Canfield of Dreams » Sponsorship

A Song for Caitlyn and Ian: Like This Forever

Joel D Canfield — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:42:08 +0000

Caitlyn and Ian are kindred spirits, and though I wrote this for my own Best Beloved, they inspired it. So this is for Caitlyn and Ian.

Like This Forever

You want your first love to last forever
You know this is right where they belong
But they don't seem to see
The inevitability
And you're left wond'ring what went wrong

Once your heart's been split right down the middle
Feels like you could never love again
But hearts are pretty tough
Made of stronger stuff
They heal and hope to hope for love again

You're all I need when we're together
Might sound sentimental, but it's true
I could go on like this forever
And I think that's exactly what I'll do

So sail the sea of life a little longer
Get to know your heart a little more
Like a fine old wine
Takes a little time
Love can bring you right back in to shore

You're all I need when we're together
Might sound sentimental, but it's true
I could go on like this forever
And I think that's exactly what I'll do

Maybe love is better when you're older
Maybe love was waiting all along
Maybe love needs time to find another
Maybe love is more than just a song

My back was stiff when I woke up this morning
There didn't seem to be a reason why
My brain and heart
Refuse to have a part
In winding slowly down to die

You're all I need when we're together
Might sound sentimental, but it's true
I could go on like this forever
And I think that's exactly what I'll do
And I think that's exactly what I'll do

(No hippopotamuses were harmed in the making of this post)

Flying the Coop

Joel D Canfield — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:19:08 +0000

. . . and they're off. Again.

Two things are immediately apparent:

This house is going to be quiet without Brodie the Wonder Dog, and
it doesn't take long for the right kind of people to worm their way into your heart on what's likely to be a permanent standing.

The Eagles Have Landed

Joel D Canfield — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:25:51 +0000

Ian and Caitlyn have arrived for a quick overnighter before Trip #2.

Beans on the stove, brown rice and cornbread in the oven, homemade salsa in the fridge.

It's gonna be a great dinner, followed almost instantly by waffles (or pancakes, no one's decided for sure) for breakfast.

By bedtime tonight we will have tripled the amount of time we've spent with these folks whose home we've been living in for more than two weeks.

Official Launch: Thursday Morning, July 29th

Joel D Canfield — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:52:15 +0000

We're off to Hoquiam, Washington, leaving tomorrow morning. (I didn't know where it was either.)

We leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow, drive 12 hours, and stay with Ralph and Kelly and their kids.

We will eat. We will play music. We will have peace.

Funny how things kept bouncing around, not knowing where they were going to land; even our plans with Ralph and Kelly changed in the past 18 hours since we first talked about it.

Must Have Luggage

Joel D Canfield — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:28:48 +0000

That could be a noun, were it hyphenated, but it's a short phrase describing a need.

We have luggage. It's pretty battered. It has served us well, but it's nearing the end of its own personal journey.

What have you personally used for lugging stuff around (that's what you do with luggage, you lug) that you'd never leave home without? What would you recommend for a family of 3 who don't have a budget but still need good solid luggage?

What I really want is Joe's trunks (4 of them) from Joe Vs. the Volcano. I suspect that's not in my immediate future.

Free Download of Our Theme Song

Joel D Canfield — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:59:15 +0000

In February of 2009 I wrote and recorded a pair of songs about my desperate need for travel. We thought it would be nice to share them will all our supporters, so here, absolutely free, is the MP3 of Camel's Lash/Not Just Believe (14.35 MB).

Download Camel's Lash/Not Just Believe (14.35 MB)

About the Music

Camel's Lash

Inspired by a photo I saw of a caravan of camels, taken from the air. Miles and miles of red sand, and those camels trudging across the waste. Something inspiring and grand about it.

Other than cymbal, mandolin, vocal, and egg shakers, this is all my cheap Casio keyboard. Since I've never been able to make looping work, I actually played all repetitive percussion tracks (eight of them) all the way through. Assisted on the egg shakers by Fiona who was 4 at the time.

Camel's Lash is the instrumental introduction to . . .

