From One Soul to One World: Ascending On The Backroads

"Sometimes, one door must close before another can open"

In 2012, On The Backroads is becoming ONE WORLD ASCENSION!!! Evolution is necessary to the survival of any living thing, including the soul! I set out for expansion, balance and solvency in this up and coming year(which I talked about in my last entry) and One World Ascension will take me to those places and do it with grace!


It came to me today that a shift was taking place within my consciousness. For the past 4 years I have flown under the flag of "On The Backroads". I realized that as I have grown, my place in this existence has shifted along with my priorities. On The Backroads is not going away, it is just switching places with One World Ascension as what primarily resonates in my heart at this point in my life. On The Back Roads cradled me like a loving mother cradles her young child and encouraged a life of adventure and self discovery. One World Ascension is that young child all grown up who now cradles his elderly mother.

The external meaning of On The Backroads started out as a concept that was a play on words about my life as a traveler and later as a va(n)gabond. The depth of the concept was that I would take the back roads while traveling to see more nature and more of the "real world". The internal meaning was to show how I had started thinking outside the box and acting on it, how I started to walk the roads within and always taking the road less traveled to get there.

On The Backroads has been a primary way in which I looked at my life from late 2007 until now.

In April 2011 I gave birth to One World Ascension and allowed it to lie dormant, awaiting for a more purposeful exposure. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it until sometime in October 2011. I have now decided to make OWA a model in which I could invite others to share their views on any issue or topic that makes their heart beat fast or their mind question insatiably. I believe that while we benefit more from remaining in flow with our hearts calling, we should not discount the intellect and the importance that thought plays in the human experience. It plays much to the same tune as the marriage between science and spirit that is so often denied by so many.

I want to go on the record of saying that On The Backroads is not dying off, it's not a "brand" that will be disappearing because it is a HUGE part of my life, in fact at this point, it's still by far the biggest. However, as with the evolution of anything I too must evolve. It is because of OTBR that OWA came to light, in more ways than one. Allow me to explain:

In 2007 I had just entered my 20's and I was caught up in a very unfulfilling and miserable life in Corporate America. Though I was always a rebel and a free spirit, I was highly asleep to all of lifes natural and precious gifts, as well as to all of the horrible darkness that also exists. As many of you know I started traveling heavy in the years to follow. 2008 saw a 4 month spiritual journey to all of the western states and National Parks. 2009 saw a journey to the entire southeast and back to the western great plains. 2010 saw numerous trips all around the Great Lakes region and then 2011 saw a year long journey that is still currently happening across the entire United States with the exception of the southeast. Since On The Backroads started in late 2007 I have traveled all of the lower 48 states, Canada and Mexico. I have stayed in countless hotels, campgrounds, strangers couches, friends hospitable accomodations and even did the "van thing" where I lived in not only one, but two different vans on two different occasions. During this time I also explored great depths within myself. I went from a rage-o-holic with massive black out depression feeling like I was stuck in a box in 2007 and beforehand to...err...well the same exact thing in 2011, but it's been the SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE and my VALUES that has been the whole damn ride!

See, it's rather simple. On The Backroads is just an older version of me, One World Ascension is the new and improved version. It's no different than Windows XP becoming Windows 7(forget about Vista) or the best selling American economy car the Ford Escort becoming the new best selling American economy car, the Ford Focus. This is largely what I set out to do at the end of 2010 with this year, I wanted to evolve.

Does the shift from OTBR to OWA mean that my life of travel is over?

Does the shift mean I'm no longer taking the back roads within myself and in life?

Does the shift suggest that the old design is no longer present? That it's no longer working?


The answer to all of the above questions is a loud and honest, NO!

Just because I am shifting my energy at this moment doesn't mean I will be giving up a life of travel. In fact, if you read my last OTBR journal entry you would see that I would like to engage in even MORE travel in the coming years. I'm by no means "settling down" for the long term or walking away from the very lifestyle that revolutioned my life and allowed OWA to even be discovered in the first place. I will ALWAYS take the back roads when navigating, I learned largely this year that sometimes I have to take the main roads. Taking the back roads isn't so much about LITERALLY taking the back roads all the time anymore, it's about the philosophy of doing what works for your soul and being outside the box in your mind. If taking the main road either when traveling or within myself works better, then I'll take it but I won't take it just because thats the "mainstream" thing to do and what culture suggests I do. The "old design" of OTBR is actually not much different than OWA in its birthing process. OWA is not a replacement of OTBR, it's simply a different flavor or different updated version.

