Website www.AdamMcIntosh.com
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Website www.AdamMcIntosh.com |
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Welcome to the Newsletter page of this website. This page will contain regular updates of my travelling. Bookmark it! The most recent are shown first. Newsletter 13: 21 May 2007 - Announcing: New Moon / Full Moon Gatherings @ Craigencalt Farm - Summer 2007. Hello friends of Adam ... this is Ad's Dad here again. I spent the past weekend with him at Knockengorroch Festival - or at least - part of it, as I couldn't stand the noise at night! Anyway, Adam is home and is going to be updating this website with me soon showing some of his wonderful new design creations from Two Skies Jewellery. But in the meantime, he asked me to put on his site brief details of the special gatherings he and a friend Justina are organising at Craigencalt Farm at Kinghorn, Fife. As Craigencalt Creative Community they are organising a series of informal events for friends and friends of friends to the ends of the Earth on full and dark moons during the summer of 2007. These are not commercial events, so the cost is a sharing into the common fund - £15 (or £10 without the shared food) - and all revenue goes back into the programme. You must book in advance: to book (and advise of any special needs) contact Justina on 07746143324 or Adam on 07749383185 or email lunargatherings@yahoo.co.uk . Day 1 of these events starts 2pm with talks, meditation, sweatlodge, BBQ and bonfire with music. Day 2 comprises yoga, various walks around the farm, to standing stones and the beach. Bring camping gear, musical instruments, towel, cutlery, plate and cup for overflowing. Dates are shown in the table below:
Newsletter 12, 1 June 2006 Adam's dad here ... he's now back and staying at his treehouse out at Craigencalt Farm in Fife. If you need to contact him urgently his mobile number is (+44) (0)7749 383185.
Newsletter 11, 4 January 2005 Hello Everyone ... Adam checking in again. The jewellery business took off very well and I'm now selling to the National Gallery in Edinburgh. My latest form of transport is a vegetable oil-powered Mercedes Sprinter. I've been travelling around Britain in my van and selling jewellery from my stall. I've another trip planned. I leave in 2 days for an around-the-world Faerie Path Mark II. I'm away for 4 months. If anyone wants to meet me or contact me they can email me on mail@AdamMcIntosh.com , or I'll see you when I get home in April. I've 14 stops on my trip. The rough itinerary is Canada, Arizona, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, India, Nepal and maybe Pakistan. Hopefully I'll be setting up Fair Trade projects for my jewellery in the countries I go to, as well as having a wee holiday. See yous later, and if you have any suggestions about places or people, get in contact. Cheers, Adam xxx
Newsletter 10, 20 July,2002 I am now home after a year and half of hitching,camping, busking and generly living it rough. Thanks to all the people who helped and looked after me on my way. Thanks to all my sponsors. AND ME MUM AND DAD. I have decided after travelling so long it would be far to regular to get a 9to5 job so instead i am doing what i am good at playing my didge and also making jewellery from materials i have gatherd along the way. so untill i can think of anything better to do you will see me down the royal mile, Edinburgh on a semi regular basis and i will update if anything exciting happens, cheers, Adam.
Newsletter 9, 1 July 2002 Well after various jobs in British Columbia, some better than others, i made it to Perth, Australia to meet up with my girlfriend,Gabrielle. For 6 months we had an unreal time hitching every state covering 24000km. That was a lot of hours in trucks which also means a lot of coffee and hamburgers as truckers don't stop at health food shops. A brief wee summary. from Perth we hitched the nullubor to Melbourne. The nullubor is the straightest stretch of road in the world it goes on and on and another 500km goes past then you might have a corner and ac couple of dead "roos" and apart from that the scenery does not change mutch. From melbourne we got a fairy over to tasmania which is absoloutley stunning- tasmania that is. We spent two months in tassie met some amazing people saw amazing places and weird things such as tassie devils and platypus .From tassie we went to an amazing festival, on the new south wales border, called confest. lots of nudity, alternative ideas and workshops ranging from snogging to didge playing. We then hitched up to stay with a fellow faeries called john seed.We used his tropical paradise a base as we explored nearby areas such as Nimbin...hhhmmmm, and byron bay which is the biggest tourist trap you will ever see..yuk After paying a local fisherman $20 ,in Queeensland, we found ourselves on a desserted island. Check out comments in guest book. the island was not so desserted but it was still absolute bliss. Our next stop was bowen, home of the mango, well the best mangoes, so they say. We arrived a week after the season finished so all that we saw was rotten ones. The next plan was to hitch up to townsville near cairns cut across the centre of oz and then drop down the middle and back to perth- only 6000km. The bulk of this part of the journey was done in trucks called road trains. these are 3 times longer than your normal truck which is pretty big at 54 meters. Alice springs is a bit of a mad town. very rough but i guess if i was living in the middle of nowhere with with sun beating down and no river with water to cool of in i would go crazy aswell. We still managed to find nice people to take us in. From alice it was trucking home from there. we ended waiting for two days outside alice for a ride but it was worth it. we even got delivered to the end of gabby's street by a massive truck and the driver even came round for dinner the day after.
