Titusville Tipped the Scales

Good Things Started Happening Again

I didn’t quite clear all the bad juju from Florida, but Titusville is when I got the sense that the ship was turning around.

Titusville is a nice small town staring down the ocean. It’s just east of Orlando, and is a nice place out of the ocean. It’s also where I hit rock bottom with the trip. My money had run out. Even with the help to get into town, I had no idea how I was going to go forward from here. Here’s how bad it was. I thought I had money to buy a really cheap meal at Burger King. I didn’t. I was out of money. Completely.

Then I got a moment of kindness as the man behind the counter paid for my meal. It was just a couple of bucks, but it was plenty. It solved my problems for the day. What more can you have than that? One of the things being lost right now about the United States is just how much kindness there is here. As horrifying as the bottom of the floor in the states can be, kindness and empathy are here in spades. One of the most incredible things about the journey is how many strangers have stepped out of their way to help me. In the states, every state, every place, there has been that help.

Incredible. If you want to see the very best of humanity, do something like this. You will see it. It’s incredible to see and describe. I’m truly fortunate.

I spent most of the time around that Burger King until it was time to go. I didn’t have a lot of money so I tried to do what I could to work. I had some success, and thank goodness that was the case. I had some unexpected help too and I want to thank them for coming through at this point. It was because of them I could eat and make it to Orlando.

This is the only time I panicked. And that’s saying something because the whole experience has had its moments. But my panic point was here. What if, I was stuck here? What if, nothing was going to work out? Titusville was the place where that nearly happened. We all have moments of vulnerability, and the effect of the trip started to hit me here. I was vulnerable. I felt alone.

The truth is farther than that. I’ve never been alone on this trip. People have been following me everywhere. People are rooting for me to find what I’m looking for. I think the moments we are in the most pain are the moments we feel most alone. It’s as if no one has felt what we felt in that moment of vulnerability. The truth is, we’re not alone.

I’m not alone.

After, I promised I never would do it again. No matter how it went, I wouldn’t let myself stay down for long.

For the rest, Titusville made me feel things were going on the right track again. I was excited. Orlando Megacon was on the horizon. I was ready for this, and after? I would head out of Florida. I would see the rest of the country as I went.

I did my work at Burger King, and then took the bus towards the bus stop in the morning, and caught it to Orlando.

Megacon was here.