On The Backroads was largely in part, all about me. It had to be, it was my time to discover the soul that lives inside, to use the mind I was blessed with in marriage with the heart I was given to feel something out and then decide how to go about it. During the time of OTBR I traveled the entire country, all the National Parks, all the major cities, I fell in love, I learned to have gratitude for the people I love, I let my hair down(literally), I lived my dream of living in a van, I confronted demons that were plauging me since childhood, made peace with myself on a lot of levels, learned about where I stood on many issues, I made the best friends I've ever had in my life, I've relocated from an area I was unhappy to my favorite part of the USA, the west AND I discovered myself! I did a lot of things!!! The easiest way to sum up OTBR is I found my heart, I found my passion, I found the things I loved to do the most and I was able to do a lot of them while living OTBR. Now, One World Ascension can be birthed because I went through the much needed lessons of OTBR.

One World Ascension is still about me, we are all selfish beings and have to be. It's important to learn the difference between selfless selfishness and ego-centric selfishness though, that is what makes the difference. As I write this on December 26th at 7AM as the sunrises I realize the need for what One World Ascension offers, not only to me but also to the world. On The Backroads was always something that served me and those around me on a smaller scale, OWA is an expansion of the passions that drove me to it, on a larger level!

As a spiritual being, human being and person in our collapsing society I am evolving!

One World Ascension will go where On The Backroads couldn't, OWA can do what OTBR can't BUT! Without OTBR, OWA would never have come to existence! It's a beautiful way that they have interacted with one another and how they have given life to one another. On The Backroads feels a sense of completion and happiness to see One World Ascension birth and blossom into something beautiful. OWA reflects in gratitude and wonder towards OTBR for the chance to be.

I want my Universe to expand. Along with my awareness in my mind I want my hearts consciousness to expand and GROW.

Is it not the most important intersection of life? The one where the avenue of Awareness(the mind) meets the court of Consciousness(the heart)? This intersection is aboslutely essential to the development of the human spirit and the human mind. In the abscence of one another, they create an imbalance so grand that the one which is present cannot make up for the one that is lacking prescence. This encourages us to find a way to stay on both sides of our human reality.

Some say the journey of life is all about finding our way back home, or back to self, back to Source. I like that rationalization. One World Ascension is more mature and closer to Source than On The Backroads was because it presents me in a more complete fashion, much like whatever will come after OWA will be.

In this process of evolution I will always leave the door open for On The Backroads to resurface. If it makes sense and resonates in my soul on my path, why not? My references and working of OTBR will be seen in a lot of OWA, afterall it IS OWA and it IS what I have been from between 2007 until now, the end of 2011. Both of my blogs for OWA and OTBR will remain active at this time, along with my others that are open.

OTBR will still remain at this time for more personal introspections, road trips or travels I may take and whatever else I may present. OWA is something I want to share largely with everyone and will be more direct and to the point. This is how they will both work together. Consider this a transition from DVD to Blu Ray rather than a transition from VHS to DVD or Blu Ray to digital media. Just a few tweaks!! =:)

As we head into 2012, I find myself excited and scared. The raw truth and power of my spirit remains alive to share all of my thoughts and feelings. This new era is only new because I have shifted a few key values...you will see what they are as the year ahead unfolds. I am happy you could join me.

Being "On The Backroads" is already in my blood, its a very real and alive present version of me...now I am excited to spread this to everyone else and share my inner findings with the world! After all, that is what "One World Ascension" is all about!

-Zachary Hill 2011 (C)

2012: The Year of Balance, Expansion & Solvency

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R Tolkien

I set out for 2011 to be the "Year of Metamorphosis" when in reality 2011 played out more like a year of challenge that brought on the metamorphosis. I discovered many new values of how I viewed life, the world around me and myself all the while juggling energy spikes and crashes while swinging back and forth between the light and the dark.