Newsletter 8, 20 September 2001. (Adam also says, by phone, that he is working on Vancouver Island as both a butler, builder and busker. He hopes soon to have enough money to go to Australia). Dear all friends,
Newsletter 7, 20 May 2001, but not posted up until August due to problems with Ad's Dad's computer. Since sending this Adam has travelled in the wilds of Oregon, where he was out of touch for ages, and is now back in Canada in Vancouver.
Whilst in Newpaltz I did a modelling shoot for Tommy Hilfiger, got pulled over at 4 in the morning by the police for driving a drunk friend, who had put his hand through a window, to the hospital. I explained I was from Scotland and I was only driving on the wrong side of the road as that's the way we do it in Scotland; he smiled and we carried on. After being upstate for two weeks I managed to get a ride in a red
Saab convertable to New York city. I have been playing my didge in the subways, great acoustics, and have made enough for a 3/5 day bus journey to Portland Oregon, on the west coast. I don't know why Portland, or Oregon, but it seemed a good idea at the time, so that's where I am going tomorrow (the 21st of may). Anyways a bit more about New York. UMMM ... I got offered another two
more modelling contracts but it would mean Ummm, I was asked to come and play my didge in a day spa. I went along. It was a place full of really rich people getting acupuncture, and their nails filed. It was crazy. A typical client would spent 200 $ on 30 min massage and then would hand out 20$ in tips to everyone working there ( but that did include me so I cannot complain. Ummmmm, there's probably
a thousand other things but I am going to go and pack my bag for tomorrow.
Newsletter 6: 16 April 2001
Me
again,
VISITING THE MI'KMAQ Reservation So
– An account of my visit to Stone Eagle and the Mi’Kmaq when I was in Nova
Scotia. It has been hard to send regular updates as I cannot stay on peoples
computers for very long, and every time I go on I have loads of emails from
friends.... The
reservation was a very interesting place. It was a mixture between lots of
people with problems and people who were very wise. During my stay I just tried
to help the ex-Warrior Chief Stone Eagle and his wife out as much as possible,
you know with all the problems they've been having. In fact the day after I
arrived Stone Eagle's brother's house burned down to the ground. Stone
Eagle was always very interesting to talk to. He would tell me about the old
times, residential school, and his mother who when a child was semi nomadic and
lived in a wigwam. He
had a great way of teaching you. It was comparing a situation which was hard to
understand to something simple. E.g. When I asked him how he could be a sacred
peace pipe carrier and Indian war chief, he gave me the answer that:
"Everything is a medicine - to abuse a medicine is wrong. When I had an
AK47 in my hand at the Oka crisis I was defending. I was not abusing its
power." It seemed a good reasoning to me. So
what else..... We had a sweat lodge ceremony which was an amazing experience.
