We have spent almost 12 years traveling the USA and around the world.  Living from van to tour bus to hotel and airbnb to camp ground, national park and more couches than we can count.  What started as a distant dream slowly, slowly bloomed into a dream we never could have imagined. 

There are plenty of pro's and con's.  And social media (and the internet in general) skews our realities into romance.  We walk between the peaks and valleys, trying to live as humble as possible.  We spent the whole year living in our van and saving our money so that we could come out to South Africa, rent a few AirBnb's at some of our favorite places and, of course, pay for the pre and post natal for the birth of our child.

South Africa is a special place for many reasons.
The diversity - biological and cultural to name a few.
Her beautiful coastline is not only the edge of the African continent but rough and rigged coastline that connects two Oceans. ​

Another thing that makes South Africa so special is how she is misunderstood. 
She bears the name of the magnificent African continent - which to some people in the western world, (Africa) carries a stigma of inferiority, or lack or poor when South Africa and the rest of this continent is far from that dogma. 

It was interesting to hear the words that came out of some peoples mouth.

We heard the "it's a dangerous place."
We heard the "it's not safe for white people."
We heard all about the "white genocide" being pushed by certain news media.
All of this came from Americans who don't have a passport and also have never been to Africa or know (really) anything about South Africa.

They just assumed we were going to have our baby out in the bush.
Which millions of people still do to this day.  And there is nothing wrong with that. ​

As I said earlier, we saved up our money all year to get a few really nice places (to us) so we could unwind after our tours and have a baby where we are comfortable and safe.

There were many people who don't understand that South Africa is, in a lot of ways, similar to USA, Europe and the rest of the western world. (Which is not why we travel here).

I hate saying this...
But too many times, the thing that made my fellow westerners pause their onslaught of intrusive you are a bad parent for going to (South) Africa to have your baby  interrogation was when Katie or myself would say the words "there are white people in South Africa! There are roads, and infrastructure and hospital (nice) hospitals, and healthcare and billions of people who are having healthy babies just like in America!"

Then we watch (over and over) peoples faces say exactly what is registering in their brains.
"Oh, there are white people and white culture there?? Ohh Uuhhh... maybe they (might) be safe after all." 

Why is it when my fellow privileged westerners learn that there are white people in (South) Africa that, all of a sudden, it's not as "bad" as we assumed it to be???

We never get to have that conversation though...

Africa is an extremely rich place.
It is more diverse than anywhere I've seen.
The people here and their faith in particular.
And I'm talking about all of their faiths.

Faith that comes from struggle.
Us privileged westerners can't fathom The Struggle here.
And the Rock Solid Faith that comes from that, in my opinion, is Richness that us privileged aren't privileged to feel unless we truly Struggle.

That is just my opinion though.
Katie and I don't measure a nation (or it's people) by it's GDP or how much money it has or doesn't have. Maybe that's just me though...

It was very important for Katie (and myself) to go where we were most comfortable.  Being in a safe place was the first priority.  Which is why we came to South Africa. :) 

There are problems here in South Africa.
Just like a few other places I know.

There are some thieves you do have to keep a look out for.

Hide yo kids.
Hide yo wife.
The baboons are everywhere!!

We just finished playing an awesome festival and went back to the free room they gave us. We're about to crawl into bed when I happened to look up.  (I wish I didn't).  See that "little dot" in the upper left hand corner?

Oh. My. God.    let me get the zoom lens...

So this guy was right above our bed... He was the bigger than the size of my whole hand...  The problem was that the ceiling was about 10 feet off the ground, so a newspaper wouldn't work. 

I thought about throwing a pillow at it, but then it dawned on me that it could probably catch the pillow and throw it back.  And, I definitely didn't want to piss it off before I turned off the lights.  (Plus, he had two somewhat smaller cousins on the other side of the room).

We sort of had a staring contest.  We agreed that we wont mess with him if he doesn't mess with us.

There are a few things that would warrant a new hotel room here in Africa.  Roided up tarantula's that make their homes above your head isn't necessarily one of them.  Especially if it's midnight, when there are probably no other available rooms anyway. 

