google maps only half of the day, and is "subject to extreme tidal conditions," meaning underwater, you have to drop everything and head to this road! 

So Mia and I headed straight for the road to Minister’s Island, in Saint Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick. 

When we crossed from Lubec, Maine onto Campobello Island, New Brunswick we discovered that it was Canadian Thanksgiving Day, although I had not realized when I decided to head to the island and Canada for the day.  There was something so apt about this, and it is beautiful the way life speaks up when you let go and listen.