I once had a dream to travel in a van. In 2011 I came, I conquered but I didn't quite soar. My van dream was overshadowed by other pains of the heart and soul. I also set out to "clear my karma" this year, something that I have made progress with by leaps and bounds. If any statement could be true about me this year it would be "two steps forward for every one step back". I plowed through a lot of emotional baggage, a lot of deeply seated issues that needed to be brought home to roost from childhood as well as new issues that arose this year unexpectedly. Although it was never intended, 2011 became a year of sabbatical. A year off from work, the main stream and society yet at the same time I found myself plugged into all of those facets equally as much as I had been disconnected. I suffered financially from a lack of work(both due to a dried up economy and unwillingness on my part), I benefited from social engagements in major cities and I spent time with ALL of the people I love, from family to my dearest friends. This year, in many ways was a blessing and a curse.

Overall, I would sum up 2011 as being a blessing. I moved to the mountains, deserts and oceans of the Western USA. I fell deeply in love and allowed myself to be me during that time giving me the relationship I had always dreamed of. To some degree, I lived my van-dweller dream. I cleaned up old wounds from the past, some going back 10 years and others to childhood. I yet again traveled all over the United States from "Coast 2 Coast" and border to border(and beyond!). I was able to spend time with every single person I love, some of them more than once this year..reconnecting, building and cherishing friendships that I am never ungrateful for even when I lose my gratitude for other things.

In exchange I sacrificed my entire financial solvency and reputation, I was faced with learning how to accept a deep loss of love that still disturbs me to this day and I swung in and out of dark places as the search continued.

In November, I made an attempt at financial solvency and to get back on my financial feet in what I consider to be a partially wasted trip, North Dakota. Fighting off all evils, dark depression and the cold weather(all the while living in a new van at the Walmart)I found myself facing the work of my past. I was unhappy with doing so but still managed to push forth and land two jobs, but no housing. I did not have enough money to pay for housing and barely enough to make it back to the southwest upon departure. While I learned some important lessons while in North Dakota, I learned not to take risks when it comes to finances if for no other reason than I gambled my last few dollars on something that seemed so promising, only to end up completely broke with a few hundred bucks left.

As we get ready to leave 2011 behind and head into 2012 I can't help but feel I am at another set of crossroads. I have been reflecting on what it was I learned this year along with what direction I want to head in with the coming new year. I came to discover today that the things I wanted have not really changed, now I am just better equipped to deal with some of them.

My list of goals in 2011 were simple:

Clear karma and ascend

Confront childhood issues that are weighing me down and work through them

Move West

Buy a camper van and live nomadically

Further discover my life's purpose

With the exception of buying a camper van(I settled for a conversion van)I was able to make all of those realities come to light. I moved west, bought a van, reconnected with my gift of art(particularly my gift of writing and photography), faced the childhood issues and now I sit here looking forward.

Despite the fact that I had started to feel a sense of burn out with traveling this year, I realized that the burn out has had to do more with the amount of stress and frustration I have suffered this year largely at the hands of things outside myself and some within my hands. This year while traveling I was facing the reality of becoming an adult, letting go of regret from a decision I made at the end of 2010 that ended up being something I felt I regretted the most at the time, falling in love and seeing what the future held only to have that future be abruptly cut short and completely out of my control, living mobile in a vehicle with bad gas mileage during a time with high gas prices and virtually no good paying jobs/no jobs at all like the ones I had been used to a few years ago, working through my anger/sadness issues of childhood all the while attempting to enjoy some natural scenery. I had my moments of levity in nature this year, that is for sure. However, overall I was confronted with asking myself what I really wanted.


First I listened to my heart tell me what I wanted, only to realize it hadn't really changed much in a year and then I listened to my head tell me all the reasons it can't and/or won't happen.

I am still a nomad and not only am I one but I have no desire whatsoever to stop now. I don't mind slowing the pace down and prolonging my stays in certain areas for a period of time and become intimate and familiar with them but I have no desire to climb into a mortgage or apartment lease anytime soon. My reasons are more personal than just the staggeringly bad economy nationwide. When I fell in love with travel in 2008 I told myself I'd never want to stop being a traveler, no matter if I had a wife, kids, job responsibilities, etc. Traveling is the major artery to my heart and all of it's passion, if it's clogged or severed then I feel a major disconnect from the Source in which I gain my energy for passion and my calling in this life. Travel has never been said by me to replace the idea of having a life partner, a self employed and rewarding career or even children should they come along, travel is just the lifestyle in which I choose to live my reality and this experience of life. I am an explorer, an adventurist, a material minimalist, a free spirit, I love nature, I love visiting new places as well as returning to old ones and I love the liberation and freedom that I feel within traveling. I'm the kind of person that would spend $20,000 on a $3,000 motorhome and use the rest to sustain a 2-3 year trip around the nation or internationally, rather than put a down payment on a "sticks and bricks" house.