Lots of singing, sweating, screaming, tobacco smoke and bears’ fat. I
asked Stone Eagle for an Indian name. We didn’t have any ceremony or anything
like that, but he said he’d call me “Adam Two-Skies” because I have one
sky at home in Scotland, and another wherever I’m traveling. I think that's
really cool. ON
THE ROAD AGAIN Ishbel,
Stone Eagle’s partner, had a meeting in Halifax so she dropped me off on the
main highway with the plan of hitchhiking to New Hampshire, America. I
got a variety of rides with no problem: a Courier, a vending machine owner, an
organic farmer, a professional ice hockey player. I was trying to get through
New Brunswick when somebody picked me, we got chatting and to keep it short it
ended up with 5 days free snowboarding. While at the ski hill I got offered a
ride to New Hampshire. It turned out the people where going to a "ween"
gig in Boston and it also turned out that I went a long as well. The gig was
good and they dropped me of the next day in New Hampshire. NEW
HAMPSHIRE, VERMONT AND CONNECTICUT My
friend Tailor, who I met in France 4 years ago picked me up and we drove to his
house. I
spent another two weeks in New Hampshire, chilling out, going to school, and
performing in a lot of the local bars. It went down really well. (I was even
given a box of shepherd’s pie and 30 dollars from one place). At
one point during my stay me and Tailor went to Vermont, the home of Ben and
Jerry's ice cream. I
would say Vermont is the hippy kingdom of America. Good street scene. lots of
dreads. And lots of music. Go to Vermont - its wicked. Anyway
me and Tailor had to hitch home. I told him it would be impossible as there was
two of us and it was a big journey. We made it and had a great time (even got a
ride when we were illegally hitching on the highway from a retired cop). It
is now Easter Saturday. Tailor’s family and I are staying in Connecticut, next
to New York, for Easter. We
are staying with Tailor’s uncle who has a cafe in Manhattan. They have a big
house, hot tub, sugar cane, lots of
mangoes, hey and a computer. The
weather has changed from below freezing to sun bathing weather. Yesterday
we went to New York city. It was crazy. Constantly looking up, everything was
fast. We
hung out in the village square most of the day. It was cool. Kind of Edinburgh
Festival atmosphere. Jammed
with the didje and just lazed a round in the sun and watched people. Motorised
scooters, people jogging with parrots on their shoulder, dodgy people selling
watches, street acts... Well,
we are back in Connecticut. Easter is tomorrow and then I have to find somebody
to stay with in New York before Tailor goes home. Any ideas anybody??? Adam. Newsletter 5: 26 March 2001
Sorry folks ... this is a late newletter that Adam sent his Dad 3 weeks ago to be posted up, but which had to wait due to a computer crash. The latest news from Adam, in today, says: "I have left Sulians and I hiched from Halifax across New Brunswick. Everything went good. I am staying with one of Ishbells friends close to the U.S. border, then on Tuesday I have a ride from here-across Maine and to New Hampshire to see my friend, Tailor. I'll write you another update soon and let you know what's been happening. Having fun. Adam."
Anyway, here's the newsletter which has been delayed, and which recaps a bit on his arrival in Canada:
I
arrived in Halifax, stayed in the hostel for the first night. I met this guy and
within the time it took me to check my emails at the hostel he had wrote me a
letter to say - not to worry about first time travelling and basically follow
the faeries. For
the rest of the week I stayed with Ishbell’s mother and father who are really
funny - Eva and John. Eva
is very nice but her driving is awful. John has got a great sense of humour - he
never stops asking questions and is always telling me to help myself to
everything - he will "out of interest" ask what my favourite ice cream
is and then the next morning there would be a tub of it in the freezer. I
have been taking care of them by cooking them great dinners. So for the week I
arrived I hung around in Halifax, after appearing in the newspaper I have had
two random people take me out for dinner not including a Canadian couple who I
met in the fudge shop in Edinburgh and who I liked, so gave them a box of fudge.
It turns out that they live in Halifax - saw me in the newspaper and took me out
for dinner. I have had a lady come and deliver a box of organic food and vegetables and Irn Bru - that was a great way of repaying John and Eva. Oh and I now have a list of people I can stay with down the east coast. I
have been shown around the Halifax movie set - some amazing things there - saw
how all the props are made. I
have been getting in to most places for free - just saying I am going around the
world in my kilt and I would like to come inside and do some filming. I
now have a Japanese cashmere scarf that I traded. The
thing is Halifax is very small - everyone reads the Herald - as I have been
walking along in the street people have stopped me - gave me their numbers and
asked around for dinner. Don't worry Dad, I am being careful. So
that was basically the first week in Halifax. At
the weekend Sulian Stone Eagle asked us to drive up and look after Ishbell while
he was away looking after his son. The drive up was so scary. I prepared myself for hitch hiking and getting lifts from scary drunk truckers - but this was something else. Eva
basically cannot see a thing until its right in front of her eyes. I cannot
explain how scary it was. I lost count of how many horns beeped or people
leaning out of their windows shouting abuse. At one point - the only point I
closed my eyes, I woke up - we were on the wrong side of the road, on a corner,
with a car coming straight towards us and Eva could not even work out who was
beeping at us. It was that bad. We
got to Eskasoni. It was very beautiful. Ishbell seemed very emotionally and
physically tired due to Sulian’s son and sister being so ill. There is 90 %
unemployment there but each family gets so much money from the government they
have beautiful houses - everything they need - but still so many problems. We
had a peace pipe ceremony which was very interesting. It was for our thoughts
could be with Sulian and his son Patrick. Ishbell
then got a phone call from Sulian saying that he needed to rest. I was asked to
come up by Ishbell next weekend when Sulian had recovered. Ishbell
also asked me to drive back down to Halifax just for safety. I drove almost the
whole way without any trouble. And
now we are back in Halifax. There is almost twice as many stories to tell about
the people I have met, and they will slowly come out. Remind you to tell you the
strory about the stone seeds and me and my didge in a recording studio - I have
an album coming out soon. Adam P.S.
