Another 'Dawg story. Have you thought about writing a book or equivalent? You have done some awesome things worth telling.
I have.
There is one, very complete, well indexed and heavily annotated accounting of my work in music, of which I am very proud, that had become an obsession at one point. In my naivete, I discovered that even writing truthful, cross-documented, photographed to the extreme of detail, precision surgical references to causal and effectual happenstances in real life may draw some legal consequence.
I was sure that, having "Teh Truth" on my side, shown in graphic depiction and with multiple sources of erudite commentary from others who were involved, would take me past some of the stops. I was stupid. Law suits, just from my original hamfisted proposal to a publisher came in threes, twice. Yes, six times I was presented with lawsuits from people who I had never mentioned or photographed, but were acting on behalf of other parties. The publisher was presented with twenty something of the same type of "legal wrangling" stop orders.
So, I go back to work. I re-write much of the book, editing many of the more revealing photographic accounts, taking all the soul out of the passionate work I had spent years creating, but I lost interest in watering it all down. Rock-N-roll is not watered down. It is raw, unforgiving, a "Run Once" activity in the live performance world, and to tell my story, I must use my knowledge and cross documentation of the events by those who were there, as they happened or there is no reason to pursue any of it.
As far as my three sabbatical journeys, each time I did this, I was making an escape from what I was and had ever been or known of myself. I carried no cameras, no contact information, no identifying documents (except in Mexico I carried an American Social Security card). My personal journals which I kept at times are hand written, hand drawn, hand burned after some troubles (in one case) and are not publishworthy in their present states.
I have only taken an interest in making these accounts more presentable after discovering that I have a full-grown son who grew up without knowing anything about his real father, just last year. Unfortunately, I have little time to devote and I have not made much progress, yet.
It seems that every time I try to do anything with my oldest son (who I have only made contact with this past year), my present wife thinks that I am abandoning my current responsibilities and looking for an excuse to leave her and my present family behind. We have not sorted this out yet.
I have also become aware this year that I have another son from my first marriage who was kept from me, but for entirely different reasons. My first wife and I ended our relationship on a really bad note, while she was involved with another man (and pregnant) and this other man raised this (middle) son of mine, who is also in his late twenties.
This little saga has made me very determined to refine my past journals and try to make them coherent. I will some day complete the task, but thanks for asking.