A lot of people this year and in the past 3 years have asked me "when do you think you will burn out?" or better yet some have implied with their knowing beyond a doubt "you will eventually get tired and want to settle down". Though I certainly won't rule out the possibility of burn out or settling down, I will say that I do not see it on the horizon for 2012 or anytime in the near future. If I am a sitting duck it's more likely due to the economy or momentary obligations while I still find a way to become self sufficient in business and weaned off of the traditional 9-5, rather than settling by choice.

My love connection in which I shared this year dealt a new dynamic to the nomadic wander-love that is deep within me. I never figured I would ever have to choose between my life as a traveler and being in a relationship. I learned from dating over the past few years that a large part of what makes me who I am is my desire to travel, as the more I travel the more the meaning behind those travels deepens. This year I shared a love connection with someone who also was a traveler and that I had a huge compatibility with, in an interesting turn of events they chose a different life path(not only on the topic of travel but in general)and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I learned through this relationship though, that no longer did I just want to have a life partner some day that I could travel, learn and love with both inside ourselves/each other and the outside world but I learned that it was something that I wouldn't be able to compromise on.

Sharing my life with someone on a level where I literally was able to be myself entirely, no reservations was liberating. Feeling a connection so strong and losing it has only created a stronger desire to yet again share such a connection in the wake of it's departure. I tended to never actively seek love and relationships of the kind as they generally found me right before I was ready to set off on a big adventure, I now seek out a connection that can outdo the one I most recently shared and though I have my doubts that anything could be outdone in this regard, I have a small portion of optimism.

The thought of traveling the world with a beautiful partner that I can grow with and possibly creating a family life anywhere in the world while doing it in such an unconventional, yet practical and "back to nature" kind of setting feels exhilarating to me. It's something that I look forward to with great amounts of excitement and child-like glee!

The thought of getting up, going to work for 8+ hours at the same job everyday, coming home to my 30+ years of debt or 1 year lease at an inflated price of money that I will never see again and asking my partner questions such as "how was work today, dear? any mail for me today?" while getting ready to pick my children up from a public indoctrination institute not only makes me sick to my stomach, but makes me depressed.

I want to take my traveling up a notch, I want to spread it to a world level in the coming year. I want to make more friends during my travels. I want to share my travels with a partner who has the same passion for a life of freedom in the same regard I do. I want to become financially solvent and be able to thrive financially to back my spiritual desires, projects and God-sent responsibilities.

2011 started out as a year of feeling like I had to start over and as I face 2012 it feels much the same. 2011 was full of trials and errors as I'm sure 2012 will be.

WHAT I LEARNED in 2011: I learned this year just how powerful my intuition is, how capable I am of letting go of things that are hurting me, I learned how to forgive others who trespassed against me and how to forgive myself, I learned the power of love be it on a twin flame level or just a soul mate level that manifests as a friendship is priceless and makes the nectar of life that much sweeter, I learned that while I've taken on a lot of darkness head on and walked in the Light I'm still finding my way to a comfortable rhythm that works for me, most importantly I learned that my dreams can come true and that love can be found in the strangest of places, I also learned that with these dreams and the life of a nomad, loss is bound to happen and needs to be accepted.

HOW 2011 WILL EFFECT 2012/DECLARATIONS for 2012: Balance. 2012 is all about balance just like 2008 and 2009 were all about self discovery, 2010 was all about discovering the outside world and 2011 was about metamorphosis. The experiences of metamorphosis that came to pass in 2011 will continue on as an underlying theme for 2012, especially as our world heads into further dark waters both economically and politically, 2012 will usher in a way for me to find balance between the things I love, desire and feel responsible to live for and finding a way to channel these passions and callings into a healthy outlet. 2012 will be a year of expansion and solvency regarding to matters of the heart, matters of the mind and matters of the wallet. It will require learning how to balance and quickly in a time of outer world chaos, in a time where the path I once walked is separating from the path I have stepped on this year. This separation is happening both in my personal world within and the external world outside.

