Here we are, in 2019. A new year has begun, and so has a transformation.

Our life was never monotonous enough for us not to notice and not to remember a New Year happening. We are very thankful of that, and very proud of the hard work and perseverance that allowed us to make that happen. Last year, we were in Tokyo. The year before that, we were in Australia. And before that, in Luxembourg, watching the fireworks from our appartment, for the very first and very last time. So many things have happened since, and every year has come with an intention, or a few of them. But this year it all feels even clearer. This year there will be even more of a shift, and we both know it.

Aside but not entirely unrelated to that – some really exciting travel plans are in the pipeline.

We are headed to California for three months.

I remember the last time we were there. David had taken a couple of weeks off from work and we explored that side of the globe on a vacation. We had just ditched meat and so our goal was to eat as many healthy plant-based goodies we could find on the West Coast. Today, you could say that our travel intentions are a little different. Not that we’re not going to enjoy some veggie goodness (hey, California still rocks on that end!) but we are really going there with a purpose in terms of what we want to explore creatively. Particularly as individuals.

One of our biggest projects is going to happen right when we land. We are heading to the desert, in Joshua Tree – and that’s where David will record his album. Now I notice that this is all written very casually but it’s important to note that my soulmate, this guy that you know as David, the David from Kinlake, he’s been a musician a long, loooong time before any of this happened. But until recently he didn’t truly believe in himself and was too scared to ever make it into a “thing”.

Blame the imposter syndrome. The comparison trap. The self sabotaging… Us creatives, or anybody involved into such things is sadly more than aware that those exist in our mind. But what happens when we change our paradigm? Well, that shit starts to go away, and we truly begin to do that little marvellous dance that we were supposed to be doing all along.

This is exactly what is finally happening to David. And that’s the reason why, after so long, he only now decides to actually record some of his music. To make it all feel very REAL.

This sort of transition has been affecting the both of us, actually. Since him and I are so close, we’ve been examining this so much, talking and exchanging so much that it inevitably started to bubble. It gave us both a huge drive to pursue our individual creative outlets – those that we do not share as we do through with Kinlake: art & music. And honestly, if we didn’t share them here, that’s because it demanded extreme vulnerability and brutal honesty. We got to step out of the frame and get real on two things: David has been a musician before it all. And I, have been driven to make artwork before it all. That’s just how it is. We are known as designers, photographers, bloggers, a creative couple who has created online courses – but at the core of it, as individuals, we are a musician and an artist. This whole introspective journey has been all about going to the very root of things. And this trip will be all about that.

There’s a reason why we picked the desert as a place to start. Somehow it’s been calling us both artistically. Also, these words from the book “Women Who Run with Wolves” have been a huge inspiration:

“We “become” as we pour soul over the bones we have found- as we pour our yearning and our heartbreaks over the bones of what we used to be when we were young, of what we used to know in the centuries past, and over the quickening we sense in the future. As we do so, we are revivified. We are no longer a dissolving frail thing. We are in the “becoming” stage of transformation. Like the dry bones, we so often start out in a desert. We feel so disenfranchised, alienated, not connected to even a cactus clump. The ancients called the desert the place of divine revelation. Life in the desert is small but brilliant and most of it occurs goes on underground. The desert is not lush like a forest or a jungle – it is very intense and mysterious in its life forms. Many of us have lived desert lives: very small on the surface, and enormous under the ground.”

We will spend our first month in the desert. The rest of the time, we will be following the way to where like-minded friends are, in LA and elsewhere. The other intention we have for this trip is to live more experiences with people and to document what we learn from other like-minded creatives, soul searchers, makers. We want to turn everything that we have learned lately into a discussion about creativity and finding one’s true voice, and we want to continue inspiring and helping more people find theirs.

What you can expect.

We will be gearing down with Kinlake (working a little less) and the idea is that we’ll put most of our attention on our individual journeys.

That doesn’t mean that Kinlake is taking a break, most definitely the contrary. Less, but better, more mindful, more qualitative things going on! There will be a lot of experimentation on our end (that will be part of the process), so inevitably what you see here on Kinlake will start to take a different shape. We would like to share more of the candid things in our lives, while still keeping in line with our vision. One of the things we’ve been totally craving and that has been making so much sense is to document a little more of the time we spend with other like-minded creatives. Our journey is not only about us – it’s also about other people and what we can all learn from each other. This might take shape in the form of small interviews, but it may also be a recipe, a journal, or anything that comes out of those spontaneous encounters. We are blessed to be connected with some amazingly inspiring people, and we can’t wait to really make them a part of our place right here! We’ve been struggling with trying to fit ourselves in a box, but we realize that our strength lies in just being our authentic selves. So the type of content we’ll share will offer a lot of variety, and it will come sporadically, as we feel inspired – no more, because we want it all to truly come from the heart.

Aside from that, we will be working on some great creative collaborations and on some more of our online courses! Just over a month ago we became top teachers on Skillshare and that made us feel so valued and so motivated to keep making more and helping more creatives expand. Chances are that if you’re reading this post, you discovered us there – and if that’s the case THANK YOU! We are so happy to have you as our student. We have lots of really cool ideas in the pipeline, but if you have any requests please know that you can always send them over!

What are we packing?

Just as I was thinking of composing this post, I considered sharing a packing list as those are so much fun. That said, our setup this time will be pretty similar as the one we had for our 6 months in Japan. The only things that are different or worth noting: 01) We’re not bringing many cosmetics or health supplements as we can find some great ones while we’re over there 02) Some extra goodies have been added in our tech setup due to our online courses and our intention to make short films 03) A very needed non-necessity: our Serpentfire tarot deck (as mentioned on our “Mystical Creativity” post). I can totally imagine David perform his tarot readings in the desert.

Other favourite new items coming with us:

• Unisex hirts from ethical brand Seeker Retriever that both David & I can wear
• Our brand new celestite crystal pipe from our friend Lindsay
• Multi-use towels from our friends at Thalassa – for spontaneous picnics, swims or covering up during breezy nights.

If you have any questions for us, pop it in the comments. If you know anybody we should meet, places we should check out, please let us know. Excited to share this journey with you all!