Obviously there are more important struggles going on in Africa than this guy watching me while I sleep.  So, we just check our privilege and thank God that we woke up alive the next morning.  

#AfricaAintForSissies

We are extremely grateful to be in this magnificent country.  It's our third time touring South Africa and yet, sometimes it still feels like it's our first.  I get that feeling every time I come to Africa.  We've only spent about 13 months in the Motherland. Mostly in Kenya and South Africa, but also Botswana, Uganda and Egypt.  Africa is so big and so diverse it doesn't even feel like we scratched the surface. 

​The more time I spend here, the more I see how much I don't know. 

This tour is more regional than the previous cross country tours we did in 2013 and 2017.  Instead of living backpackers to backpackers, we are going to base ourselves between the Garden Route and Cape Town. 

The Garden Route is a beautiful drive that reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway in California or HWY 101 in Oregon Country.  The Garden Route goes east to west starting in Cape Town all the way to Port Elizabeth. ​

Katie and the baby are doing great.  The pregnancy is normal and we are so happy to be here right now.  We are both nesting pretty hard right now.  It still doesn't feel real that we're going to live in a house for 5 months...  Our bodies are still slowly winding down from the road. 

Last month we had a midwife appointment at our house.  I walked out to greet our midwife and immediately heard (not just her American accent) but a mid-western accent.  An American accent is easily identifiable to a lot of people around the world (mostly because of pop culture).  When she told me she was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin - living and working in South Africa, I knew there was a good chance we might have some things in common.

Our midwife told us about how her her best friend saved up some money, quit their jobs and flipped a coin to decide where they were going to spend the next year of their lives.  Heads is Vietnam, tails in South Africa.  Tails is was.  It didn't even take the full year for them to realize that they wanted to live in (the Garden Route of) South Africa so they went home, saved more money, came back out here and bought a beautiful plot of land on top of a mountain.  Her and her husband grow their own food and live in  one of the many communities that are rooted in African village life. 

Our midwife was one of the few people who totally understood why we came to South Africa to have our baby.  She understood so much that she didn't even ask any questions.  She laughed because she said she would do the same thing too. 

It's been nice playing shows along this beautiful coast.  I love the South African music scene.  I'm blessed to feel welcomed here.  The music and story lines go deep here.  Those lines of communication run through the veins that travel the length of this vast continent.

We are blessed to be a witness.

To be continued...

Here are a few of the highlights and accomplishments we were able to do through Journey4YOUth this year. Thank you to everyone who supported our music and the various causes we're passionate about.  2018 was the biggest year on the books.   We have more updates coming soon.

