Are the best days behind me or in front of me?
My adventure started on March 9th at 8:00am. I took a red-eye
5 hour flight from Hamburg to New Delhi. I had no expectations of India besides
that I knew it was a third world country. It lived up to this expectation, and
then some. Third world countries are quite fascinating in regards to
experiencing instead of just assuming you know. You have no idea what to
expect, except the worst, and then when you experience it, you think of how
much worse it is than you expected. Imagine a wild west world with limited
governmental assistance, impoverished and malnourished masses, diseases run
rampant, with a toxic water supply and pollution over major cities that makes it
hard to breathe. Mix in the fact there are limited street lights and signs, and
monkeys harass the hell out of everyone in order to steal meals or shiny
objects, and a dry heat that is unbearable in summer months. India also has
every season, from the mountains to the desert, to the tropics, there is no
shortage of climate in this country.
Scuba diving is unreal. I never realized I would love it so
much. You are with a group of people examining marine life up close unlike in
the forest. In a forest, you can't get a few inches away from a squirrel as it
munches its lunch. In the ocean, you can get so close to a lot of marine life
and simply watch as it lives its life. There is a meditative principle in
diving that drew me to like it more and more as I did it more. It was awkward
at first but it takes getting used to. Eventually you get very comfortable and
next thing you know, you're 100ft under water wondering why, then you notice a
school of fish and you're immersed in the moment of awesomeness surrounding
you. We ended up diving 12 times, completing skills like mask and regulator
removal, a night dive, deep dives, and an eco-dive (we got a free dive for
cleaning up the ocean floor, how cool right?).
On the last day we visited the top of Thailand, Doi Inthanon
and saw a Thai fight. Doi means "mountain" in Thai, Inthanon was the
name of a King who had 36 wives, but only 1 of those got the
"privilege" of being his Queen and having her own temple on top of
this mountain with the King.
Hanoi is a very busy city with a lot of overcast weather. VN is a very wet country and rain season was about to start in May and last until September or so. The overcast weath in Hanoi was much different than the beach and sun I was coming from, it was gloomy. Although something about VN was charming in it's own way. I can't say it was the cleanliness of the streets, or the overly capitalistic feel of the businesses, no. It was probably the Pho, definitely the Pho.
One last interesting note is how Koreans have
relationships with each other. My friend described it as a
"skin-ship". It is completely normal for a heterosexual same-sex pair
of friends of all ages to hold hands, hug a lot, and touch each other in a
non-sexual manner. I saw it everywhere. At first I wondered if there were just
a lot of these couples but then I realized they are all just friends who are
comfortable with their sexuality and expressing their normal feelings with
signs of intimacy. This is one thing I really appreciated in SK and realized
how a stigma in America would never allow us to get to crossing our personal
boundaries for this. We are all human, humans need touch, there is nothing
wrong with showing a friend you care about them with some caring and intimate
moments.
One day, I'll look back on life and say, "Damn, I'm
glad I did that."
The past 18 months have been quite a roller coaster, my work
was by all means not glamorous, and often times completely negative. I loved
living in Germany for 15 months and getting to experience a little more about
how Germans live. I managed to go to 21 new countries, making a total of 29. I
wouldn't yet say I am "well-traveled", but decently traveled is not
out of the question. Well-traveled is definitely on its way. (Foreshadowing?).
Countries visited:
USA, Jamaica, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, U.K. - England, Spain,
Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Bosnia, Greece,
Hungary, Morocco, Israel, Jordan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and South Korea.
While my adventures in Europe were pretty adventurous and
often times dangerous- Bier fests, Hiking the Zugspitze without a harness,
getting robbed in Budapest, fleeing a crazy drug dealer, and many more
unspeakable stories. This post is about my time in Asia after leaving Germany.
I have always known I have wanted to travel more and
experience things the average person doesn't get to. After all, I know I am
blessed and privileged with a great life. I have been given an opportunity in this life to
explore and seek things others will never be able to attain due to limited
resources, lack of will, socioeconomic factors, racism, etc. I have been dealt
a great hand and I plan on going all in. If I do not, it will seem I have
wasted this life, and no one wants to have that feeling.
