(there are stories missing before this that are only on my laptop and will be published with the book). Today is my last day in California and truthfully I don't even want to think about leaving. The people at the hostel have been so incredibly genuine I feel like they are my family now. Plus the idea of eternal surfing and beach bonfires attracts me even more. The hostel has become an environment for lifelong friends that all came here for the same reason. No one cares about the outside world here, we all just come together and speak of the good times. We all came here with problems, but now we can put our mind at ease and realize we are just another person in this world struggling to understand our existence. I think it was here where I realized for the first time that what really matters in this life is the way you can control your attitude. We meet new people everyday leaving traces of ourselves with them for their entire life. All we can do is kindle the relationship and give everyone a chance. When I realized this it was overwhelming since I was so interested in getting back into a social reality. Having come straight from the desert (to a crazy couple of days in Mexico and Vegas) to this one beach North of San Diego taught me that life is to short to miss opportunities and trust no one. I now try to open up more and listen to the people around me. I don't really know how it happened, but I can tell you how this night ended and the metaphor that goes with it. Me and some friends (one hip hop artist from Boston, one French Canadian from the show "so you think you can dance" one German - just trying to find his self like me, one ex marine now self proclaimed hippy and four navy personnel who just started their journey, and a homeless guy -still lost, but we care for him) all went to a bonfire ring right off the beach. Here is the metaphor though - we head to a back alley where the hip hop artist tells me he has some wood stashed... This turned out to be scrap wood from a house. I ended up carrying a door. I just think this is either hilarious or the perfect way to end my California trip. The door is where I started in the desert before things got so different (the music I mean - remember... The doors Jim Morrison and his analogy). Anyways maybe that was just me, but when I threw the door into the fire it brought a huge crowd since the flames were so high. People from everywhere, traveling in buses, local musicians.... It was wild and everyone just wanted to talk. It was beautiful. Just peace and love on a California beach. I think half the people were on drugs, but whatever it doesn't matter anymore. The night was over and there are plenty of people to meet that left an impact on me as well as I did to them.