On January 13th Christy and I began a trip that was meant to tour all over Europe and grow in ways that we could have not imagined. We wanted to expand ourselves beyond the borders of the cultural and mental perspectives we had come to know for the better part of our lives. We wanted to be open to the places and people we would see and meet, and in turn have them be open to us as well. When we arrived in Paris, the world was at our feet, and our bags were weighing us down to about that level as well. I could not imagine on that day knowing what I know now about myself or the world. I wish I had one of those moments in ‘Back to the Future’ where Marty warns doc about the Libyans shooting him when he first goes back, but unfortunately I don’t have an 85’ Delorian, or a nuclear reactor so I will just have to live with it. There isn’t too much I would tell myself besides don’t take any of this for granted because you might never get this chance again, this might be it so make the most of it, but I think somewhere all of us have those moments when important things in our lives happen to us, and inevitably we always have regrets because that is the human mind, always searching for more.
Looking back Paris was a great way to start the trip. It is a perfect city for a tourist. I mean every place you want to go is within a block of a metro, their tourist pass covers everything you need to do in the city outside of eating, and everything is maintained so well you cant help but think of yourself in a Disneyland type of atmosphere. And that’s how this trip was, and it truly just hit me, it was a slow process into the realities of the world. We started with magical almost unreal places and ended in a reality like I have not seen before. Italy I wouldn’t say fell somewhere in between but was its own place that cant really be boxed into one thing and I am sure anyone who has been there would agree. Italy just is what it is and they make no apologies for it, good or bad. People are so real there, and express themselves like no one I have ever met before, men are not afraid to love, or hate or not know. Everything is so old and in your face that you cant help but know your reality, embrace it and love yourself and your friends for who they are, good or bad. The places we visited for me were a long second to the people we met. My brothers that I now have there are priceless to me, and without them I could not even be close to someone I wish to be in the future, I left part of my heart with all of those great people as well as a bill for the chairs that I seem to break all over that country. I came into Italy thinking it would be nice if they restored all of their classics that way people can use them and appreciate the trueness of what the empire once was, and I left there realizing that is they key, it once was, and now it just is what it is and that seems to fit just right.
Thailand was the true knowledge of the trip for me. Besides being on my deathbed for the first week of my trip, I actually got to see what life is like for most of the world. Thailand has its monuments but it is a second world country, people are poor, they struggle, there currency is majorly devalued and the people struggle every day for things that we take so much advantage of. Even the tiniest things as toilet paper do not exists in the same ways, but most things we take advantage of do not exists in most of the world.
For better or worse this trip has forever changed ways I look at myself, my country, other countries, people close to me, and any possible perception I have had before. Looking back I do have regrets on aspects of the trip, but regrets are apart of life and if you don’t have those then it really isn’t life. Sure there are pictures that I wish I would of taken, places maybe I wish I would of seen a little more, or places I would of rather skipped and done something else, but if you know me, then disappointments have been littered through my life just like I am sure everyone of you somewhere along the line have them as well. So I want to thank everyone who was apart of making this trip so special. To my friends who always gave great advice to the people who helped us plan it and the people who were there in the places we were that made it so great. I want to give a special thanks to my travel partner, without her I wouldn’t have had the courage to do half of the things that we did. You truly bring out the best in me and make me a better person. Thank you so much for being you.
Cheer s to all of you around the world, especially those in Aisa right now, I was very lucky to leave when I did, but there are millions there right now who are not so lucky and anything you can do wheter it be money, prayers or just keeping them in your thoughts are important. We are all people of one world. Cultures, governments and walls are just perceptions
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