So, I started a 2 year trip around the world in my 88 4runner, driving it and living in it. At the start of the trip, I went to the Burningman Festival. At Burningman, one meets a lot of people. One of the people I met was a girl named Drea. I talked to Drea for all of about 20 minutes. I told her that I used to surf, and that I wanted to do some more surfing while on my travels. She said that she lived just south of LA and that if I wanted to come and borrow one of her 5 surfboards, that I would be more than welcome. A very nice offer for someone she had just met.

I continued to travel and made plans to meet up with Drea the first weekend in October. The Wednesday before that, my truck and everything I owned in the world, was stolen while I was in LA. Ironically, Drea, not knowing this had happened, sent me a "forward" email about dealing with adversities. It was a bit of a strange co-incidence. I called her up to let her know how appropriate that was, and to let her know that I wouldnt becoming that weekend, as I now had no car.

She then asks me if I need a car. ??? I didn't understand. She told me that 2 years ago when her truck broke down and she didnt have the money to fix it, someone gave her a car, with the only stipulation being that when she was done with it, she needed to find someone who needed a car, and give it on to them. She offered me the car, with the same condition. I was also to give the car to someone who would pay it forward.

Thus is the story of the gift car. I loved this little car. I drove it around the US for the next 2 months, and had plans to drive it through Central America if I could find a co-pilot, which I couldnt.

You'd be surprised how hard it is to find the right person to give a car to. I looked for those 2 months and found a couple of needy people, but none who I thought would truly appreciate it, or give it on for free when they were done with it.

While I was traveling through Flagstaff, I had one of those mornings where I just couldn't sleep. So I got up and went to a coffee shop around 6am. I was the only person in the place, so I struck up a conversation with the early morning waitress. I commented that Flagstaff seemed like a pretty cool place to live. She said it was, but that for her it had a different feel as most of her friends had moved an hour away. I said that at least an hour was still driveable. Her reply: "Sure. If I had a car maybe". When I asked her if she had plans to get a car, she said she was working this job and taking the extra (and early) shifts to buy one someday. You can imagine her surprise when I told her I was going to give her a car. Well, more disblief than surprise. I told her I needed to use it for the next 2 weeks, but that I'd be back to drop it off. When that day came, her and her friend (she decided to share the car with a friend, to share in her good fortune) had cooked me dinner and made me a hand crafted thank-you card. I knew it was going to the right people, and that they too would some day pass it on.