How it all began...
"As if nothing could happen to us
In this life we don't care, it's all in the past
We won't hide, nor give up on ourselves
Before at least having tried"
Paradis - Garde Le Pour Tois
12 November 2015 - I was only a few steps up the trail into the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu when I came to a fork in the path. Completely unfamiliar with the area, I went straight for my trail map to see if I could get my bearings and decide which way to take. I looked back toward the parking lot where I had left my rental and saw the two Cali-bro guys I had just said hello to minutes earlier walking up the same trail. I asked them if they knew the way but they knew as little as I. We decided right then to forge on together up the 6 mile track to Sandstone Peak, the highest in the range, and back. I quickly struck up a conversation with Chris and Justin, two actual brothers also actually from California in the Bay Area. Chris, the elder, told me he was visiting Justin in his new home in Long Beach as part of his return back from a 13 month exploration around the world. Less than 10 minutes into our hike together, my mind was racing with questions, with which I excitedly peppered Chris as quickly as my breathe allowed while climbing higher and higher.
At the summit of Sandstone Peak, Malibu, CA
I was in California visiting my close buddy, Will, both to recover from my 10 year college reunion the prior weekend in New Orleans as well as to spend some time in nature. I sorely needed to get away from the concrete and steel of New York City, where I grew up and lived after college, to breathe some fresh air and see a plant or two in places I hadn't explored before. And so, the serendipity of meeting Chris and Justin after deciding to hike while Will worked was not lost on me. It was just the push I needed to make final the decision that I would finally make my long held dream of long term travel a reality.
Ever since I passed on the opportunities to study abroad in college and travel after graduation as part of the touted “gap year,” the thought of spending extended time in foreign lands grew consistently appealing to me. I developed a love of travel in high school when my mom began to take me on a series of trips to Europe, the first of which took us to Paris, then extending south to Provence and the Cote d'Azur. Other trips included Italy, the UK, and a few Eastern European cities. To her chagrin (at least she might say so now), I caught the travel bug badly and sought to venture to new places ever since. While I enjoyed my trips to Brazil (twice), Costa Rica (three times), Iceland and others, I was always curious and envious of those I met and observed along the way who were on long circuits of the region I was in or better yet, "the world." That curiosity and envy brewed consistently in me since that first trip, becoming a potent elixir which I finally chose to sip that fateful day in November.
But what was it about this type of journey that appealed to me so much for so long? Working in the corporate world of finance and sales for almost ten years, it became clearer over time that I needed to explore new horizons to grow as I was stagnating where I was. I liked my company and my co-workers and felt a great amount of trepidation leaving the security my job provided. But that stagnation I experienced in my heart and soul became a painful and consistent twinge in my psyche, particularly in the past two years. And so my decision in November was driven by the fact that I could likely pick up where I left off or seek another career, but I could never make up the time I was spending at my desk. I needed to pursue the other goals I fantasized of but never had the chutzpah to actualize.
So, here I sit in a hostel in Cape Town finishing this post I started on the long flight down to the southern tip of Africa. What do I expect to do, see, and feel? I hope much more than is possible to put succinctly here. But if I had to try, I want to meet new people, see new and exotic (or mundane) places, breathe air I haven't smelled before. Not just for the novelty of having new life experiences but also to, as Rolf Potts puts it in his influential book on long-term travel, Vagabonding, to see things as they really are, not simply observe things like a tourist knocking off items from his guidebook. I want to travel to be immersed in the places I visit and to form real connections with the people who live there. In this way, I truly hope to evolve my perspectives and find a path that can be both fulfilling for me and one where I can give back as well. Sure, I will look to hit major landmarks and points of interest, but I also want to embed with the locals (starting to sound like Secret Agent Goldo now), sleeping on their couches as much as possible to catch an insider's view of their hometown. I will look to volunteer my time to give back to those people and others that are in need, hopefully to make each place better for me having been there, even if by a small margin. And I want to work and earn my way to keep my travel stores healthy and also remind myself that this is not one long vacation. Finally, I will look to become more resilient to adversity, open to change and other ways of life, and more compassionate for those who I share this earth with.
I'll conclude by ending my sappy sanctimony and leaving you with my expectations for this blog. I want this to be a venue where you all can share in my experiences and have a bit of fun along the way. I'm not sure every post will be as long or overly sentimental as this one (hopefully not! But it's possible) but they will definitely be filled with what I hope are entertaining anecdotes and compelling photos, a craft I intend to improve and perfect as time and practice allows. Hopefully you'll enjoy my tales of awkward encounters, trivial (or maybe not so trivial) mishaps, and a few successes as well. I encourage you to share your comments, provide feedback on the blog or my journey and recommendations on places I plan to visit (or those I haven't considered). Finally, as I am already beginning to miss my family and friends, I hope this will be a way to stay in touch and keep connections alive.
I'm nervous and excited for what's in store for me down the road and I can't wait to take you along with me...
Let's go!