The plan was quite simple, but would be challenging; Get out
of my comfort zone in order to stretch it further. I left a lot of room for
activities. All I did was booked my flight to India, my workaway, the
meditation retreat, and my flight to Thailand. I did some research about a few
areas before I left, but much of my information was given to me by fellow
travelers along the way. One thing I realized is that planning everything is a
headache, it leaves no room for creative spontaneity while traveling. You might
meet some amazing people but you won't be able to get to know them because you
have already booked a flight 3 weeks in advance, or a hostel in a different
city. Slow down, converse, learn a little.
India - March 2018
My adventure started on March 9th at 8:00am. I took a red-eye
5 hour flight from Hamburg to New Delhi. I had no expectations of India besides
that I knew it was a third world country. It lived up to this expectation, and
then some. Third world countries are quite fascinating in regards to
experiencing instead of just assuming you know. You have no idea what to
expect, except the worst, and then when you experience it, you think of how
much worse it is than you expected. Imagine a wild west world with limited
governmental assistance, impoverished and malnourished masses, diseases run
rampant, with a toxic water supply and pollution over major cities that makes it
hard to breathe. Mix in the fact there are limited street lights and signs, and
monkeys harass the hell out of everyone in order to steal meals or shiny
objects, and a dry heat that is unbearable in summer months. India also has
every season, from the mountains to the desert, to the tropics, there is no
shortage of climate in this country. |
| Participating in a traditional Hindu ceremony |
With all of these crazy culture shocks happening around the
foreigner, there is also some kind of charm to India, a spiritual happening
that is beyond explanation and reasoning. India holds the world's oldest
religion, Hinduism, dating back an estimated 3500 years and it is still widely practiced
throughout the country. If you can get behind the mantras, the chanting, and
wildly fascinating and creative beliefs of this ancient religion, there is
something here for you. I participated in several practices in a town called
Vrindavan, where I arrived on the first day after being subjected to one very
elaborate scam being played on all westerners in Delhi.
The ride to Vrindavan from Delhi was an absolute exhausting
culture shock. I was very tired from no sleep on the plane and I had to take a
3 hour taxi ride to this remote town in order to find a temple I hadn't been to
in a city that had 5000 temples, without wifi or a data plan. Talk about a shit
show. It took over an hour to get out of Delhi traffic, over 21 million people
live in this city and I must have seen 8 million of them. After getting out of
Delhi, we got on a "highway" and I thought the worst was behind us, I
was very wrong. India has limited infrastructure. The highway ended shortly
after beginning and we were driving head on into traffic on a side road and my
cab driver was honking the entire time. A cow stumbled across our path and we
waited and honked while it would slowly pass. Kids were playing soccer in the
streets while emaciated hogs and dogs were chowing down on trash on the side of
the road. We would get back on the dilapidated highway system and drive for 5
minutes, before repeating an episode I had already scene, or some version of
it. This would continue for the next 2 restless hours, and I never got used to
it. I simply observed and sometimes chuckled out of absolute shock. Only in
India.
 |
| The school we volunteered at |
I arrived in Vrindavan after a long day extended from the
previous day. As far as I could tell, I was the only white foreigner in this
town, or at least the only one that stood out. I would soon discover there were
many foreigners but they were all dressed in the local garments of loose
fitting shirts and pants, head wraps, and scarves. I had on my backpacker boots
and hiking pants. My workaway was at an ashram called Vrinda Kunj, which my
driver asked 8 people how to get to. The practicing monks were very welcoming.
I went out to eat local food with one and got a SIM card for $6 for the whole
month, because there is no wifi anywhere in India and you'd be crazy to go
without knowing where you are. I discussed life and religion with this Monk,
whose name was "Dina", meaning "Person of the lowest
people", in Sanskrit. It was a wild first day, but I made it.
 |
| Sneakin pics of Darya |
For the next 10 days, I would be helping keep the ashram
clean, feeding people, painting, gardening, and learning more about Hinduism
and how to say a few words. I would meet many incredible and beautiful people
including my new Belarusian friend Darya who would teach me many things about
spirituality and Hinduism. I would see
many incredible temples along the way and eat a lot of good food. I would
participate in several rituals, and get my palm read by an astrologist. On my
third day, I would get new pants robbed by a monkey and have to trade him for
juice in return for them. I would see many naked men walking through the
streets as if it was the norm. I would be ever-present in a blur of a world
that I could not relate to in the slightest, but I would feel a spiritual
presence that could not be felt anywhere else in the world. I would become
uplifted by the mere existence of this city, but I would be equally humbled by
the death, disease, poverty, and garbage that littered the streets. This would
add to my appreciation for how great my life is, and I would vow to myself to
simply let things go from now on. Every day was gratitude and appreciation day
in India.
