End of the road 05/16/2011
 
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.I went into this “year of travel” saying that I had no expectations. Fourteen months later, I still think that was true but I think I was hoping for some “life changing” event to occur that would answer the big question of “what do I want to do with my life?” The truth is, now that it’s over I feel pretty much the same as I did when I left, albeit a bit more tired. I do know that the core ideas that led to my travels are still there and have only been reinforced by seeing the parts of the world that I did. The shitty thing is that this doesn’t make dealing with life and my purpose in it any easier to figure out. I thought I’d have a whole year to figure everything out while at the same time see the world. The truth is you don’t really feel like taking on such ambitious tasks when you’re seeing the world – you tell yourself you’ll have it figured out when it’s finally over. Well, for me now it’s “over” and I feel that by seeing the world I’ve probably gone the opposite direction of “figuring it out” in that I now see how many more options and places are really out there.

I honestly feel that I haven’t changed much in the past year. Maybe it’s because I had the chance to come back to the US for a few weeks in between each continent but I honestly think it’s just the nature of who I am. I admit that my skepticism and ego continuously prevented me from ever letting myself get to sucked into the backpacker subculture or get to far out of my comfort zone. I’m probably just being too critical of myself, which is crazy because that assumes that travel is something that can be graded. But that’s one of the phenomena that I continuously felt, the sense that I wasn’t seeing a certain place properly or was missing out on some “must-sees.” This sense of urgency probably led (or forced) me to see some things I wouldn’t have, but it also made something that should be relaxing and liberating quite stressful. I like to think that I eventually grew out of such an absurd notion, but even still there are feelings of missed opportunity.

Being essentially alone for over a year is an interesting experience, but honestly with technology it was pretty tough to ever truly feel alone. With the exception of being with Matt and Alan for a week in Europe and Nicole in Argentina for 5 days, I didn’t have anybody join me on my journey. Through work exchanges, visiting family and friends, volunteering and couch surfing though, I would estimate less than half of my nights were spent in traditional hotel/hostel scenarios. While I wouldn’t change how anything went, I would like to hopefully get the chance to travel (not vacation!  - I’ll discuss the distinction later) with a friend, or possibly a wife/girlfriend.  I just know that with a friend there for comfort and support I would have been more adventurous and had more interesting stories. It’s tough getting out of your comfort zone in a foreign country while at the same time maintaining concern for your health and safety.

I’ve seen so many things and experienced so many feelings in the past year that it’s tough to put my head around all of them. I felt excited landing in London last March, nervous at the train station in Toulouse upon realizing English is not very prevalent in France, comfort at Krista and Antoine’s in Nice, sadness when visiting Auschwitz in Poland and the Killing Fields in Cambodia, awe at the first sight of the Machu Picchu ruins, fear when getting a gun pulled on us when crossing the border of Ecuador and Peru, (I omitted that part of the story, mostly for my mom’s benefit. The paragraph is in italics at the bottom of this post) confusion in Thailand at not being able to even attempt to pronounce the calligraphy letters, anger in Hanoi while walking in the rain after being scammed by a taxi driver, anger again at realizing I had lost $500 in cash somewhere between Laos and Vietnam, despair when dealing with food poisoning in Mui Ne, and finally apprehension at returning home for good. It’s silly to think or treat this as something of a “final journey.” I can guarantee I will travel internationally again (possibly/hopefully even as soon as August to Spain) but most likely no journey will be as ambitious or have the duration as this. Most I will put into the category of “vacation” since to me a vacation is something to do for a couple weeks, as a break or escape from your everyday life. Travel, in turn is something that you make your life.

I’d like to be able to end with something about how this experience will affect the rest of my life or what I’ve learned from it – but to both I have no answer. I view this year as an education and if you had asked me on my university graduation day “what did you learn?” I also don’t think I would have had an answer. In both college and in my year of travel I learned a lot of things, but they are not the type of things that you can pin point or measure. I hope that I’ve learned to be more independent, more resourceful, and more outgoing but I think that only in time will I really find what I learned between March 18, 2010 and May 11, 2011.

Some facts
Countries visited: 26 - England, France, Italy, Vatican, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong (yes, I admit that the Vatican is a stretch)

Approximate cost: somewhere around $15,000 including flight, insurance and everything

Miles traveled: approx. 51,456 (according to the Google Map tracking my path that’s on my blog)

Sunglasses lost/broke: 13 (Europe - 6, South America – 4, Asia – 3)

Headphones lost/broke: 11 (Europe – 2, South America – 4, Asia- 5)

Flights: 30 (including 12 within Europe alone)

Trains (longer than 2 hours and only with all luggage): 8 (including 2 overnight; all in Europe)

Buses (longer than 2 hours and only with all luggage): 35 (4 – Europe, 15 – SA, 16 Asia) (6 overnight in SA, 5 overnight in Asia)

Taxis, ride share and other car rides: 3

Ferries: 2 in Asia, 1 in Europe

Different beds: 34(Europe) 38 (South America) 40 (SE Asia)

Originally omitted for Mom's sake:
I guess I should also point out that our Peruvian cab chauffeurs were not in marked cars – a big travel no-no in any city. So, upon getting to the hotel and eventually deciding on a price, we started to carry our bags towards the lobby. The cab driver was carrying Rebecca’s big kite-surf bag for her when I heard her scream. I turned around to see one teen boy trying to grab her backpack from her and then to see his associate pointing a very small, very old but very real gun at us. Being the only one to see the gun, I began running backwards while everyone else started running to help her. Whether it was the sudden crowd of guys outnumbering the teens or the alarm set off by the hotel worker, I don’t know but luckily they hopped onto the motorbike of their 3rd associate and drove off into the night. No one was hurt and nothing was stolen but it definitely shook all of us up and was pretty symbolic for the shitty day.
 


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