Owl and Bear Travel and Work around the World

Beyond Santa Fe…an adventure inside the caves of Bandelier, NM

by Ali Sun Trees on May 12, 2013 · 0 comments

A text appears on my cell phone from a dear family friend, Judith Jones.

“You MUST go to Bandelier.”

It just so happens to be that Bandelier is in fact written in the stars for us today!

Bandelier is the indigenous land of the ancestral pueblo people, also known as the “Anasazi.”

Beyond the inspiring and lively city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, lie ancient relics of the past in the form of caves, kivas and fabulous rock formations. With Siri’s guidance, we are off and running without a hitch. For those of you that have not been properly introduced to Siri, well she is Tyler’s personal female digital guide who seems to pop up at every turn with her bold and crystal clear digital voice offering directions downloaded from within her inner compass. She has been quite helpful, although there are those moments when it is wise to follow our own intuition and go with the marked signs on the road.

Long gone are the days, it seems, is the stoic presence of the “The Thomas Auto Guide” in ones car. You know the ancient “Bible” from the past that religiously blessed all the cars since the 1950′s. Oh sadly, how it seems to be a relic of the past for those of us aligned with the digital age.

I vividly remember the day my mom swore against releasing me out onto the streets and freeways of Los Angeles, until the day I learned how to read these maps from front to back cover. She was fairly quick to take back this crazy idea realizing by the blank look on my face, at the ripe age of 16, that I may be 25 by the time her natural gift of map reading would flow naturally and spontaneously through my veins.

Long live Victoria Joy the Roadmap Queen!
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Bandelier is a good hour from Santa Fe. The Bandelier National Monument is a 33,677-acre National Monument that preserves the homes of the Ancestral Pueblo People.

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GRATITUDE…for a life well lived and traveled.

by Ali Sun Trees on April 25, 2013 · 0 comments

There are several blog posts on their way, however there is one that feels most important to kick off the next cycle of our journey…and what better timing than the Full Moon, which happens to be today…Today, March 25th is the Lunar Eclipse (the first of three) and a FULL MOON in SCORPIO, the sign of TRANSFORMATION & REBIRTH. Here is a link for those interested in learning more about the planetary energies and alignment that are happening right now. This is taken from one of my most favorite websites, mysticmamma.com

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This blog post is in honor of the nature of our travels shared with gratitude for which we feel of this dream becoming a reality…It has been a beautiful journey sharing with all of you the wonder of our travels…and we so appreciate your presence on our adventures and in our lives so very much…

People ask us all the time, “How on earth do you live and travel all around the world?” How do you take the time off? “Well”, we tell them…the simple answer is, we we don’t take the time off.” What appears like a vacation to some, is a lifestyle choice for us. People’s ears perk up when Tyler shares about his ability to work full time on the road, with the support of good wifi…”You are my hero,” they say.

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The Pilgrims of El Santuario de Chimayó

by Tyler on April 2, 2013 · 0 comments

Two friends walk, one covered in tattoos on his neck and hands. A family walks, wearing matching T-shirts commemorating a dear, lost relative. A man walks, carrying a large cross made out of wood, PVC and foil over his shoulder. Two girls walk, holding crosses of clothespins at their hearts. A young man walks, his steps contorted by a muscular disease.

First two, then four, then scores are walking on the highway shoulder. Past tables of free water and oranges and chili pork rinds. Past makeshift altars and past cheaply framed prints of Jesus and past solitary outhouses with long lines. They walk for miles. It is Good Friday.

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Best. Crater. Ever.

by Tyler on April 1, 2013 · 0 comments

A rock hurtles through space, lonely, passing through the solar system as the third planet from the sun draws near. The rock is the length of half a football field, entering the atmosphere at 34,000 miles per hour. The molecules encased on the outer layer ignite, turning the rock into a giant terra-bound fireball of death and destruction.

Ten seconds after entering the atmosphere, the rock slams into the Arizona desert with the force of a nuclear explosion. The iron-nickel rock vaporizes. The crater it leaves behind is nearly a mile across.

50,000 years later, AliSun and I are driving east on Interstate 40, when signs appear to turn to 1610 AM. The deep, intoning radio voice crackles then becomes clearer. We are mere minutes from Meteor Crater.

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SEDONA

by Ali Sun Trees on March 29, 2013 · 0 comments

SEDONA GREETS US WITH OPEN ARMS

SEDONA is RED, EARTHY and DELIGHTFUL to the eye…HER HEARTBEAT radiates in ALL directions…To BE in her presence is truly INSPIRATIONAL and UPLIFTING.

OUR eyes dance upon the warm lit landscape of her ABODE. SEDONA’s nature is vast and expansive. HER soil, rich and fertile.

MAGICAL she is…SEDONA invites DREAMS TO AWAKEN among her RED ROCK nest..

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OH, how there is so much to WRITE , DRAW, PAINT and SHARE…HERE are a few HIGHLIGHTS

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Ascending Cathedral Rock in Sedona

by Tyler on March 23, 2013 · 0 comments

I awake refreshed at 8am. The dining room table downstairs is my office for an hour, Thunder Mountain is the backdrop.

Breakfast on the patio at Heartline Cafe is lovely. I have the poached eggs on crab cakes with a red pepper bernaise. We pick up a little something for the trail across the street at ChocolaTree, AliSun indulges in a raw bee pollen cacao treat.

We stop at the Chamber, pick up a Vortex Map. Yes, that’s a thing and it is in great demand. AliSun feels the call of Sedona, exhorts us onward to Cathedral Rock.

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Entering the Great Southwest

by Tyler on March 23, 2013 · 0 comments

Leg three of our nomadic world tour begins in Orange County before the sun comes up. By 8:30am we pit-stop in Blythe, just west of the California-Arizona border.