Katie and I would like to begin with Gratitude. Thank you all for another great year. We are going to take some time off the road and go live in South Africa for the next 5 months. We rented an airbnb on the Garden Route (Dec/Jan) and a small flat outside Cape Town (Feb/March). We'll use this time to create new art, write new music and learn how to be a family. That way we'll be ready and full of new life when we come back to USA next spring/summer.
​
I booked a few local shows and festivals during our time in South Africa. We can't wait to reconnect with our friends and community out there.
Thank you for showing us what is possible. 
Brian, Katie & New Baby.
​
2019 SOUTH AFRICA SUMMER TOUR8 DEC - Cocomo (Widlerness, SA) 6pm
14 DEC - The Seashack (Struisbaai/Cape Aghulas, SA) 2-5pm
16 DEC - Mahkanawe Music Festival (Soweto)(Johannesburg, SA)
22 DEC - Cocomo (Wilderness, SA) 6pm
23 DEC - Kaaimans (Wilderness, SA)
29 DEC - Cocomo (Wilderness, SA) 6pm
30 DEC - Wild Spirit New Year Festival (Natures Valley, SA)
31 DEC - NYE Party at African Bush Cafe & Farm (Hoekwil, SA)
2 JAN - Kaaimans (Wilderness, SA) 5pm
5 JAN - The Surf (Plettenberg Bay, SA) 830pm
7 JAN - Fairy Knowe Backpackers (Wilderness, SA) 8pm
11 JAN - Cocomo (Wilderness, SA) 6pm
​12 JAN - Scarab Market (Sedgefield, SA) 10am
19 JAN - The Surf (Plettenberg Bay, SA) 830pm
21 JAN - Barlycorn Music Club (Cape Town, SA) 10-1030pm
22 JAN - Quay4 on V&A Waterfront (Cape Town, SA) 7pm
26 JAN - Cafe Roux (Noordhoek/Cape Town, SA) 2pm
​27 JAN - The Brass Bell (Kalk Bay/Cape Town, SA) 3pm
23 FEB - House of Machines (Cape Town, SA) 930pm
10 MAR - The Brass Bell (Kalk Bay/Cape Town, SA) 3pm
11 MAR - House Concert (Muizeberg, SA) 6pm
15 MAR - Camel Rock (Scarborough, SA) 8pm
16 MAR - ReForest Festival (Platbos, SA)
17 MAR - ReForest Festival (Platbos, SA)
22 MAR - Fairy Knowe Backpackers (Wilderness, SA) 8pm
23 MAR - Scarab Market (Sedgefield, SA) 1030am
24 MAR - Kaimaans (Wilderness, SA) 6pm
30 MAR - Cocomo (Wilderness, SA) 6pm
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Please give a like/follow to the Brian Ernst Music + Journey4YOUth page(s) for more music, tour and non profit updates. Also - Katie just started a new page River of Humanity for all of her handcrafted jewelry.

I want to thank all of you who have helped build the stage I step on every night. It's a special stage - a sacred stage - not seen with the eyes but felt in my HeArt.
I feel it when I'm playing on the front porch at the local watering hole or on the old band shell in the city park. I feel it when I play at the summer music festivals and community concert series. I feel it in the gymnasium over at the high school and in the grass at the farmers market on Saturday morning.
I feel it on the cold concrete, down in the youth detention center and over at the Moria Refugee Camp. I feel it standing in the dirt, underneath the baobab tree in Kaswanga Village, Kenya. The stage I physically step on looks different every night, but the Reverence is the same. It doesn't matter if I'm playing for 2000 people or 2 bartenders, I know who put me there and Why. That's what makes it Sacred. Thank you.

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NEW SONG

"Nothing Left To Lose"

VERSE 1
I've seen some things that I can't forget.
Feels like a buried hatched beneath my chest.
I've seen the best and worst of Humanity. 
I'm still holding onto hope because I still believe.
A couple things that I conclude.
A couple times I've been called a fool.
Gonna see this world with both my eyes
Means seeing this world through anothers' eyes.

CHORUS
I'm singing to you. x2
You and you and you
I'm singing to you
Singing to me too.
I'm singing to you.
I got Nothing Left To Lose.

VERSE 2
It's getting real hard trying to find my place.
Getting real hard, trying to relate.
In a vast wasteland of apathy.
Cause there's a couple things that we'd rather not see.
I'm gonna speak up and sing out loud
Gonna sing it up and sing out loud.
Gonna see this world with both my eyes
Means seeing this world through anothers' eyes.

CHORUS

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And, thank you to everyone who has helped us by sharing our music and videos over the years. This is a multi-culture, multi-faith movement, grassroots in nature and as ancient as the common bond that connects all of Humanity. What effects you also effects me because we (as humanity) are all in this together.

#ItTakesAVillage #SummerTour
​

We are so grateful. 
This is crazy.

Life is moving so fast. 
Faster than I think we both thought. 
Every year revolves around the summer tour. 
(humble. blessed)
When the van starts going west, there is no stopping until the calendar runs dry.
(which is a good thing)

Summer is here in full force.
So Grateful. 

We have lots of gratitude to give out to our friends in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana. Everyone. Thank you. For real.

Photo: Sam Crump // The Art Garden Benefit Show (Salt Lake City, UT) 

We also had the pleasure to do an interview and three song performance on Park City Television. Thank you Terry Burden for having us on. We love coming on the show and spending time with you. Here is the interview below.