I always spend some time writing in my (paper) journal on New Year's Eve. Usually the entries I write are dominated with reflections on the year's events, highlights and lowlights. This year I found myself comparing 2007 to the previous two years, because the '05 and '06 New Year's Eve entries were so f-ing awesome, and included extremely exciting highlights.
'05 was the year I decided I would leave Vermont and leave school for awhile. That year ended up changing my life. I started the year in the Pacific Northwest, with New Year's day in Olympic national park with three of my better friends. We spent the next two weeks between Washington and Whistler, BC mountaineering and deep-powder snowboarding. I came back to school 4 days late and stayed only 3 days
'05 was the year I decided I would leave Vermont and leave school for awhile. That year ended up changing my life. I started the year in the Pacific Northwest, with New Year's day in Olympic national park with three of my better friends. We spent the next two weeks between Washington and Whistler, BC mountaineering and deep-powder snowboarding. I came back to school 4 days late and stayed only 3 days
Within a week of arriving in Vermont I was set on leaving. A cocktail of good reasons to leave convinced me that my time would be better spent anyplace but the present. I figured, since the semester had started and it was too late to transfer universities, that spending the next few months following a compass was better than being without cause or direction. I packed my stuff, headed back to NH, and was on a plane to Lima, Peru within the month.
Latin America is, as far as I'm concerned, an essential hemispheric experience. I can't believe more Americans don't spend the 500USD to get down to Peru, Bolivia, or Ecuador. If some "adventurous souls" do go, some tips; don't make the same mistake I made; flying back.
On my first trip to South America, I snapped these pictures:
Looking back, and equipped with comparative perspective, I can say that journey was not--in the scheme of things--that remarkable. But to me it was. It was an epic. I lived day to day, today. I learned how big the small slice of South America I experienced was. In turn, I learned how incomprehensibly large the world was. I learned alot about my potential as well: that I am not a boring, regular guy, I'm something different.
When I came back to the US a few months later, I had acquired a fatal virus that I never shook; the travel bug.
I re-entered school in the Fall of 2005 in Washington, DC. I fell in love with politics and world affairs again, and spent all of my time interning and partying with an intense group of individuals who remain in Washington, and nameless (to protect identity). It was sick.
At the end of my semester I had to return to Latin America. I flew to Guatemala and wrote my New Year's Eve '05 entry from Antigua with volcanoes puffing smoke in the background. I shot this pic;
'06 had alot to live up to. It delivered. Spring break road trip from the Grand Canyon to LA with hometown people was unbelievably fun. When my semester and new internship was over, I was on a plane to the Middle East, where I got the chance to travel the Holy Land.
After that I spent a month in NH surfing a summer of great waves and at the end of July I was on a plane bound for Japan and China. I spent a month in the Philippines and Malaysia where I fell in love with Island Asia. I started my semester in Hong Kong and took weekend trips into southern China. I fell in love with city Asia, especially the "fragrant harbour" of Hong Kong.
I made another trip to the Philippines, which is quite possibly the most delightful country on Earth to travel through, and the end of my semester I spent 5 weeks fulfilling a mini-fantasy I have had for a few years: traveling overland from Singapore to Hong Kong. The route took me through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China.
I wrote my New Year's Eve entry at Hoang Hiem Lake in central Hanoi where I snapped these pictures:
The physical beauty of the trek was rivaled only by the overwhelming variety in culture, food, economy, and religion I encountered. I got back to Hong Kong with a huge smile, and I felt like I was coming home. I left Hong Kong the day before my birthday, and got back to Washington-through NH-on the second day of classes at AU. I hadn't showered at my class on Latin America. 2007 was off to a good start.
Little did I know my travels would be limited in 2007. Except for travel around the eastern seaboard for work, and a jaunt to Canada over Thanksgiving, I would spend about 10 months out of 2007 within the Washington, DC city limits. I bought a motorcycle so that I could escape to the Shenandoah mountains and take nighttime drives when I didn't have anything to do, but it did little to satisfy my need for adventure and activity.
I graduated from American U and returned to New Hampshire. Now I have solidified my plans to be out of the country for the next 2 and 1/2 years. Big commitment. Luckily the first two months of that I will be in Latin America again. I will be able to do some of my favorite activities; climb active volcanoes, surf warm water, and live and learn about life in a foreign country.
2007 may not have been the most exciting year ever, but alot of good things happened. I'm a college graduate! I'm in the Peace Corps! Most importantly, I'm happy!
2008 has alot to live up to, but it has potential to blow 2005, 6, and 7 out of the water.
I re-entered school in the Fall of 2005 in Washington, DC. I fell in love with politics and world affairs again, and spent all of my time interning and partying with an intense group of individuals who remain in Washington, and nameless (to protect identity). It was sick.
At the end of my semester I had to return to Latin America. I flew to Guatemala and wrote my New Year's Eve '05 entry from Antigua with volcanoes puffing smoke in the background. I shot this pic;
'06 had alot to live up to. It delivered. Spring break road trip from the Grand Canyon to LA with hometown people was unbelievably fun. When my semester and new internship was over, I was on a plane to the Middle East, where I got the chance to travel the Holy Land.
After that I spent a month in NH surfing a summer of great waves and at the end of July I was on a plane bound for Japan and China. I spent a month in the Philippines and Malaysia where I fell in love with Island Asia. I started my semester in Hong Kong and took weekend trips into southern China. I fell in love with city Asia, especially the "fragrant harbour" of Hong Kong.
I made another trip to the Philippines, which is quite possibly the most delightful country on Earth to travel through, and the end of my semester I spent 5 weeks fulfilling a mini-fantasy I have had for a few years: traveling overland from Singapore to Hong Kong. The route took me through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China.
I wrote my New Year's Eve entry at Hoang Hiem Lake in central Hanoi where I snapped these pictures:
The physical beauty of the trek was rivaled only by the overwhelming variety in culture, food, economy, and religion I encountered. I got back to Hong Kong with a huge smile, and I felt like I was coming home. I left Hong Kong the day before my birthday, and got back to Washington-through NH-on the second day of classes at AU. I hadn't showered at my class on Latin America. 2007 was off to a good start.
Little did I know my travels would be limited in 2007. Except for travel around the eastern seaboard for work, and a jaunt to Canada over Thanksgiving, I would spend about 10 months out of 2007 within the Washington, DC city limits. I bought a motorcycle so that I could escape to the Shenandoah mountains and take nighttime drives when I didn't have anything to do, but it did little to satisfy my need for adventure and activity.
I graduated from American U and returned to New Hampshire. Now I have solidified my plans to be out of the country for the next 2 and 1/2 years. Big commitment. Luckily the first two months of that I will be in Latin America again. I will be able to do some of my favorite activities; climb active volcanoes, surf warm water, and live and learn about life in a foreign country.
2007 may not have been the most exciting year ever, but alot of good things happened. I'm a college graduate! I'm in the Peace Corps! Most importantly, I'm happy!
2008 has alot to live up to, but it has potential to blow 2005, 6, and 7 out of the water.
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