We push forward, detour to Jerome, sit at the counter at Quince. That’s Spanish for 15 for you gringos. The waitress can’t hide her disappointment when we decline margaritas twice.

The old copper mining town hangs from a mountain. Tourists line the switchbacked streets, ants carrying their weight in fanny packs and turquoise souvenirs.

The 89A winds east from Jerome. The red rocks from Sedona are at a distance, then closer, then closer still. The city stretches away from the highway, bigger than our imagined impression of it.

We park the car at our new home (until Monday) and pick our way down the dusty red slope past prickly pear and stunted manzanita. We pick up the trail, head north to the Jordan trailhead, and circle back to create a four mile loop.

We are staying in the master bedroom of a lovely older north Sedona home that was at some point a Buddhist meditation center (found on AirBNB). The house carries its age well, filled with art, soft lighting, uncluttered altars. Views from every window capture the exposed red peaks of Sedona as the shadow of night climbs its way upward.

Indian food in town, a bath surrounded by plants and windows, a long night’s sleep after a full, full day.

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Owl and Bear will be migrating to the Ojai foothills…

by Ali Sun Trees on January 29, 2013 · 4 comments

Owl and Bear will be spreading their wings and migrating
north into the foothills of Ojai as the sun rises over the east this morning!

Tyler and I will be migrating to our friends’ beautiful home in the foothills of Ojai…We will be among trees, wifi (great wifi), and YES a kitchen! I plan to enjoy several nights being creative by the fireplace, and waking up to to a great big giant trampoline shaded by beautiful trees. AND we are both super excited about the great hiking trail that leads up into the mountains right outside the front door…hiking anyone?

Tyler and I returned from our travels over seas over a month and a half ago, where we have been enjoying a mountaintop retreat here on the east end of Ojai…each morning we wake up to the bliss filled sun kissed Topa Topa mountains, join in a community meditation (when we rise early enough), and have been enjoying several walks among this sacred land…Ojai is absolutely pristine in the winter time!

Tyler has been enjoying most of his days in Ventura at a great co-working space, “ConnectVentura,” working among kindred spirits in a hip and creative environment. A ping pong table just arrived at ConnectVentura this past week, so Tyler is quite happy about that! Great wifi, too! A great place to “hang out” and work for the digital nomad!

Being back in our home town nest of Ojai has been both grounding and rejuvinating.
I must say, the arrival felt a bit surreal.
It felt like stepping back in time…visiting an old dream
…while being sprinkled upon with a heavy dusting of Jetlag…WILD ride for this traveler!

Once the sleep lifted from my eyes, I fell in love with Ojai all over again.
There’s a special quality of peace knowing that among our beloved planet there is
a sliver of paradise carved with our very own names on it.
How beautifully reflected this was upon our returns back into our beloved Ojai community.

(a fun hike with Tyler’s mom, “mamacita,” in her neck of the woods.)

Our travels have been absolutely life enhancing!
I would say Tyler would agree with me, here. We are both natural travelers…
and we have both grown so much.

Travel is a wonderful life changing opportunity, as one releases old patterns and invites the old comfortable rhythms to wash away and cleanse ‘anew, simultaneously inviting in greater awareness, clarity and presence.

The days leading to and beyond the Winter Solstice and the celebrations of the endings/ beginnings of the Mayan Calendar, I took rest and retreat upon mother earth daily, listening to my natural rhythms, while affirming with Mother Earth, humanity, the Universe and Beyond my purpose for being here at this time on earth and taking full responsibility for my reality.

One of the greatest gifts of traveling over a long period of
time is the return, witnessing all the reflections rising to the surface with great clarity and precision. I am both humbled and beaming with gratitude to see and feel how much I have grown and am especially grateful for the opportunity to expand and stretch my wings even wider…as I open to even more freedom and liberation!

And who else to stand before us, the greatest reflectors of all…than those special and dear to our heart as our family, friends and communities?
For all of you, I am grateful. We are grateful…

Oh, thank you to Hip (Vegan Cafe) and Farmer and the Cook for the nourishing and healthy meals as we have been without a kitchen for quite some time.

We are ever so grateful for our dear friends at meditation mount for so graciously inviting us to be a part of their community as we have been joining together in morning meditations spreading love and light universally on the planet and throughout the Universe. And Of course, enjoying the simple joy of being together in community.

Tyler and I will be around Ojai for the next month and a half in Ojai. We are both looking forward to sharing quality time with all of you, while soaking in the love with all our dear friends and family before we embark, again, for more adventures beyond the Ojai nest.

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Sometimes The Sun Shines in Sevilla

by Tyler on January 23, 2013 · 2 comments

(from the journal, November 5-11) We take a taxi to the train station. Our train of choice from Granada east to Sevilla is sold out. We find a luxury hotel in Granada with all the amenities – comfortable lounge, full bar, good food, wifi. We hunker down for four hours, then on our way to Sevilla, pulling in to the estación at 00:30h.

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Short Stay in Amazing Granada

by Tyler on November 29, 2012 · 1 comment

(from the journal, November 1-4) The bus climbs over the mountains, which give way to rolling foothills, olive trees, citrus orchards, a nuclear power plant. Granada is chilly but not rainy. “Iglesias del Salvador,” I tell the taxi driver, his Prius delivering us to an easy landmark a stone’s throw from our flat.

It is noon. We are the first customers at a restaurant on the plaza. We eat then meet Belén, a kindred spirit. Her apartment is cozy, colorful, welcoming.

The views are OMG breathtaking. Up the mountain, we see roof-tops, a church and a motley assortment of caves, tarps and shacks filled with the gypsies embraced by the locals and accepted by the government.