Philadelphia – the city (not the suburbs!)

Next stop after New York was the home of fitness fanatics; Philadelphia! Upon entering Philly we spent nearly two hours circling what we thought was the city – which then turned out to be the suburbs! (this was one of many points at which we realised we needed Sat Nav!) We finally got into the city and parked alongside the Delaware River and spent several minutes feeling shame whilst watching endless joggers going by. The general consensus was that after this trip there would be some much needed gym membership – we assume that the huge number of fitness fanatics are all serious Rocky Balboa lovers!

We opted out of the “marathon” and strolled into the city centre. We entered Market Street and followed our noses to the first Starbucks we could find (which is never difficult!) and set up camp. There we met the two friendliest barristas in Philly; Justin and Francis. Justin dreams of becoming a famous tattoo artist and showed us some of his work on his canvas Francis. Francis dreamed of becoming a famous author and had just begun his first novel. What struck us most about these two guys was that they were both actively pursuing their dreams and yet being equally as passionate about their current jobs and ensuring that our days were made a little brighter whilst purchasing our coffees. We were yet again touched by the true American generosity when they filled us up with muffins and buns “on the house” after they heard our story and were really taken by our mission. We arranged to meet up with Justin the following day in order to see his passion first hand. We finished up our coffees and made our slow decent back to the car whilst taking in the beautiful sights Philadelphia had to offer at night; including a building that resembled a stick of kryptonite from the Superman movies! We got a great kick out of this as we are all major movie buffs!

The joggers had given up for the day when we got back to the car which gave our conscience a break after the Starbucks binge! At a nearby gas station where we were filling up, we asked a Police officer where the nearest cheap and cheerful place to stay was and were given the superstar treatment of a police escort to the Crown Plaza hotel. We thanked him graciously and laughed to ourselves as this was a “tad” beyond our budget. We begrudgingly left the valet behind us and found a more budget friendly motel, the details of which we will not burden you with but will be forever etched in our memories! You definitely get what you pay for!

            The next morning we were in the city early and the first stop was the iconic “Rocky” steps. Kevin was feeling particularly alive that morning and decided if he couldn’t beat the joggers he’d join them and relived his favourite movie moment. He donned a grey hoody and began his ascent – he made it to the top, adopted the “Rocky” stance and lived one of his childhood dreams. (All in spite of the fact he just finished a Philly cheese steak – “when in Rome” and all that!) In the distance Emma’s keen Irish ear picked up a local accent and discovered a group of tourists from all over the world. We became their photographer and in exchange they shared their dreams with us. Following several photos with the Rocky statue we walked back feeling very pleased with ourselves and headed for Justin’ tattoo parlour. What some people may not know about Philadelphia is that it is a maze of one way streets that seemed to lead us in circles. This was yet another glaringly obvious moment that we should have invested in Sat Nav. Unfortunately we spent so long trying to find the tattoo parlour we had to abandon the idea and get on the road. This is regrettable reality of trying to see so much in so little time. We hit the open road and made our way to Washington D.C. leaving behind the city where Rockys dream lives on.

We've come along way and have a long way to!

We are in Nashville. Nashville Tennessee. What a place to be! The energy is palpable, with the sound of music wafting through the streets and the people walking to its beat this is a place The Dream Machine feels very much at home :) Its more a case of how did we get here rather than when we got here. Having left the beautiful (not so flat) Kansas we drove through the upper central States toward Connecticut. With the 'breakdown' a distant memory and the prospect of covering much more ground with our new set of wheels we have felt more motivated than ever to make this mission the success we know it will be. Your Dream deserves a voice, it deserves passion to see it come true. The Dream Machine wants to give you that voice and to hear your passion. Tell us your Dream!

We have been so lucky to have met some of the nicest people imaginable. We have been invited into peoples homes, brought for dinner, we have been accompanied by unofficial tour guides and given a beautiful hotel room at a reduced rate, purely out of the kindness and generousity of the American people. This country has always been credited with a welcoming heart and never has this been seen or experienced more than over the past few weeks. The dominant theme throughout the peoples Dreams from the central states have been dominated by the wish to lead a good, honest, loving and Godly life. The people are humble and deacent and want for little more than a healthy happy family who lead good lives. Material possessions seem to matter little and to have a Dream includes the whole family unit and is based entirely around love. There was an overwhelming sense of peace and contenment from the families we met and a real sense that they are living their Dream every single day and that is to be apart of a loving and happy family!

Connecticut was a real treat as we got to visit with our cousins, a wonderful couple who opened their home to us and made us not want to leave. Their help has been invaluable and The Dream Machine spent a magical few days meeting some people in the community. We met families at the park were Emma indulged in a game of baseball (a Dream for her since she was a child). We met great kids whos Dreams varied from collecting all the Pokemon cards to becoming a professional Baseball player. One young boy wants a wife and kids and to live a happy life! Connecticut is a peaceful place with beautiful communities and happy people. Dreams were easily heard!

New York was a spectacle and a wonder. If you dont Dream big in this place then you had better go home! Time Square was inspiring on its own but talking to the people was even more inspiring. The lights and the noise and the energy and the atmosphere combined with hearing people talk of singing and acting and creating art that inspires and changes the world is really the most fantastic experiences to behold.

To Dream a Dream is very big adventure and New York is one awesome place to do it!

Theres no place like Kansas!