In 2012 I feel like I am being asked by both the energies of Good and Evil to choose. 2011 showed my vow to "Responsibility, Reinvention and Rebirth" all three were fueled by walking in the Light and siding with what is Good. My path in the Light this year has tested my faith and even my desire to keep walking on the new path I am blazing. Walking in the Light may be uncertain and tough at times, I may fall to my knee's searching for the signs of Light in the darkest tunnels...but I *know* with certainty what awaits me if I turn around and go back to where I was in 2010, I can feel the dividing barrier of energy even when I contemplate the idea.

2010 showed me a life of darkness is no life at all..

2011 showed me how to work my way out of that life...


In 2012, whether or not I have to face my past yet again is unknown, though I know it will reveal itself regardless. In 2012 one thing IS for certain, I'm only going one direction:


FORWARD.


"I have loved, I have lost.

I have shared, I have learned.

I have suffered, I have triumphed.

I have given, I have taken.

I have been high, I have been low.

I have lived....and this is just the beginning." - excerpt from 2011: Year of Metamorphosis http://onthebackroads87.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-year-of-metamorphosis.html



-Zachary Hill 2011(C)


Written: San Jose, California 2011

When the Music Starts to Play...

"It was my hate that moved me to the mountains, but it was love that moved my mountains of hate."

As 2011 nears it's end(ALREADY?!?!)the lessons learned have started to play out like a song, some in sync, some not but all beautiful.

*2008 showed me the Light of the spiritual world, a cleaner path that pushed me far away from society. I fell in love with nature.

*2009 showed me how to follow my heart and not stagnate for too long, by doing just that. It was a year where many new friendships from 2008 grew stronger, where some in 2009 were discovered and some from the earlier part of the 2000's were reconnected. My disgust with society continued.

*2010 showed me the dark of the physical world, a path that I never wanted to set foot on again. I learned about corporate politics, the workings of our sick and neurotic species both in America and the world at large, I learned about our disrespect for Mother Earth and our disconnection from tribal ways that seemed to work much better than the white European system. I also learned what happened when I let my dark side take control.

*2011 has shown me a great deal of importance. It has taken me from my highest highs to my lowest lows. It has put in my face all of the sweetness of life and it has been there to guide me to the next day when all the sweetness becomes bitter. I learned a great deal of my value of loved ones. From falling in love to a level in which I never imagined possible, to cherishing my family whom I didn't see for 8 months, to one of the most incredible blessings I have been blessed with, my friends. What makes them friends? It's just a way to specify the blood-relation because as far as my heart and my mind are concerned, these people are family, even more so than many of my blood relatives. I had friends and loved them in years past but it was in 2011 that I learned the *blessing* of friendship and it has solidified a place in my heart.

*2012 ???? Who knows where it may lead. Some of 2011's journeys still need to be completed on this journey of evolution. Hopefully, the hype about the end of the world is true. I cannot wait to see a better world for all.

In conclusion, 2008, 2009, 2010 AND 2011 have been learning experiences, as have all years prior. But it has been since 2008 that this awakening has sped up(ironically, as per my 2012 Horoscope). I've been through just about everything a young man could ask for in the last four years(and some he didnt ask for)with the exception of having children(NOT that I'm asking for that anytime soon! Don't get any ideas, Universe!..thats a mid 30's thing..at the soonest!!! ;)) and now I ask for support in living my music. In 08, 09 and 10 I had to find that music. In 2011 I had to fix and tune the instruments to PLAY that music. Now, as we head into 2012...it's time for that music to start playing PASSIONATE AND LOUD!!!

Less imbalance leading to spikes of black out depression and rage and then Light-filled loving moments of gratitude too please! I was never a big fan of rollercoasters so maybe I'll try the kiddie rides for a bit ;)

I've worked hard within myself and on myself to get myself to this point and I'd like to say this before the music begins..


It was falling in love with nature, the mountains and the west coast that lead to a sacred feeling in my heart of simplicity and the desire to take the world back to a simpler and more complete time with some modern toys...

