Hi!
We are so back. In KANSAS!!! Wow. State #5. This is crazy. I’ve never visited Kansas, so this is my second new state of the trip (#1 was Utah!!)
The Kansas vibe. Kawther repping the Kansas vibe.
We began today in a church - luckily, no alarms were set off, and no cops were called. Instead, we cooked a lovely breakfast for ourselves using the resources from Lake Sheridan Bible Church (thank you so much!!) Having a kitchen to cook for ourselves is such an incredible privilege, especially after having been camping for a while. The convenience and comfort of a well-equipped kitchen can make a huge difference in our daily routine and overall well-being. No more relying on our Coleman stove to make oatmeal. It's these little things that can really make us appreciate the comforts of home.
Heaven. So grateful.
The church also had Gogurt, which I tried for the first time. Delicious! Highly recommend. Gogurt is added to my list of foods I want in my house after this trip - the list currently includes Earth Balance butter, coffee with notes of cocoa (shoutout to Heather, our host in Crested Butte), cornbread (shoutout to CB, Tubb’s step-grandmother), and SPAM (shoutout to Walmart).
For our last moments in Colorado, I decided to begin listening to podcasts while riding - specifically, the TED audio collective. Perhaps this was my way of conquering the rumors of the mundanity of Kansas. Although sometimes drowned out by a semi-truck zooming by at 80 mph, these podcasts were extremely intellectually stimulating and kept me entertained throughout the cornfields of eastern Colorado. Here are some takeaways.
Don’t take life too seriously. So many experts emphasized the importance of taking your job/role seriously while maintaining a balance and not taking yourself too seriously. Humor is an aspect of life that has so many benefits even in the professional world.
Always have water accessible/near you.
So many things revolve around human connections - namely, being present and actively listening to the people we interact with.
It’s also important to read books/articles about groups of people we don’t interact with much in our daily lives to learn about and better understand them - this helps us build a sense of empathy. Growing up and going to college in the SF Bay Area bubble, this trip has opened my eyes to so many people of different backgrounds. Definitely my favorite part of the trip has been meeting people so different from myself.
Some food for thought. Contact me via this website or our email if you would like to have a conversation about any of these. Some other food for thought is the pasta and SPAM we are cooking up right now! We are staying at a city park in Leoti, Kansas tonight, with no showers for the second night in a row. There also is no running water, and the gas stations near us are currently closed. Will update with our survival status tomorrow.
Will