     You know when you make a decision to do something, something so potentially life changing for the people around you, and you make that decision so clearly that someone upstairs hears you and gives you the green light, the 'go a-head'. You would think....Happy days.. keep 'er going! Well, it was a funny lesson for us on only the second day of our big trip how important it is to stay out of the way and not to interfear with the job we had all taken on and to just do it the way we had set out to do it. We were allowing time get the better of us, but when it comes to the dreams of the American people, even time doesn't exist.

     It all looked so easy, driving around the United States in an old VW van. That in itself was a dream of ours in some way. The old 'hippy van adventure' we had seen on Irish T.V as kids. "Lets paint it with flowers and dreams and fill it up with love instead of gas'! It was in some way the fun factor for us as we embarked on our mission. But for a mission like this, to reach the masses... you need to actually reach the masses and our wee van just wasn't up for the challenge!

    The plan on the side of asking every single person we meet to tell us their dream was to complete 4/5ths of the Dream Team in the form of Kevin on Tuesday 27th in New York City. We decided we could do it in time.... if we 'bombed' it* through Kansas, but Kansas had other ideas. Kansas was like.. "Hold on a minuet!! People in Kansas have dreams too you know!" So, after many attempts to get back on the I70 and get as many miles behind us as possible we started to realised that we were trying to control something that was never ours to control in the first place. So taking the advise of our wireless companions George, Paul, John and Ringo, we decided to just let it be.
That turned out to be the best decision we had made up until that point and so the adventures began...


Friday night: The Dream Machine leaves Denver ("mechanically sound") - Andrew Ricardo Ep1

Saturday daytime: The Dream Machine (reaches its peak) covers a good part of Kansas, The Dream Team enjoy various coffee stops and short naps whilst collecting dreams. Young Caleb is the first to paint his dream on the van. (little did we know he would also be the last)

Saturday just before sunset: The Dream Machine gives up and crawls to safety on the side of a busy highway under construction. Scary I70.


Saturday Five minuets after sunset: The Dream team meet Steve, A State Trooper resembling John Wayne who quickly becomes our Kansas ambassador. His biggest ambition over the days to follow is to prove that his state is in fact not flat and that hills are a plentiful. A gentleman if ever there was one.

    This breakdown was a blessing in disguise, and despite the fact that most of our time was taken up in the waiting rooms of some random mechanics or in the passenger seats of the four different toe trucks who came to our rescue (not all at the same time). We saw it only as four more dreams to add to our pot! We quickly got the hang* of asking every single person we met what their dream is weather they were serving us a big mac or had oil on their hands and grease on their overalls.

     One thing we have to say is that we were only too delighted to get to hear the dreams of the people in Kansas, and noticed a common humbleness among them all. A common want to live a long and happy life, to bring up their children with God in their hearts, to have everything that they need and not much want for more. A huge lesson we take from it also is that of respect. Respect to what we set out to do. We knew we would be in the guilt's* afterwords had we "bombed" it through any state just to get somewhere else in time. Kevin was fine in the end anyway! (we love you Kevin)

    Thank the heavens on this earth that we learnt this valuable lesson on the second day so we will be working from that from now on. Sadly the Dream Machine had to sacrifice itself to teach us this lesson, but The Dream Team live on and stronger than ever!

Ignorance is not bliss.....

And Kansas is not flat!


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*Irish to American Dictionary.
 
  Bombed it: To bomb it is to go from one place to another very quickly.

  Got the hang of: To get the hang of something is to understand the workings of a situation.

  In the guilts: To be in the guilts is to feel guilty about something when you are in the wrong.   

To see The Dream Machines last few days and the birth of The Dream Team click below

 http://www.youtube.com/user/Dream7Machine

 

We all have to start somewere!

What began as a classic American road trip idea has now become the most fantastic, magical project that can change the way people think. We had planned to travel across country to meet people and experience all the delights of the 'real' america. Then we realised that when we finish this tour of the states, other than alot of awesome photos, what really would we have achieved or taken from the entire experience? We want to contribute and give back in some way.

So we asked ourselves - what is our dream here? And then it hit us - we want to inspire people. We want to inspire people to dream and to dream big. You can change your life and the lives of others if you realise one very simple concept - acknowledge your inner most Dream and BELIEVE IT.

What if Thomas Edison had not dreamed big or the Wright brothers or Rockefeller or Martin Luther King (I wont make this list any longer - you get our drift)

We want to challenge the silly idea that dreaming big and saying these dreams out-loud is socially unacceptable, that people should be happy with 'their lot' and should accept their current situations and understand that 'this is life'. 

Life is whatever you make it and what you want out of your life is ultimately your biggest most beautiful Dream.

So we plan to drive across America (dont worry we promise to stay on the correct side of the road), in our white VW camper van and ask everyone we meet to share their Dream with us. Tell us your Dream, see it, hear it, feel it, smell it, taste it and paint it on our Van! - and we'll take it with us. Share your Dream with us on camera and we'll add it to our youtube channel. Share your Dream with us on our Facebook page and on Twitter and read about the Dream Machine journey right here on our Blog. Have the courage to tell us what it is you want and tell it to the world.

The beauty of the whole concept is that in putting your Dream out there - it is truly the first step in seeing it come true. We want people to make The Dream Machine their first step.

The possibilities are endless!

Just think of the Lady GaGa's of this world. The only difference between this global icon andthe Joe Soap on the street is a persons ability to Dream the biggest of ambitions, believe in it and go out into the world and make it happen. So there it is - the only difference is a persons capacity to Dream and Believe and Act.

Dream. Believe. Act.

We want achieving your Dreams the 'norm' and not the 'exception'.

Join the DREAM REVOLUTION!