Lost Along the Way

lesson upon me which I eagerly inked onto the dog-eared pages. To my surprise, many of them had already slipped the grip of my long-term memory, and I felt as though I were reading them for the first time.

At the risk of seeming self-aggrandizing, egotistical, and arrogant, I genuinely believed that these same insights could potentially serve others. Not long after finishing the last page, I felt a sudden urge to publish the journal I never meant to show anyone. I hoped that these lessons might resonate with and inform people who might never have the privilege of 33 unbroken days of introspection and inspiring encounters, as well as those who might and those who already have. I decided to publish this journal out of a sincere desire to help anyone who might be helped by it; who might somehow gain something, anything, from my experience; who might feel a sense of connection with another lost soul attempting to overcome his own demons and find his way in the desert of uncertainty, insecurity, and fear.

In an effort to publish my journal as honestly and with as much integrity as possible, I have transcribed it precisely, word for word, as I found it on the pages I wrote every day of the journey across Spain and beyond. Except for where I felt it necessary to protect the privacy and identities of the people I wrote about, I have left it unedited xxiv