It’s hilarious to me that I did a similar trip in a VW bus back in 1994 with four friends from Toronto. Together we traveled down to Mexico, but ended up ending our journey in Texas (that’s a whole other story).

The CES Bound bus was in very rough shape when we purchased it off an ad in Craigslist. The engine needed replacing, the body covered in grime and rust, the floor with holes in it. Together we’ve been restoring it using Griffin’s staff of really talented people. It’s become a labor of love.

We’ve been producing videos to document our adventures so far. We’ll be sharing videos, photos, tweets and blog posts from the road when we depart on December 30th.

We are also having meet ups along the way, so be sure to RSVP on the site if we’re passing through your town. I’d love to see you!

I should add that my Road Twip friends from the summer helped inspire this idea. Thanks Jolie O’Dell, Kurt Daradics and Jonathan Dingman. Thanks to C.C. Chapman for connecting us too!

If you missed it, here’s a post about their visit to Nashville and an interview with Jolie and I.

Thanks to my buddy Alistair Christl for letting us use his music in the videos too! It’s extra special for me, because he was one of the five of us in the VW bus back in ’94!

Don’t forget to follow @cesbound on Twitter for updates.

My buddy Julien Smith wrote a blog post the other day about why he never wants to move from his hometown. He wrote:

Wherever you grow up, you have a solid base of friends and family. Wherever you go, you have to start over, from scratch. It takes years to rebuild any kind of meaningful relationships. So all you have is your new husband, or wife, and their friends. It isn’t quite the same, is it?

He’s certainly right that it isn’t quite the same. I miss a handful of true friends back home in Toronto. Alistair the ripping Rockabilly guitarist, Tanya the bad ass burlesque dancer, Scoot, Skinny and Ryan. I even miss my brother, who incidentally picked up and moved to Switzerland to live with his girlfriend and go to school.

But the truth is that they all have full time things now. As we get older we settle down, it’s our nature as people to do this. Had I remained in Toronto, we would have seen each other less and less these days given my daddy status.

I met Heather in Galway, Ireland in 1998. We married in 2000 and lived in Toronto for six winters, that’s a lot for a girl from Tennessee. It probably would have been one winter if we had moved to Montreal, Julien’s hometown. Winters there can get rather nippy!

Julien is wrong though. Picking up and moving away from Toronto was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Nashville is an incredible city with a wonderful community. I’m proud to call Nashville my home.

I should note that I knew nobody in Nashville when we moved here. We came here cold, Heather had some friends, but I didn’t even have a job lined up. We just factored in the cost of living and weather and determined that Nashville would suit us fine.

Moving to Nashville gave me a new energy to pursue the things I love. I love technology, so that’s where my energy was/is directed. I’m even lucky enough to work for an incredible company.

I understand Julien’s sentiment, especially with his huge success as a social media maven and now author. He’s about to be even further bombarded with new connections, small “f’ friends as C.C. would put it. When you’re a rock star it’s hard to know who to trust, ironic for a person writing about the very topic (in Trust Agents).

I love my friends from home they are family to me. I know that I can always return and we can head out for drinks and catch up. We just did this a few weeks ago.

But moving can be incredible. Picking up and moving to Galway, Ireland found the love of my life and my best friend, Heather. We lived there together for a few years. Had I not moved, I never would have met her. I never would have had the incredible kids that we have. I never would have moved to Nashville and met the amazing friends Friends I have here.

Julien, you may always stay in Montreal, with Schwartz’s I think I would likely stay too. You may never know what or who awaits you across the provinces or countries if you never consider moving away.

For now though, enjoy the smoked meat. I know I have a great Friend in Montreal too.

If you enjoy the song please consider picking up his self-published CD, Unmarked Grave.

Like it? Please DIGG this for Alistair to show him some love. Thanks.

Now one year later I am lucky enough to have met and become friends with Jett Loe. Jett is a former BBC comedy producer, caffeine addict and all around nice guy who knows a thing or two about film. I told him about the concept and suddenly light bulbs appeared above his head.

Logo by: Taylor Schena of taylorrific.com

It is with his creative directing, my acting and improv, and a massive pile of help from our community in Nashville, we’re making Dave Is Learning How To Play The Guitar a reality (yes, I need to revise the logo). The comedy, documentary will be shot in short episodes. Each episode will follow my story of becoming a guitarist. I live in Music City USA, so I think it’s about time I learn how to play some music!

I’ve been a wanna be guitarist all of my life. My best friend Alistair Christl has certainly been an inspiration, as was meeting legendary blues guitarist Albert Collins. Albert actually invited me to join him for a song on stage, but sadly I did not know how to play. Talk about a missed opportunity!

I use to live in Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed the traditional music sessions at countless pubs. I have always wanted to quietly strum along with a jig or a reel, and soon I may actually be able to make this happen (assuming I learn the difference). I’m also a huge music fan of just about every genre, I can name that tune in a couple of notes, but I can’t tell you what a note actually is. Sad, isn’t it?

So stay tuned and I’ll be posting news when the blog is up and the pilot episode is available. If you’re interested in sponsoring the show I would love to speak with you. There are a few excellent opportunities for sponsors, I encourage you to give me a shout to learn more as the sponsorships will likely fill quickly.

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