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The Journey

Beating the Heat

Sunday, August 02, 2009

            What do full-time van dwellers do in the middle of a heat wave?

            We find a friend with AC and politely work our way into that friend’s home, desktop computer, clothes, groceries and all.

I typically strive to be completely self-contained and parallel the wilderness leave no trace ethics when I stay with friends, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Last week the Portland, Oregon area saw temperatures hovering around 104 degrees, rendering a very miserable egg in a frying pan kind of existence in the van.  I had no choice.

I am incredibly lucky to have an old high school pal with a commercial freezer for a studio apartment (not literally) and an open door policy smack in the middle of the city.  I moved right in, set up my computer and enjoyed all the high speed internet one could ever wish for.  It’s a small thing for some, but a complete luxury for me.  I even found myself saying something that I am not sure I really meant.  I actually exclaimed, “man, I love working at a desk!”  I’m still not ready to believe it.  I think I was just caught up in the moment and will pass it off as that for now.

But seriously, all amenities aside, it has been great to catch up and be in the company of an old friend.

The second thing van dwellers, or people in general, do is find water and get in it!  From fountains in the city to the Columbia river and the nearby coast, people were doing anything possible to be in water.  It was one of those few circumstances where everyone could understand where everyone else was coming from and it made it acceptable to do whatever possible to regain a sense of comfort, even if that meant leaving work early, etc…  Of course, I followed suit and turned one day into a full on beach and surf kayak mission.

I had just made up my mind about a coastal day trip when my phone rang with an area code local to where I grew up.  I answered and was pleasantly surprised to find out that another whitewater kayaking vagabond buddy of mine was passing through and would be joining me, with his playboat (kayak), in the ocean the next day.

We made it out to Oswald West State Park and paddled right into the lineup of surfers (we had a buddy on a board who said it would be fine).  We definitely got some looks (we were very aware of surfers’ notorious territory disputes) but we didn’t encroach on anyone else’s waves and felt generally accepted.  After that affirmation, we played like kids.  Wave after wave, there was too much fun going on to consider getting tired.  There were a few beat downs, one hilarious accident (I kind of ran right into my buddy), some sweet helmet cam footage and a lot of smiles and laughing all around.   I truly felt like I was 10 years old again.  It was completely worth it, and my buddy Eli even made a short video from the day.  Check it out!

(http://www.vimeo.com/5986586)

Feeling rejuvenated, I rounded out the week with a few solid days in the temporary “office” and figured out a plan for the next few months of travels, meetings and shooting.  Then topped it all off with an awesome sunset kiteboarding session on my own new gear.  It was magical, but it was midnight before all was said and done, and when the time came, I hit the pillow like a ton of bricks.  Work hard, play hard and sleep hard I guess.

Oh yeah, and what happened to July?

Photography by Trevor Clark, View Portfolio