We called ourselves the “Camping Bandits” and we traveled in a blue Chevy van that my dad and uncle fashioned into a home for the 6 of us. Tables transformed  into beds, cloth became cocoons hanging from the pop top of the van’s ceiling . My parents wanted us to travel and experience  the world, and with this house on wheels we were able to travel many times across the country, throughout Canada, and most of Western Europe. We kept journals of our summers, and recorded our adventures from 1977-1986. What strikes me as an adult was how little I actually wrote. Unlike my 3 siblings, words did not come easily, but the colors and the shapes that I saw left indelible impressions etched into my consciousness. The exhilaration of seeing the Badlands of South Dakota or Switzerland’s Mount Rigi as a young child remained with me.  The vibration of colors, the rhythm, and the shapes and forms are all reminiscent of the places that I’ve been.