I want to dedicate this post to explaining how I grew a love for
maps, geography, exploring and how that lead to my first adventures. In
my last few years of seeing as much of this planet as possible I have
yet to only go to a handful of countries for a reason. In my mind I want
to put into words what a world traveler or what traveling really means
to me. And most importantly the difference between what I consider
traveling and a vacation.
Since I can remember my favorite subject in school was Geography. It
fascinated my mind to look at a map of so many places and try to imagine
what it would be like to see it in person. As I got older my family and
I were always into outdoor activities, one of my favorites being riding
my dirt bike out in the desert. This also stimulated my mind in
unimaginable ways, being able to go anywhere you wanted to and explore
so much terrain! Whenever we would go on a group ride I would get
separated from the group because I found a new trail nobody else was
going on and took off, but always ended up at the same meeting point in
the end, everyone wondering how the hell I got there. Through high
school I was able to take some trips with friends out of the state
camping, snowboarding, surfing, and everything in between.
A big turning point for really finding out what I love to do with my
life came when my mother and I decided to ride our BICYCLES across the
USA when I was 19 years old. My mom had always talked about people doing
it since she was a cyclist herself, and to a cyclist riding across the
country is what finding an island with perfect waves is to a surfer.
After an instance where I got into some trouble with the law, my parents
had helped me through it so much more than I would have ever thought!
It made me realize wow If I want to accomplish some of my own dreams
maybe I should help my mom accomplish one of hers first. After touching
our tires in the Pacific Ocean surrounded by friends and family we took
off on June 3, 2010 on just two bikes that weighed about 60lbs each with
all our gear. After the second day we were so done, we had made it from
Huntington Beach to the Salton Sea (170 miles), our skin sun burnt,
bodies dehydrated, and couldn't sleep from the spasms in our legs all
night long. After taking a day off and reevaluating how to go about this
goal, we pushed through 36 flat tires, dozens of hotels, running out of
water, eating gas station food, in the sun 8-12 hrs a day. Finally
after pedaling through 8 states in 36 days we touched our bicycle tires
in the Atlantic Ocean and honestly just cried for awhile. That moment
right there changed the way I looked at life and what most think is
impossible to accomplish, this ultimately lead to the mindset on how I
wanted to live my life, by experiences not able to be taught by any
university, job, coach, nor teacher.
No maybe I
haven't been around the world yet, but through all those days away from
home and the normal lifestyle you learn how to adapt and live in
different conditions. Most of the nights were not in a comfy mattress
nor in anything considered a home/house. I can tell you because I'm
weird like this, that in the last 900+ days I have been out of the
country 380 days, slept in 65 different beds, and been on 38 flights. In
Hawaii I slept on my cousins couch in his 150sq ft backyard shed with
no water and hardly electricity. In Indonesia I've slept on floors,
hammocks, dirty ferries, on top of a surfboard bag, inside mosquito
nets, all in the humid sticky weather of the tropics. In Australia I
slept in my van most of the 80 days I was there. For 3 straight weeks
living in the van I used beach showers or a random industrial buildings
water spicket to shower while the excess soapy water splashed on my
clothes for that days laundry. In Sweden I slept on a single size bed
with my girlfriend for two months, inside a 700 sq ft cabin with 5
people and a small bathroom. All in all was it all worth it, fuck yes it
was! Living thousands of miles from home in another country doing
anything you want, learning a new language, figuring how to convert
everything into metric, learning a new currency, and much much more.
 |
| Van Life, NSW, February 2014 |
To me traveling Isn't about all inclusive resorts, first class flying,
private transportation, fancy night clubs, and everything going right.
Why would you want to go to another country to get all the comforts you
have at home? The best trips and stories happen when everything goes
wrong, you get on the wrong bus, miss your flight, get a flat on your
scooter in the middle of the jungle, or lose your atm card. Traveling is
about getting lost and asking a local for directions which turns in
them inviting you into there home or business for a meal or a cup of
coffee. Interaction with the culture, people, and land are everything
when it comes to exploring a new country. Take public transport, eat
local foods, do tasks the way locals would, visit temples, go to the
none touristy areas and you will be treated like a king. Some of my
favorite moments when traveling were when I felt completely out of my
element and not able to understand the language or communicate with
others. That is why I try to spend a decent amount of time in every
country I go to, feel the vibes, make a few local friends that start
remembering you. When just passing through a country you don't get the
whole experience if say you stayed there for a month and worked a bit or
lived at a hostel.