I went to Agra for a few days upon leaving Vrindavan, and it
was night and day. So many tourists who had flown to India simply to see the
Taj Mahal. So many tourists who would never understand or truly get an
understanding of the struggle outside of this more developed city. Was I any
better than them? No, but I did hope many of them were staying for longer than
a few days.
 |
| The incredible Taj Mahal at sunrise |
I left Agra after being amazed by the Taj, which was
absolutely stunning. My mouth stayed open in awe the entire time. I then headed
to my meditation retreat in Lucknow. I wrote an entire blog post on this
experience - HERE - so I won't say much about this 10 day experience. I told a friend this was
the most mentally challenging thing I have ever done in my life, and he said
"Well, you must not live a hard life." I told him to try one and get
back to me, but he never will read this or try one, and that is the difference
between his ignorance and my desire for growth. I understand I am not better
than him, or anyone else, but I always try to be better than myself. I am
always trying to advance and I see this as a challenge I willingly put myself
in to grow, learn, and understand more about myself and examine the way my mind
works. No reason to knock on anyone's
experiences.
After this experience, I was incredibly thankful for
everything, I felt lighter and overall happier. I appreciated little things,
like a comfortable bed and a shower, and being able to talk to others, read,
and write, on a daily basis. I headed back to Lucknow city and did a couchsurf
with a local Indian man who had great reviews. His name is Biren, and I would
stay with him again in an instance. He used to own a restaurant for a long time
and made a decent amount of money and his way of giving back was by letting
travelers stay at his place and showing them the hospitality of India. I met
several other backpackers here; Pratap from Varanasi, Pallav from Lucknow, and
Ricardo from Mexico, all with their own delightful and wonderful stories. The
conversation was enlightening, the food was delicious, and the end of my time
in India was ideal.
Thailand - April 2018
I arrived in Bangkok on April 1st and I just wanted to rest
a bit. I didn't plan anything for this leg of the trip, but I knew I would be
heading to one of the islands, and Chiang Mai at some points. I wanted to see a
few temples and read on a beach for a bit, and that is literally all I had
planned. I Googled "best island to go to in Thailand", and one of the
first things that popped up was scuba diving on Koh Tao, I was intrigued. The
first night in Bangkok, I met a German guy named Maxim who had just come from
Koh Tao and he said he got advanced certified and gave me the run down. Looks
like I was heading to Koh Tao the next evening.
 |
| The views on Koh Tao; Mango Viewpoint |
 |
| Fabrice and I had an instant Bromance |
On the bus ride to the Chumphon pier I met an Austrian named
Eva and we talked for a while about all kinds of topics, she was amazingly
intelligent and engaging. I told her to be spontaneous and meet me in Chiang
Mai for Songkran with Shelby, my American friend. She was skeptical at first
because I could be a killer (lol) but we exchanged contacts and would later
reunite in Chiang Mai. I had only planned on being on Koh Tao for a few nights,
but I ended up staying for 10 days and getting advanced diver certified. Meaning I can dive solo up to 30m (99ft) anywhere in the world. It
started off as just open water certified, but I met another German named
Fabrice (Germans were everywhere!), and we decided to stick together for the
rest of our time in Thailand and get certified together. Hoping to see this
dude again in the near future.
