Ruminations of this post have been turning in my mind over the past several weeks as I know that on this blog I have simply given updates and reports on "what" we have been doing, but not so much on "how" this has been affecting us, or even the multiple revelations of "why" we are doing this, that have become more apparent since we began. I do not intend to directly answer these questions here, but instead offer a reflection whereby I hope that the answers to these questions will make themselves apparent.
Thus far our trip has consisted of moving from one friend to another. Some I had seen not long before our arrival, with others it had been a significant period of time since our last meeting. My perception on friendship is that once we have met and spent a good period of time or at least shared some kind of significant experience, we are friends for life. Thus, my friend can call on me whenever necessary and I will do everything in my power to help them out, and so I act accordingly with regard to asking for their help. The minor problem that sometimes arises is that I am not the best at keeping in touch, and therefore I fall out of touch with friends whom I love very much. Some "impoverished forms of communication," such as email and social networking sites (I use Facebook) have allowed me to become a bit better with regard to this, but my true desire would be to write letters to all of those who have had such a profound impact on my life, and with whom I hope to share further experiences in the future. Luckily, everyone that we have stayed with thus far has been willing to take us in and has shown us an incredibly good time in every place we have been.
I read last night how the modern age tends not to trust in the essential good of the neighbor, and therefore practices such as hitchhiking and travel on a shoestring budget are not as common in our times as they once were. I would like to say that we should put greater trust in those around us. Not only in our friends and the ones who love us, but also in the neighbors and third parties that we encounter on a daily basis. There are certainly reasons to fear, but as a wise man affirmed, if we believe and expect people to be dishonest, we will find more dishonest people in the world, whereas if we believe that everyone is essentially honest and good, we will encounter more of this type of person in our lives.
It is amazing how true this can be. Thanks to so many friends along the way, we have been able to find so many more good people whom we never planned to meet and ultimately stay with. There have been nights when we have not been able to find someone, partly because I have not completely acclimated to finding places to stay through sites like couchsurfing.com. In time I suppose. However, it is also nice to have a night to oneself every once in a while. We have spent some beautiful nights on the Grand Canyon, on Lake Mead outside Las Vegas, and in Pfeiffer Big Sur National Park just off Highway 1 on the California coast.
In truth, I believe this world trip is a test run for a life. I love the spontaneity of this kind of travel, and the exchange of thoughts and ideas that it necessarily entails. I can remember many times that I was sitting in the library at graduate school and working on the items that needed to get done, but feeling inside an intense desire to up and leave and never look back. Certainly the traveling lifestyle requires some sacrifices, but so also does living a "conventional" life. In truth choosing any way of living means not choosing another way of living. Given that we observe the basic laws of life and morality, there are no wrong choices, there are only some choices for whice we may be better suited than for others. With regard to this world trip, the Lord has blessed me with a great deal of very good friends who are now spread throughout the United States and all over the globe, and many of them have invited me to come stay with them or with friends of theirs. Perhaps they did not realize that the Lord has also granted me a strong desire to travel and see and learn by experience. I love to read, but to see the truths played out in our own lives, or to encounter the monuments and historical locations that ever before only had a place in history books is truly a marvelous experience for me. In addition I am blessed with a very easy-going disposition toward life, and I find it very easy and enjoyable to talk to anyone that I encounter anywhere. Case in point, yesterday on the BART back from downtown San Francisco, we held conversation with a random man who decided that we were an interesting couple of young man to share his life with. These characteristics then, in sum, make me eminently qualified to undertake this world trip. Moreover, it is something that I have discussed doing and very much wanted to do for a very long time. Thus, given that I am qualified, that I have a desire to do this, and have gone about preparing for it responsibly, there is every reason to carry on, and so carry on I will, until one of the above runs out or proves no longer true.
As an aside to our friends that have thus far been a blessing to us, we want you to know that it is because of you that we are on our way, and for that we are forever grateful to you, and look forward to the day when we can repay you in kind. Wherever we find ourselves in the future, you are always welcome, because you will have helped us get there and we in turn will be ready and willing to help you or anyone else who you know who needs a hand.
Our current status here in San Francisco is one of both physical and mental preparation. Ensuring that we have all the things we will need on our trip abroad, and parting with other things such as the trusty Dodge Neon that has carried me all over these great United States for over three years without fail. From here we head to Hawaii to catch up with some friends very close to my heart, and then will continue along to the international portion of our journey by heading to Australia. There we will seek work and trust yet again in the goodness of men to be able to continue our trip. From there we will travel from the couches of a friend to the spare rooms of family, slowly making our way around the world.
What is your "worldtrip?" What is that desire that lives inside you for which you are eminently qualified and which you are free to do? Consider the possibilities of fulfilling your own dreams and your own potential within the confines of your current life. Incorporate your own worldtrip into your life, and I promise you will start to learn things that you never thought about, or never imagined possible before you opened your mind to the idea. To be completely honest, we departed on this trip not knowing exactly what we sought, but I think for that reason and more we have begun to discover things that we never could have planned to seek. Perhaps you are living your world trip right now, and for this you are eternally blest. We would encourage you to share how you got there with others, in the hope that all of us may find what it is that we desire to do in the truest part of ourselves, and thereby seek to become the fullest and truest possible versions of the people we have the potential to become.
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