It was all of the hurt and betrayal I felt in my heart by the "leaders" of this world that gave me a target to vent my rage, to put on my wall and most importantly to inspire me to CARE about humanity...

But this year, during my second round in the dark night of the soul, only this time becoming an adult it was my friends that shined the brightest. It was my love of other human beings that brought more meaning to my life...

If it were just a beautiful unmarked world with no life and no beings but my own it's beauty would wear off eventually. Equally so a world filled with drone-like beings that aren't connected to nature and a world with nothing but cement cities and no trees would be just as tragic.

So, this year I have found in my rebirth the desire to do what I can to help awaken the sleeping masses, one person at a time. To bring down the cities, one building at a time. To help others find beauty to cherish nature, one photograph at a time. To encourage others to free their spirit, one road trip story at a time. To express my feelings and thoughts, one journal entry at a time. To attract enough financial wealth to become solvent and spread the wealth to those I love and those in need doing something I love, NOT one dollar at a time...but THOUSANDS of dollars at a time. ;)

As we move into 2012 another chapter closes in my life, another year with its beautiful moments and challenging dark nights. I am ready to expand again.

In December 2010 I started the "On The Back Roads" blog with a journal entry explaining my up and coming move to Big Bear, it's funny how this year that started in Big Bear is also ending there. Here is an excerpt from that entry:

"It's been a hell of an experience the past 7 years in Joliet, Illinois...as I near my final days here and transition into the new I will keep everybody updated.

Reinvention, Rebirth, Responsibility.

Welcome to my new Facebook page, more importantly...thank you for joining me as I head in this new direction, new journey and most of all this deeper, older and more refined person I am becoming. <3"

Did I accomplish the tasks I set out to achieve in 2011?

Reinvention? Check.
Rebirth? Check.
Responsibility? Check...with a little *STILL IN PROGRESS*

2 and 1/2 outta 3? I'll take it! =:)

New Direction? Check.
New Journey? BIG Check.
Deeper, Older and more Refined Person? I once was a lake, but now am an ocean. CHECK!!


I was blessed with the opportunity to see all of my loved ones this year. That's been the highlight of my year, by far(along with working through my crap). From my own home in California and the desert southwest, to the little island in the beautiful lush pacific northwest, to the rolling hills of PA in the northeast, to the flat lands that push up against the rocky mountains of Colorado, to my kin in the Bay Area and finally to the unfortunate souls still in Joliet and other parts of Illinois ;P I don't seem to have anyone in the southeast but it's all good!


I realize that 2011 has been far from perfect and that I *could have not*, I want to stress that, I COULD HAVE NOT done it without the people I love, the people who lifted me and who wrapped their arms around me by welcoming me into their living spaces and their daily lives when I hurt deeply and struggled to navigate through the darkness. It was passion and love that sent me down a dark path 10 years ago and last year. It was passion and love again that sent me down a different dark path with more dancing progress this year, a much needed path apparently. It was my love, passion and curiousity of exploring deep within the human soul, spirit and mind along with exploring the whole world outside my front door that lead me to everything. Damn, am I grateful!

I am proud of myself, I got through another year, another set of heartaches, another set of triumphs.

2012 will need a new direction, I will write about it when it comes to mind...I do know that learning to maintain balance will be on the list! No more spiking up and down.

In case Dr. Jekyll leaves the office while I'm sleeping and Mr. Hyde re-awakens tomorrow morning in full blown rage-mode. I'd like to take this time to say to all of my wonderful friends that have made this year(that is coming to an end soon, wow!)worth it! GOODNIGHT, BLESS YOU and LOVE YOU ALL! <3

"The music plays even when the instrument is cheap, when it's missing a few strings or keys or when it's out of tune. At times, the music even plays when the instrument is broken or when the musician thinks he has nothing to play. It isn't until the musician learns how to play from the heart that the music really carries itself and becomes more than just a song. After years of practice and finally finding the balance between passion and power both the musician and the instrument finally find one another for the first time, creating a powerful and passionate story of harmony. A story that inspires and resonates in the hearts of the audience, a story that can only be told when both the musician and the instrument realize that without the hardships and without one another, music would not exist, nor would their story."

-Zachary Hill 2011(C)


Written: Big Bear Lake, California 2011