Sometimes the best map...

"Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend"
- Bruce Cockburn, "Pacing the Cage"

I am releasing this trackable in the memory of my Uncle Andrew, who tragically took his own life in 2007. He was a man full of life, who at one point talked me through my own dark places. He was an explorer, and traveled the world on his motorcycle, finding new sights, beautiful vistas, and wonderful friends. At his funeral I was just amazed to see the number of people who came. And the online support from the motorcycle communities he was involved in stretched across the world. Andrew was a man who touched many lives, and made them all better for it. I wish he could have known the impact his death would cause. I wish he hadn't gone. And I sincerely wish to prevent any family from having to go through the same terrible journey.

If you are feeling suicidal, please don't hesitate to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

If you are worried about someone you know, don't hesitate to talk to them.  Face the feelings head on - it is better to face them to have regrets later.  If you are unsure what signs to look for, or how to reach out to someone for help, visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's page on getting help for someone else.

I released this trackable with a bison tube attached - inside you will find a copy of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's wallet card "Learn the warning signs".  Take a look in the hopes that if you need to know, you can help prevent someone from taking their life.  You will also find a small log - if you are so inclined, please sign the trackable log.  If it gets full, please let me know and I'll mail you a new one with a self addressed stamped envelope to get the old one returned.

In return for his memory traveling and making many new friends, I will donate $1 to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (USA) for every new person who retrieves this token from a cache. So please - feel free to move it around, and please log every cache it visits, but also release it so others can find it. These donations will be made at the end of each year, and I'll make a note of it in the logs.

Also, I hope to share this journey with my family, so if you feel so inclined, please share photos of the corners of the world where this token is found, so we can see all the places Andrew has visited in spirit.

1. To visit as many caches as possible, finding new corners of the world to explore and appreciate.  Andrew loved to visit new places, to explore and to live on the edge.

2. To be retrieved by as many new cachers as possible - $1 will be donated to the NSPL for each new cacher to retrieve this trackable from a cache. Andrew loved meeting new people and making new friends.

3. To have the fun locations it finds photographed to be shared with our family. Andrew loved photography and wanted to capture the beautiful places he found on film.

4.  After visiting caches for 5 years, to return home to Pennsylvania for me to retrieve - as we get closer to that goal I'll place a "goal cache" for that retrieval.  I want to share Andrew's visit with my family, and would love to have this trackable back to help share this journey.