WanderingWhy…

One year on the road.  I guess I should have something thought provoking or profound to say, but truthfully I don’t so I won’t force it.  I’ll just share some reflection.

Honestly when we left I still wondered: Could we really travel for an entire year? I still can’t believe we have.  After about 6 months in it doesn’t even seem real anymore; it’s like a movie of someone else’s life I’ve been watching.

I’ve read stories of so many other travelers who embark on a trip like this out of some kind of anger.  Fed up with work, routine, the consumerist American lifestyle–chuck it all and go see the world.  As Americans I think we are all a bit fed up with things right now, but a trip like this doesn’t have to be that dramatic. Travel won’t solve all your problems and whatever it is you are running from–it may help you find some answers though.  Some time spent unplugged and thinking about life can only be good for anyone.

Although I was frustrated at times trying to make this trip a reality, looking back now I never left home because I hated it.  We worked and saved our asses off to make this happen but life doesn’t owe me anything–I’m still extremely grateful for each day we get to spend exploring the world. I love my country and my life back home–I just wanted to see what lays beyond my backyard and wanted more than a two or three week window in which to do it.

I don’t know that I’ll fully understand what I have learned out here until I return home.  But if anything this trip has taught me just how much I really do have.  I didn’t spend my childhood begging for food on the streets or selling trinkets to pay for school.  I live in a country where it may not be easy to get ahead, but at least it’s a possibility.  If I were to become disabled (god forbid), I would not be on the street begging for food due to complete lack of a social system.

I have a great life and more than I need back home, maybe too much.  I thought we got rid of a lot of stuff before we embarked on this journey, but after living out of a bag for a year now I know we still have quite a bit that can go.  I’m not saying we need to live a spartan existence, but just have what you want and want what you have–the rest is all clutter and just adds stress and steals your time.

Also, the more we travel the more I find myself thinking about the environment.  No, I haven’t become a tree-hugging, sandal wearing, save the penguins, granola eating hippie.  The hippies were all full of shit anyway (remember they are the generation running our country now–running it into the ground lately). But even living without a home or a car for the last year I realize how wasteful I am and there seems to be no alternative sometimes. I’ll save my full blown rant here for another post, but travel has opened my eyes to this a bit more.  When I throw something “away” I wonder just where “away” is now.

This past year has been long dream in the making that has finally come true.  I guess our friends can figure out by now that we are not coming home anytime soon.  Keeping finances tight has given us more freedom to keep traveling for a while, and with the state of affairs back home right now, that’s just what we’ll do.  This is the best dream I have ever had so I’m sleeping in.

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