Scuba diving is unreal. I never realized I would love it so
much. You are with a group of people examining marine life up close unlike in
the forest. In a forest, you can't get a few inches away from a squirrel as it
munches its lunch. In the ocean, you can get so close to a lot of marine life
and simply watch as it lives its life. There is a meditative principle in
diving that drew me to like it more and more as I did it more. It was awkward
at first but it takes getting used to. Eventually you get very comfortable and
next thing you know, you're 100ft under water wondering why, then you notice a
school of fish and you're immersed in the moment of awesomeness surrounding
you. We ended up diving 12 times, completing skills like mask and regulator
removal, a night dive, deep dives, and an eco-dive (we got a free dive for
cleaning up the ocean floor, how cool right?).  |
| Me, Eva, Shelb, and Fabrice living it up |
On April 12th, it was time to head to Chiang Mai for
Songkran. This is the Thai New Year with the intention of embodying purification
of the past and moving on. It was everything I needed at the time. Fabrice and
I collaborated with Eva and Shelby to meet in Chiang Mai where we split an
Airbnb and experienced the festival together. This was the most fun I had had
since I was 8 years old playing with water guns and water balloons. I had
always got in trouble for spraying people that didn't want to be sprayed as a
kid, but it was acceptable and expected here. The festival consisted of taking
to the streets for 3 straight days to soak the locals and tourists with as much
water as humanly possible. Add a little alcohol to the festival and you have
one heck of a wild time.
 |
| This pic sums up the festival |
After the festival, we decided to go as a group to an
elephant camp for a day of playing with, feeding, and bathing elephants. This
was another magical experience in itself. These intelligent, majestic, and
massive creatures capture your awareness at all times when you are around them.
We got to learn about the history of elephants in Thailand, and the habits of
the elephants. Then we got to feed them endless bananas and sugar cane. We
trekked through the jungle with them for a while and took plenty of pictures
with them. Eventually we got to show them respect by giving them a mud bath and
rinsing them afterwards. Upon our ride back to Chiang Mai, we got absolutely
drenched in the back of truck for several hours because Songkran was still
going on, it turned out to be quite an amazing day.
 |
| She loved me |
On the last day we visited the top of Thailand, Doi Inthanon
and saw a Thai fight. Doi means "mountain" in Thai, Inthanon was the
name of a King who had 36 wives, but only 1 of those got the
"privilege" of being his Queen and having her own temple on top of
this mountain with the King.
That night, we went to a Thai fight, where we got to see the
national sport take place. We paid about $12 for 3 hours of fighting. There
were 2 fights with children fighting, literally 12-13 years old. In one of
these fights, a kid took a high kick to the head and was knocked out. It was
brutal. The main event was anticlimactic with a lot of grabbing. It went to
decision. The fight that interested me the most was one where an American girl
fought a Thai girl (of course). This was a great back and forth brawl with a
few huge kicks, punches, and slams but the Thai girl ended up taking the
victory. It was awesome to experience this cultural sport in person even if it
does not coincide with how the western world views the ideal of sports. In the
west, everyone's national sports are team-oriented with a shared outcome, in
Thailand, you fight by yourself for individual glory. It says a lot about the
dynamic of the society.
 |
| Doi Inthanon |
Vietnam - April/May
2018
The next day was travel and goodbye day for all of us. We
were all heading to a new and different
location or back home. Eventually everyone returns back home. But for
now, it was time to say goodbye and head to Vietnam with Fabrice. On a spur of
a moment, Fabrice decided he would head to VN with me. I told him he need a
visa and it was a headache for me to get one. He was silent and looked at his
phone for a second and then goes "Nope, German's don't need a visa
there." As he smiled. German's rarely need a visa for any country, they
have one of the strongest passports the world knows. American's have beef with
countries, so our citizens don't get as good of perks as others do. Now we were
heading to Hanoi!
Hanoi is a very busy city with a lot of overcast weather. VN is a very wet country and rain season was about to start in May and last until September or so. The overcast weath in Hanoi was much different than the beach and sun I was coming from, it was gloomy. Although something about VN was charming in it's own way. I can't say it was the cleanliness of the streets, or the overly capitalistic feel of the businesses, no. It was probably the Pho, definitely the Pho.
The traffic in Hanoi was mad. Honking everywhere. Scooters
flying every which way. It reminded me of India, except the streets were
complete and there were no cows. A tourist could get in some awkward footwork walking
across the Hanoi streets and it was never lacking entertainment. I quickly
realized you have to time your crossing and then go with unwavering confidence
and practically dare a driver to hit you- they will do anything they can to
avoid you.
