Tuesday, August 20, 2013

why oh why?

why oh why oh why am i dragging my feet on booking my next trip?  i'd like an answer on this.  and i feel like i know it but i don't want to realize it.  or something like that.

i've decided to go to europe to visit friends that i met on my travels... start in london.  go to munich october 2-6 to meet up with luke and friends for oktoberfest.  can't believe i will have gone to two oktoberfests in my lifetime.  my life is great.  i also want to go back to prague and visit poland.  and fly from warsaw to singapore.  travel southeast asia for 4 months (i'll be missing thanksgiving, christmas and new years) then coming back to boston.

that sounds like i'm trying to do a lot.  am i?  i can work along the way maybe... in a hostel or something.  maybe be able to teach english.  not sure on the qualifications.

last night i went to an info session about the peace corps.  yes, i'm thinking of enrolling there as well.  i pretty much have decided that having a "normal" life is not for me.  the thought of settling down to one place, owning a house, having kids or even getting married is just stifling to me.  i know it works for a lot of people... but for me, i think i need more of a helter skelter life (thank you chris mccandless).  i miss the meeting new people EVERY day.  i was just talking to my friend in london about it.  he mentioned it and i couldn't agree more.  eventually you do get sick of saying the same things over and over... but overall... my goodness it's great.

okay.... more to come on booking my trip.... i just needed to get that off my chest apparently.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

as i'm thinking of my next journey...

excerpts from the book "into the wild" by jon krakauer which i instantly fell in love with....

"i'd like to repeat the advice i gave you before, in that i think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing or been too hesitant to attempt.  so many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.  the very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.  the joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.  if you want to get more out of life, ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy.  but once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty."

"don't settle down and sit in one place.  move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon.  you are still going to live a long time, ron, and it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience."

"you will see things and meet people and there is much to learn from them.  and you must do it economy style, no motels, do your own cooking, as a general rule spend as little as possible and you will enjoy it much more immensely."

only on page 58 of a 203 page book... these are the people who inspire me to travel... to get out and see the world.  and i thank them, because the world is awesome and amazing.  thank you chris mccandless for being a free spirit and following your heart and passion to see something outside the norm.  and jon krakauer for putting the pieces together so that i could read about it.  it's kinda the modern day "on the road".