so far I have only spent 50 dollers and that was on the bus to the hostel and
the first night in the hostel. and I have been living first class - good
farieeess over here.
Newsletter 4: 26 February 2001 This newsletter usually gets updated in Scotland from material that Adam e-mails his dad (updating it requires software access that he doesn't have on his travels). It's kind of part of the fun we have together. Today I (Alastair) have had various messages from kind folks in Nova Scotia who'd read the newspaper article that follows, including one that said: "Thought you'd like to check up on your boy. My name is Gerald Gloade and I'm from Millbrook, Mi'kmaq First Nations Community just outside of Truro, Nova Scotia. That's about 100 Kilometers from Halifax. Read the story about your son and checked out your webpage. I think it's incredible what your boy is doing, and I think that may have something to do with the way you as parents raised him. I just hope I, as a parent of two boys can do half the job you and your wife have done. congratulations not only goes out to him (Adam) but also to you and yours." Well Mr Gloade, thank you, but as they say, "It takes a whole community to educate a child," and then there's the genetic lottery, and then there's Spirit ... I can't speak for my ex-wife's considerable important role, but I'd not like to be taking too much of the credit for myself. I think the biggest consideration is that I was lucky - it has worked out just brilliant with me and Adam ... and I want to make that point about "luck" because I've seen other parents who've tried real hard, and not been so lucky, and I think it's too easy for them to start blaming themselves for having done something wrong. Let's just leave it that maybe the way Adam is is mostly down to Adam. Anyway, via Sulian Stone Eagle Herney of Eskasoni, Cape Breton, and his partner, Ishbel Munro, Adam and I have had a close interest in Mi'Kmaq affairs since 1994 when Sulian came to Scotland to help successfully argue against the construction of a massive rock quarry in a National Scenic Area. It was a case of transatlantic solidarity, since we Scots needed Sulian's help gained from his experience in helping to stop a similar superquarry on Mount Kluscap (Kelly's Mountain), Cape Breton. Along with some of the Mi'Kmaq, some of us Scots share the view that only by reconciling our common history, and uniting in native and non-native solidarity to care for the Earth and our communities, will there be a dignified human future. An academic paper and pictures of Sulian in Scotland may be viewed by clicking this link. Anyway, I'd better shut up because this is Ad's newsletter! Here is the newspaper article which Mr Gloade and several others kindly alerted me to. Adam's not been in touch the past couple of days, so in making up this newsletter entry for him ... I've just have to rely on reading the papers! Love, Ad's Dad. Chronicle Herald, front page, Atlantic Canada's Largest Newspaper. Monday, Feb. 26, 2001: Young Scot following 'fairy path' round world. By Davene Jeffrey / Staff Reporter He looks and sounds like a young character from Braveheart. Adam McIntosh, an eager student of life, flew into Halifax Thursday from Edinburgh to start the first leg of what he hopes will be a two-year, round-the-world adventure. "I'm following the fairy path," says the 18-year-old, explaining the philosophy which he hopes will support his travels. "If you're good to people, they'll be good back." Dressed in a kilt, loose-fitting lace-up shirt and wool knee-socks, Mr. McIntosh proudly displays his sporran, a traditional Scottish pouch carried around the waist of a kilt. "I made it myself from a rabbit that my mate shot." But his kilt might be a wee bit cold for Nova Scotia this time of year. "I never thought I'd be missing the warmth of Scotland," he laughs. "I thought Nova Scotia would be warmer than Scotland, but Scotland's a good eight degrees right now." The media-savvy and charming Scotsman is hoping to raise cash or just to repay kindnesses by busking with his guitar, jaw harp and didgeridoo, sharing tales of Scottish folklore and reciting poetry. He's also brought a number of Scottish souvenirs he hopes to trade for things he needs. Back home, Mr. McIntosh's father, an eco-activist, has set up a Web site for his son - www.adammcintosh.com - which will follow his adventures. Referring to himself as an eco-pacifist, the young