After 2 nights of hanging with Fabrice, we had to part ways.
It was a sad time. I had grown fondly of this dude and we had a good
connection. I hope he takes me up on my offer to host him in the states one day
because I do plan on going back to Germany and seeing him and all the other
Germans I have made friends with over the past 18 months. Fabrice was heading
south after a week or so, but I was going north, way north.
I made my way to Yen Bai that evening. This town was at the
foothills of the northern mountain range of the SaPa valley. I was about 2
hours from the China border, and I would be calling this home for the next 10
days for a workaway on a local farm. My host and I were in contact through
phone but I had never got to speak to her in person, but I did get to meet her
parents...who did not speak any English! For the first couple days I
entertained the hostel area and taught VN kids English and played games with
them. The work was easy and minimal. I ended up going to their farm on the 3
day via scooter. It was a 30 minute drive and the scenery was of great
Vietnamese farm area. Imagine jungles and mountains with farms in between.
 |
| Down the street from the workaway in Yen Bai |
The workaway was quite an experience. Since no one in the
area spoke any English at all, we resulted to Google translate with a lot of
hand gestures and simple grunts. It worked out, but the work was still minimal.
I always felt as if I could be doing more to help and I was not sure what to do
all the time. Maybe this was my American work ethic trying to come out- always
looking for more work to be done when really there wasn't much. My days
consisted of wheeling a bucket of supplies up to a hill and planting trees on
the side of a very slippery and muddy hill. I did not mind the physical work
and actually welcomed it as a part of my daily physical activity, but part of
me had become majorly connected to my surroundings and the planet since India.
I realized I was digging up a giant ecosystem under the mud filled with worms,
bugs, and frogs. I did not quit but I felt some sense of remorse on each dig
which I tried to justify by saying these people need this land to live more
than these animals.
 |
| Some temples on top of a mountain |
When I was not working on their land, I was attempting to
explore the area on the scooter they let me borrow. I paid about $.80 for a
liter of gas and took off to the surrounding streets. I found a few waterfalls,
some valley areas, and plenty of Bia Hoi's where everyone wanted to drink beer
with me. Many of the locals had rarely seen foreigners, but they seemed to love
the fact that I was there on their home land enjoying life how they had
intended it to be lived.
I came to quickly realize how much meat the Vietnamese eat.
They eat more meat than Germans do, but they actually eat vegetables as well.
Every meal had meat in it, which was quite a change from where I had come from.
I had no meat in India, only once a day in Thailand (maybe not that much), and
now they served it in every meal. On the first day I was there, they
slaughtered a pig and cut it up to split for 3 families. This hog would provide
meat for them for the next several weeks. Trust me, it was delicious, but my
stomach was not always having the meat for every single meal. I realized how
much better my mind and body feel when I eat less meat. I think clearer, I
sense things better, and I have more energy. There is a direct psychological
and physiological correlation between less meat and feeling better for my body.
Having said that, I tried everything they cooked up as to not be rude, and
because I am a foodie.
Every day, "Mama Han", as I would begin to start
calling her, would whip up breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a platter. In the
morning's, we had rice, for lunch, we had rice, and for dinner, we had rice.
Ha. But with the rice, it was always accompanied by something different and
delicious. Breakfast's included some kind of egg mix with a typical VN
vegetable, and some pork dish. Lunch included more pork, some different
vegetables, and one vegetable that was incredibly bitter that gives you the
face of having just smelled a fart. Dinner was a platter of different VN dishes
including spring rolls, Pho, pork, and anything else she could come up with.
Everything was incredibly tasty, and could be dipped in fish-oil or soy sauce.
In between meals, she would serve up some local mango's. Let's just say I was
well-fed during this time.
I was a guest in their house here, but they made me feel
part of their family. My stomach was not feeling well one day and Papa Han gave
me a bitter tasting plant from the garden that was good for digestion. It
actually did make me feel better after having it for a day or so. I was
thankful for the remedy. They let me borrow the scooter for my own adventures.
They gave me space when I wanted to write or relax on my own. They brought
their entire family over for dinner and we all dined together. They did not
mind if the kids came and jumped on me and hung all over me. I was a stranger,
but they trusted me in their home, and I reciprocated the feeling by opening as
much as possible to them given the language barrier. Sometimes the best and
most pure form of communication is body language, for spoken communication can
get lost in (Google) translation.
