From Santa Fe to Albuquerque

“The bugs seem to move more slowly here,” I told my client, the holistic eye care trailblazer Dr. Berne (AKA Sam). I flashed my finger back and forth in front of the fly that was perched on top of my iced tea. Nothing. 

I'm sure some might say it's the heat that slows the flies down in Santa Fe. However, I'm betting on the peaceful energy that seems to be hovering over the mountains.

Sam, Tim the videographer, and I were decompressing outside his geodesic dome after a half-day of filming. As an onscreen interviewer, it was a unique honor to get to help Sam tell his story and share his wisdom for an educational subscription service and upcoming documentary.

It wasn’t my first time in the dome. In fact, Sam, his wife Charly, and their spirited dog Pooka welcomed me in the night before with a home-cooked vegan dinner... Warm olives with orange peels roasted in coconut oil... Brown lentils with caramelized onions and allspice... The evening was a magical glimpse into life in a cozy desert home, chock full of kindness and varied artistic and academic passions.

Let me say this: my time in Santa Fe was supremely sweet. 

After wrapping up Sam's project, I jumped on a hotel shuttle bus without knowing its destination. There, I was joined by a creative director and fiction writer- two New York friends with a shared love of storytelling and lack of itinerary. Finding ourselves in a similar position, we hastily jumped off at the Santa Fe Plaza and decided to take on the afternoon together. 

The day unfolded like any good Linklater film… an intimate opera performance by an 87-year-old restauranteur, an adorably awkward coming-of-age story from a summertime theoretical physics internship at Los Alamos, a sea of oxidized metals and bobbing-head sculptures on Canyon Street, and finally a blind taste test of various salsas followed by watermelon agua fresca. 

We shared our perspectives on AI and virtual storytelling as well as our experiences with surrender in stand-up comedy. We bonded over a love of writing for emotional impact. It was the kind of perfect day that can only happen when entirely unplanned. 

That was all yesterday. Today I ventured out on my own to see the original permanent House of Eternal Return exhibition at Meow Wolf- a psychedelic labyrinth of more than 70 rooms developed by local, national, and international artists. Just another morning stepping through a refrigerator, I suppose. (Incredible.) 

Afterwards I tried Santa Fe’s famous breakfast burritos with red and green “Christmas chili...” paired, of course, with glass #2 of watermelon agua fresca. (More please!)

At last, it was time to head to the Rail Runner for the next leg of my trip: Albuquerque.

While chatting with a couple at the station, I discovered I was speaking to a former healthcare quality leader who had also found her way to education. She was quite happy with her career transition. 

I thought about a comment Sam had made earlier in his interview:

Interconnectedness is such an important feeling.

Now I’m sitting here on a train that beeps like the Road Runner, texting videos of the muted desert scenery to my new Brooklyn friends. 

I’ll be using Albuquerque for some dedicated writing time. I have several talks coming up as well as a large instructional design contract that’s ready for my attention. 

I love writing while traveling. I like to think a little piece of my environment makes its way into my work. It’s satisfying to have a portfolio that also functions as a passport of sorts.

On that note, I’m looking forward to a trip back to Europe in two weeks. More to come on that soon! 🇫🇷 

For all the risks that go into self-employment, the moments of growth, connection, and adventure seem to make it all worth it. 

But enough with the sentimentality... I'm off to the Burque!