Journey 2 Becoming: You Are Not Alone

My friend Ayngel Boshemia and I have hatched a plan that has us travelling from Maryland to Seattle: 3000 miles, 30 days. Once in Seattle, I would go a 1000 miles on my own from Seattle to LA, and fly home.

Nothing is certain yet, but recent pet scan results suggest that this is the second time in less than a year that I could be dealing with cancer. Like last year, I have found myself wondering if "this" is it and have wondered if my time is running out. One of my biggest questions i if I don't make this happen somehow, now, will I ever get the chance to go?

The trip is about is about the interactions and experiences we have with those we meet and we plan to blog and vlog and do my radio show along the way, among other things.

It has been very difficult to get through the after-mess of chemo treatment, and as difficult as it has been...I have kept going.

On May 15, 2012, I began keeping a blog at Relatetocancer.com. My odyssey through cancer has been chronicled in words and in video. I have also renewed my radio show World of Perspective Radio.

Ayngel is someone who has had her own odyssey. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, date rape, intimate partner violence and a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferer she is now a domestic violence and sexual assault victim's advocate and writes to a global audience.

Ayngel's book, Sister, Survivor, is a personal conversation in which she seeks to help redefine the words "abuse survivor" in entirely new ways as she speaks from one abuse survivor to another.

Ayngel sees in me what she defines as a survivor: someone who lives THROUGH their experiences, which is why she dedicated her upcoming re-release of "Sister, Survivor; Finding Your Survivor Spirit After Abuse" to me, and also had me design the book's cover.

This coming together of minds and hearts is what we are calling the Journey 2 Becoming Tour.

We would love nothing more than for you to play a part in this adventure. The idea is still quite overwhelming to me, and I know it will likely be more work than I should really do and maybe even am capable of doing. (As I write this, I am exhausted. It is how I am many days.)

Quite frankly, a part of me dreads the work that will be involved. Some things are near impossible to do sometimes. But because I believe that there is a much bigger picture, message and possibility here, I feel compelled to do whatever I can to make it happen.

Costs we are looking at are:
*airfares to get Ayngel to the east coast and then from Seattle home to Colorado, and then to get me from LA home.
*gas
*internet service (we intend to vlog and blog during the trip)
*RV rental/insurance
*car rental (for West Coast leg on my own)
*emergency funds
*food & other essentials

Given the nature of my health situation and what we want to do, an RV rental seems to be the smartest choice, even if not the most cost effective.

We are looking for corporate sponsors to help make this trip happen. Additional funds (in addition to whatever we make off of the book we write) will be split between our chosen foundations (CancerSupportFoundation.org: MD org that helps with expenses of cancer patients. San Miguel Resource Center out of Telluride Colorado, that helped Ayngel her navigate from abuse victim to author), help us provide even better value to those we meet along the way, help with any media/editing costs, and help me with my on-going expenses and critical financial need from cancer treatment.

With enough funds, we can create our own documentary, perhaps working with some of the crew from a documentary that Ayngel was in that is premiering in Telluride later this month.

We will write a book about our "journey to becoming."

If you have any questions about what is planned or anything on this page, please just ask.

For info on the reward levels, please click here.

Making the "Becoming" Tour a reality will mean moving mountains, and we are in need of your mountain mover skills. We both appreciate the value of a good partnership and will do everything we can to spread the word about your generosity.

If you don't think you can help - you couldn't be more wrong!

You can help by spreading the word and telling others about what we are doing. Whatever money we get we will be doing something. How much will define how big of a something.

Just $5 (less than most coffees from Starbucks, and with more feel good potential) can help you help us help and connect with others who are working through the challenges we have faced.

Can we look forward to including you?

So much of life can be ignored and drowned out by the noise. So many times living life can be overruled by the life we live.As far as I am concerned, cancer, or not, NOW is the time for me to go.

Ayngel and I thank you for your support and for the opportunity to go out into the world and hear the heart of others that need to be heard.

PS Our official site for this journey will be Journey2Becoming.com. (You can learn more about us there.)