After 10 days in Yen Bai, it was time to head further north
to SaPa Valley. I was heading here for the serene views and tallest mountain in
Vietnam. I won't delve to far into this part of my trip because I plan on
writing a blog on how to climb the tallest mountain in Vietnam, the Fansipan,
without paying a guide and the local government and doing it on your own
instead. I wrote a review on TripAdvisor on how to do this and a German couple
messaged me saying they used my advice and did it. Makes me feel good! I will
update this blog with a link when I complete that blog.
Seoul, Korea - May 2018
I ended up in Seoul on May 3rd or 4th. I had one hell of a
headache getting out of Vietnam because they have some very shit policies on
their airlines. They will take advantage of every dollar they can get out of
you. Bags do not fly free. I checked one bag for equivalent of $30. I tried my
hardest to carry it on, but they saw right through my usual, "but I'm just
a stupid tourist" skit.
Seoul was by far the most westernized part of my trip. I had
now gone so far east, that I was back west. The culture was strikingly similar
to any American city I had visited, with the only exception being that everyone
was Asian. They were incredibly hospitable here. Very friendly and welcoming at
every turn and many people were inclined to help you if you looked lost at all
or if you simply asked for directions.
 |
| Dumplings and something else delicious |
My friend Cole attempted to teach me a few sayings in
Korean. Yeoboseyo
was my go-to saying, which means Hello. It was common to say this to anyone and
everyone, and Koreans seemed to love if foreigners interacted with them, unlike
in America. I quickly realized how addicted to their phones everyone was. Right
when you get on a subway or any form of transportation, everyone would be glued
to their phones the entire ride. I did not buy data in SK because it was very
high priced. Instead I would leech Cole's unlimited data plan when I was around
him. Sharing is caring.
 |
| Korean BBQ |
Seoul has an incredible food culture. This was
one of my favorite places for food. The flavors were vast. I had Kimchi,
Bibimbap, BBQ, and a dish with rice and cheese that is brought to you in a
skillet and kept warm right in front of you as you place it in lettuce wraps
and chow down. One of the most ridiculous things I ate was a corn dog covered
in cinnamon sugar with ketchup. It was disgustingly good. South Korea is fat
and I fit right in. I ate a lot of food and walked around Seoul, but I barely
saw much of the city in the week I was there. It is huge. With over 20 million
people living in the metropolitan area, the city spans several miles and there
are a lot of different suburbs to explore.
We did what we could with the time we could.
We rode the subway to new areas, we saw plenty of temples, we went to a
super-naked Korea spa, and we drank a healthy amount of Makgeoli. We also ended
up taking a tour to the DMZ and seeing a train station that is one day hoped to
go to Pyongyang. We went deep into one of the tunnels the DPRK dug in order to
stage an attack on Seoul. The experience at the DMZ was one of a kind, but the
amount of selfie sticks and tourist shops ended up stealing from the feeling of
being in one of the most dangerous and tense places on Earth. We were in Seoul
at a good time with the peace summit having just happened and Kim-Jong-Un
crossing into SK and holding hands with President Moon. For Korea, and the
world, this is an historical time that will be looked back on as one of the
greatest moments mankind has traversed.
One last interesting note is how Koreans have
relationships with each other. My friend described it as a
"skin-ship". It is completely normal for a heterosexual same-sex pair
of friends of all ages to hold hands, hug a lot, and touch each other in a
non-sexual manner. I saw it everywhere. At first I wondered if there were just
a lot of these couples but then I realized they are all just friends who are
comfortable with their sexuality and expressing their normal feelings with
signs of intimacy. This is one thing I really appreciated in SK and realized
how a stigma in America would never allow us to get to crossing our personal
boundaries for this. We are all human, humans need touch, there is nothing
wrong with showing a friend you care about them with some caring and intimate
moments.