Not Just Believe

for Robyn Davidson (and myself)

A long time ago in I heard someone on TV talking about how restrained their life had been, how they'd read about far off places but never been anywhere. She summed it up by saying, "I want to know, not just believe, the world is round." It struck me, even then, that I've always felt that way.

I could make these liner notes into a book about how badly I suffer from wanderlust.

A caravan of angry camels tramping o'er the dunes
Precious cargo swaying to and fro
They circle round and round the map that's tacked up on my wall
As I lay restless, dreaming here below

They never seem to tire as they make their dusty way
Endlessly they circle 'round and 'round
They never take me with 'em on a journey far away
To see the things that Marco Polo found

I want to know the world is round
Not just believe

I read about those far off lands and wonder what it's like
To wander through a market in Peru
To taste the precious spices of Madagascar's coast
And ride a camel into Timbuktu

Let me see the sails of a flying clipper ship
Grow on the horizon as it nears
Show me what the jungle's like in darkest Africa
And the beauty of the garden in Algiers

I want to know the world is round
Not just believe

With Slocum and with Dana, two years before the mast
Help Amundsen find Scott in frozen lands
Then warmer climes with Ibn Battuta, out of old Tangier
Learn wisdom's seven pillars in the sands

I want to tramp with Halliburton that romantic road
For seven years I'll ponder in Tibet
Fly with Saint-Exupéry into the desert sands
And make a mark no one will e'er forget

I want to know the world is round
Not just believe

Sponsors and Supporters and Everyone Wins

Sue L Canfield — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:37:37 +0000

I've been busy working with individuals and businesses who would like to sponsor and support our efforts to work while on the road. This week I'm specifically working with those who want to sponsor and support the workshop for virtual assistants we are planning in August in Vancouver. We are working to create a situation where each sponsors and supporter receives as much value from their support of our efforts as we receive. That way everyone wins!

So here are some things I'm working on this week to gain support for our trip to host a workshop for virtual assistants in Vancouver.

Contacted 4 organizations related to the virtual assistant industry for sponsorship in exchange for promoting their organizations in every way possible
Contacted an additional organization we do business with to discuss possible sponsorship
Contacted individuals who are willing to contribute physical product, such as a book or CD, for give aways at the workshop in exchange for promoting their services and product. We already have 2 confirmed and are awaiting details to announce shortly.
Contacted Virtual Assistants around the world asking to support the cause by purchasing one or more of our products for Virtual Assistants, such as the book The Commonsense Virtual Assistant - Becoming an Entrepreneur, Not an Employee, or the workbook, Building Blocks: Succeed as a Chief Virtual Officer, in exchange for promoting their businesses.

There has been great response to date and lots of support and well wishers. Donations are beginning to come in and those who are not able to give monetary support are asking how else they can support the cause. Here are ways you can show your support.

Click that Donate button on the left and make a donation of any amount.
Click on the Store button on the navigation bar and make a purchase. More items will be added soon.
Follow us on Twitter (@NomadCanfields) and retweet our posts.
Share this blog with everyone you know and mention it on Facebook.

Thank you to those of you who have already shown your support in some way or another! Watch for updates daily. We'll be acknowledging our supports on our Shout Outs and Ballyhoo page.

Win/Win Sponsorship

Joel D Canfield — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:40:30 +0000

(If you know why you're here you can jump right to the survey; otherwise, read on!)

As Best Beloved and I plan a life as nomads, we're looking for ways to create mutual benefit; the proverbial 'win/win', for ourselves and the other lives we touch, or could touch.

The folks who are putting us up on our first trip are getting business coaching, cooking (I'm very good) and music (all modesty aside, or shoved under the mattress even) I'm a great songwriter. We get something precious to us (a bed at night and a home cooked meal) and they get something they value.

It's always nice to have a little extra in the travel fund, but traditional sponsorship won't cut it here. We don't want to wear jackets with a swoosh everywhere we go, or be seen publicly drinking from a silver beverage can or any of that.

We want to find sponsors to whom we can offer something they value, something they can get best from a traveling family of remarkable people, and who'll consider the material contribution small by comparison.

Win/win.

I've prepared the World's Shortest Survey to gather ideas. A few ideas have already been floated, but ideas are a great big ocean. Float as many as you want.