Quaker has had quite a few adventures already. He built a tree house when he was 14 - complete with a wood-burning stove, running water, gas "cooker," double bedroom and surround sound system - that he has been living in during weekends and holidays for the past four years. Mr. McIntosh carries with him a scrapbook filled with media clippings about his tree house and comments from people who visited him there. Days before his departure, Mr. McIntosh took his house out of its sycamore perch and torched it, in what he terms a Viking burial. He says his mother is worried about him. "She wants me to come back and go to university." But his father is all for travel. "My Dad calls it the university of life. It's the best way of learning really," Mr. McIntosh said. He hopes to learn some of his first lessons from family friend and former Mi'kmaq war chief Sulian Herney in Eskasoni. Mr. McIntosh will spend some time at Eskasoni before heading off for the rest of his adventure. A rough itinerary for his first year includes hitching to New Orleans, where he knows of a sailboat he can work on that will take him around the Caribbean, then he's hoping to hit Belize, Mexico, California, Seattle and Vancouver. Sometime during the next year he hopes to earn enough money to pay for airfare to Australia, where he can meet up with his Australian girlfriend and explore the Pacific. He is also recording a video diary of his travels that he wants to sell to a media outlet. In the meantime, the enterprising Scot is traveling lean and light. "I haven't got much money," he says. "I've only got about 100 quid." All his possessions fit into a backpack and many of those items have been supplied by sponsors. His two kilts were donated by the Scottish company 21st Century Kilts. On Saturday night, Mr. McIntosh sported a brown wool kilt, which had been treated with Teflon to make it waterproof. His survival camping gear was also donated and he will be regularly receiving food hampers courtesy of Brits Abroad. Mr. McIntosh is also prepared for hard times. A friend gave him a copy of a book on edible North American herbs and shrubs. So far he hasn't had to head to the woods to look for something to eat. Thursday night he bunked down at the Halifax International Hostel and met a man there who treated him to dinner. Now he's staying in a downtown condo with Eva Munro, the mother of a friend of Mr. Herney. In return for her generosity and following the fairy code, on Saturday night Mr. McIntosh cooked dinner. "I love it when somebody else cooks supper," Ms. Munro said. She says she's used to travelers, and some of her children have had wanderlust. "This generation is easier than when my son was young," she says. "They were all on drugs."
Newsletter 3 - 23 February 2001 Arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia, very nervous. Found hostel after walking around in -35. met some Canadian boys - really into drinking. They have been buying me dinner and drinks and taxis. Went museum. Got in for free. Maybe will be on Halifax TV tonight. Staying with Ishbell's (partner of Stone Eagle) mum tonight then going up to Cape Breton. The Mi'Kmaqs have been dying of cancer due to mining effluent in their water and air. Big Scottish scene here. Everyone is really characters and very kind and friendly. Been invited to join some guys driving in home made bus from Halifax to Costa Rica. sounds good but I have other plans. Love Adam. Newsletter 2 - 13 February 2001 Now 22 February is the confirmed departure date for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Evening News' article about leaving home and burning the treehouse in a Viking Valhalla funeral can be read, with pictures, by clicking here. Newsletter 1 - 18 December 2000 I'm due to set off in January, starting off in Canada where I'll first be visiting the Mi'Kmaq Sacred Peace Pipe Carrier and former Warrior Chief, Sulian Stone Eagle Herney. He came to Scotland a few years ago to help stop the proposed Harris superquarry. I'll then be travelling down the East coast in my 21st century kilt, playing my didjeridoo and guitar, telling Scottish folklore stories. Before leaving, I expect to be making my treehouse safe by sending it to Valhalla - that's to say, we'll be giving it a Viking Burial by setting it alight (but not IN the tree). Contact me by email or phone if interested.
Last Updated: 21/05/07
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