Wrapping it up
 |
| I promise I am looking at something cool |
By the end of this wild 18 months, I came to
realize a lot about myself and my life. I came to realize how much control I
have over myself and my actions in my life. Before I left, I had this dire fear
of getting comfortable in life and feeling stuck. I felt as though had I let
more time go on without making a decision and acting on it, then I would let my
life slip by without accomplishing any personal goals I had set in my life. I
felt as if I would simply go with the flow instead of attaining an opportunity
to learn, grow, and take a giant leap that would thrust me outside of my
comfort zone into a land unknown and uncertain. I felt as if fear would enable
me to truly understand what I was made of and it would make me incapable of
accruing confidence that would propel me into the future knowing what I am
truly capable of. Have I realized my full potential? Of course not. I never
will. The idea is that I am learning and growing and continuing to try and
reach it. But each day I get closer, the bar gets set higher and the only
person I can be better than is the person I was yesterday. This life is not a
competition against others as it is against the self. You aren't in competition
with what others are doing. You are competing with your own mind in order to
gain control and put yourself on a path that aligns with what you value in
life. That is the ultimate goal. Of course you will die one day, and this could
scare the hell out of you to the point of not allowing you to do anything, or
it could have the opposite effect and make you want to act and accomplish
everything you have ever put your mind to! Don't let it be the former. We need
more people on this planet that are willing to realize their impermanence and
take life head on instead of cowering away and letting it float by. To get what
you have never had, you have to do what you have never done.
Over these 18 months, I had come to
grow very used to meeting wonderful individuals and then parting ways with them
shortly after. That is how traveling goes, especially when it's solo; you meet
someone else or a small group, you get to know them for a day or several days,
and then you part ways wondering if you will ever cross these beautiful souls
again. More often than not, the answer is no you won't. I came to the
understanding that as awesome as traveling solo can be, as much as you can
learn about yourself, it is equally appreciating to travel with friends or ones
you care about. Traveling can be as introspective as you want it to be, or it
can be as exciting and thrilling as having a group of friends go with you can
be. By traveling with others, you really learn a lot about those you travel
with and the moments you are experiencing are only as awesome as the people you
are experiencing them with.
Although Fabrice and I were different. I met him at the
beginning of my Thailand trip and stuck with him for about 3 weeks until we got
to Vietnam. He had been traveling for the past 9 months. This German had been
all over the place in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. His plan was to travel
for a year because he had just finished school and wanted a true gap year. We
talked about all kinds of things, and learned a lot from each other and things
we had experienced. We talked about how Americans don't do the gap year like
Aussies/Kiwi's, and Europeans. It is not seen as something normal to do in
America. In America, we are encouraged to go to school, pick a degree, get that
degree while accruing debt, get a job to pay off said debt, and not take many
breaks. We work hard for life and then we die. There is no gap year encouraged.
We are pieces of property. We are assets. We are tools used to fix, fuel, and
tweak the conglomerate of a machine that is America. American resolve is what
moves the world forward through hard work and ingenuity, and every generation
is taught the perpetuated regurgitated belief that if we do not continue
working hard, then we will never get to where we want to be. But what about when
that hard work never ends? Then you have raced your life away on the endless
rat wheel, and all you have to show for it is a fund of cash and a life cut
short from health problems. In America, we work hard to trade our youth and
health for money. Then we get older and spend all of the money we accumulated
in order to trade it for health and moments of youth again. It is paradoxical,
and exhausting at best. Why can we not take the time to shift this paradigm?
Slow down a bit. Realize that life is what we live for. Not the company we are
part of.
As my adventure came to a close, I was excited
to head home. I was excited to see friends and family and catch up on
everything that had been happening in our lives. I had learned so much and I
wanted to share it with people as much as I wanted to learn what others had
learned. I was very aware that I had not seen friends, family, and
acquaintances in the past 18 months, and for me, everything had changed. But
for many of the people I would see, not much has changed, and I would be the
one sharing these stories they wish they could partake in. I quickly took a
step back and vowed to not share stories or lessons learned with people unless
they inquired. I would soon learn that not many people cared to inquire, which
was fine, but I knew I had gained a plethora of stories to tell my grandkids
one day, "Hey kids, want to hear about a time when Grandpa got lost and
scammed in India then 2 days later a monkey stole his pants?!" *Slaps knee
and laughs*. I can see it now.
Thanks for reading!
