The beauty of synchronicity - travel two months in
Four leaf clovers. Festival hunting. The power of music. Connected birthdays.
One of the beautiful things about travel is the ability to go with the flow, to trust that everything will fall into place, and that you will be exactly where you need to be at any point in time.
Really, this is the beautiful thing about life, but we are often too wrapped up in our to-do lists, spreadsheets, work schedules and daily monotony to breathe and let it happen. Myself included.
Two months in to my journey around the world, festival hunting and ‘spirit questing’ as one friend put it, some of my biggest highlights have been the moments that made me scream ‘Holy moly! The synchronicity! What are the odds?!’. These moments have usually come when my expectations dropped away and I just rolled with the flow. I often found myself laughing at the sheer wonder of it all.
I first noticed it in something small, and green. One of the first people I met in Portland, a bundle of energy from St Louis named Abbey (like the road), taught me this one. She has a knack for finding four-leaf clovers. Before meeting Abbey, I had never found a four-leaf clover in my life. I didn't understand how she had found so many! "You just look around in your garden" she said. I realised that I never stopped long enough to look down, let alone search for clovers. The day after I parted ways with Abbey I found my first four-leaf clover. I've now found six. And a five-leaf clover. Each time I find one I take it as a sign that I'm on the right track. A little nod from the Universe that I'm learning to slow down.
Music-related synchronicities may not surprise you, but being halfway around the world from my usual tribe and music community, I was pretty taken aback when I ran into people in Canada. When I arrived at Vancouver Folk Festival a few weeks ago, I wandered in the gate, somewhat aimlessly looking around and heading to meet up with Ganga Giri at his stage before he performed. CR Avery was playing before him, so I stood around watching him for a bit. Wait a second. That bass player looks familiar - isn't that Aurora Jane? I'd interviewed Jane across the years of Roots N All on triple j, but we hadn't been in touch for ages. After the gig I went to say hi - it turns out I was staying just 10 minutes walk from her house. Also, her mates This Way North were in town, who I'd also played over the years, and they had a gig a few nights later. And so began a whole new crew of legends to hang out with in Vancouver. So good. And unexpected.
The other thing with travel (and life) is that it doesn’t always turn out the way you think it was going to. One of my big reasons for heading to Canada was to jump on the road with Australian band Oka, so the plan was to hang out with them for a couple of weeks and hit up some of the festivals they were playing it. Sadly, their tour was cancelled for family reasons, so I had a bit of a gap in my schedule. I still really wanted to go to the festivals though, particularly Starbelly Jam, which was a short nine hour drive east of Vancouver, deep in the Kootenays. And it was a camping festival. I have no camping gear with me. Enter Keya, one of the most wonderful people I’ve met on this journey. She’d been listening to triple j since she was in Tasmania studying years ago, and luckily for me she followed my Instagram. So when I asked ‘where should I go in Canada? What festivals should I check out?’ on Insta, she replied with a detailed email, giving me descriptions and ratings on heaps of festivals across the country. The emails continued for a few months before my trip, and she really helped me wrap my head around where to go. The day before I found out that Oka were no longer coming, Keya had sent me an email asking if I wanted a ride to Starbelly Jam - she was coming across to Vancouver to visit family and driving back across. Hallelujah!
This is a whole story in itself, but has been a massive highlight of my trip. I jumped in her pickup and we drove for two days across Canada, camped in her tiny tent. We spent Starbelly Jam together, watching music, eating delicious food, and a bonus for me is that one of her many talents is body painting, so I got some extra bling! After the festival I went back to her hometown in the Kootenays, and had the most amazing time. We went boating, stand up paddle boarding, swimming, I spent time with her friends (who are all amazing), saw live music, and even helped one of her friends move house. Now, that last one might seem like a strange highlight, but just being part of a community and having that kind of normalcy in a world of travel was a true blessing.
Another hilarious thing that happened on that part of the journey was that we accidentally stumbled across a bonus festival. Sarah Howells, Festival Hunter, indeed. Halfway to the Kootenays we needed a place to camp, so we stopped at about four places but none of them felt quite right. Finally we found a spot by the creek, in a little campsite that seemed pretty quiet. Down one end there was some ‘caution’ tape cordoning off an area and I jokingly said ‘I wonder what’s happening down there? Looks like a party!’ Lo and behold, as we are setting up camp a woman approaches us. ‘Are you here for Floaterboating?’ Um, what? Apparently it’s a little festival that was kicking off the next day, and the pre-party was happening right then in the campground. Floaterboating is an interesting little event, started when one guy and his girlfriend went camping there and decided to float down the river on inflatables. That isn’t an unusual occurrence in Canada, but every year the group of people going had grown, and they were expecting over 100 people this year. They have a stereo system set up, DJs, and even some music floating down the river with them on a PA. There are 12 categories of prizes, and from the sounds of it things get loose. To be honest, as intriguing as it was, I was glad we were just there for the pre-party and not the whole chaotic weekend.
So I made it out to the Kootenays, but had no idea how I was going to get back. There was a band playing in the area on Friday night, and Keya suggested we see where they were headed next. I was supposed to be on the road with a band, after all! They were headed in the same direction as me, and were happy to have me onboard for $20 gas money, and so suddenly I was on a four hour road trip with Major Funk and the Employment. Continued synchronicity - I later found out that Miss Quincy (who I had also interviewed for triple j, and met through Aurora Jane in Vancouver) grew up in the same town as them, and knew them all. Small bloody world.
I spent the past week in Whistler, primarily for Wanderlust Festival (more on that later). Again, I didn’t know how I was going to get back to Vancouver, so posted on the event’s Facebook page and managed to get a ride with a gorgeous couple. It turns out they were also giving a ride to another guy, and after making small talk and getting to know each other a bit he mentioned that it was his birthday. ‘Today?’ I asked, incredulous. Yep. ‘It’s also my birthday today!’ What are the odds?! Two people, different sides of the world, of all the rides we could get back to Vancouver, we end up in the same car. He’s also from San Francisco, where I’m headed next, and is heading there today too.
There are so many more little moments of synchronicity that have happened in the past couple of months, but still, every time, I can’t believe it. I take it as a sign that I’m on the right track in this festival hunting, spirit questing life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to take the time to travel the world like this, and for all of the incredible people that I’ve met so far along the way.
The Canadian chapter of this journey is closed, for now, but I am already looking forward to coming back to explore more of the country and reconnect with the legends that I’ve met along the way. Next up, a quick San Fran stopover and then Spain! Rototom Sunsplash, the Festival Hunter is coming for you!