An anthology of moments from my travels. True, unfiltered, and raw experiences.
Moments Gone
South Korea, August 30, 11:45AM
I have just ordered an iced coffee. I look around the cafe and realize I am the only customer. Taking advantage of this, I sit by an open window. The cafe is on the third floor of a building seated at the edge of a quiet beach. It is low tide. The blue of the sky, the blue of the mountains on the horizon, and the blue of the ocean all say something different. The breeze lifted off of the water fills the window and presses against my skin. It is the perfect temperature. I smile. Soon my iced coffee is delivered to me by an elderly gentleman, presumably the owner of the cafe. He walks back behind the counter and begins reading a book. I lean back in my chair and take a sip of the coffee. It is sweet and smooth. I finish it quickly and begin to wonder why I cannot savor the small pleasures that permeate my life. Suddenly I become very aware of the urgency of the time fleeting underneath my chair as I sit back in a cafe by the beach in Korea. I start to speculate, perhaps I am afraid of losing the things that bring me joy if I do not take advantage of them right away. I take a deep breath and the sea breeze fills my lungs with peace. I exhale. Isomorphic to my existence, my time in Korea is severely limited. I am now aware of a subtle anxiety sitting in my chest and my jaw. What if I am not taking full advantage of the 2,160 minutes that I am allowed to tour this country? The coffee-painted ice in my empty glass begins to melt. Each drop of unfrozen water a grain of sand in an hourglass. The hourglass. I take another deep breath and the sea breeze fills my lungs with the salt of the ocean. Another moment gone.
Grim Reaper
China, September 26, 1:50AM
I got frustrated and went for a walk near the highway. It was freezing cold and pouring down rain. And in the middle of this busy highway, there he was. In between lanes, his silhouette being outlined by car headlights. The robe, the scythe, everything. I was shivering before but it literally sent chills down my spine. He was so calm in the midst of trucks and cars passing mere inches around him. I was in a trance just watching this being standing in the wind and rain, completely stoic.
He started walking towards me, still in the middle of the road. He ended up being a homeless man, draped in a tattered sheet to shelter from the rain. His scythe was a stick with a bag of clothes and trash. It was a relief at first but then he got close enough for me to see his face. His eyes were so tired. His whole face looked exhausted but so wise. And we locked eyes. I don’t know what it was but they were so deep. I almost fell into them. I completely forgot I was freezing and wet. I felt that same stillness that I felt when I saw him earlier from far away. Like his eyes were the only thing in that moment that mattered.
Advice
Miscellaneous.
Advice from a solo traveler:
Traveling is both unfulfilling and addicting. While I have my family, a job, security, and stability in my home country, something always pushes me to continue to travel. It’s never enough.
Advice from a traveler:
Never settle on people. If someone doesn’t meet your expectations in every way that you want them to, don’t feel pressured to stay with them. Find a significant other who perfectly compliments your life in a way that provides both contentedness and positive growth. Yeah the sex might be phenomenal but what is this person actually doing to help the achievement of your goals? Don’t let one really good aspect of a relationship overshadow many detriments.
Advice from a beautiful woman:
Nothing good is ever easy. It’s easy to set low expectations and go out having sex every night. But one day you will wake up and realize how unfulfilling it is. Finding someone who is complex, has difficult standards, and will lift you up AND being willing to put the time in to grow and develop a genuine connection isn’t easy… but it is fulfilling.
Advice from a dude:
Don’t expect people back home to fawn over stories of your travels. They largely don’t care. Not because they don’t care about you but because their lives haven’t changed like yours has. They just can’t relate to what you have gone through.
Advice from a banker:
Fuck your brains out until you are around 25. Don’t put too much time, effort, or energy into a relationship while you are young. Once you hit your mid-20’s, change your mindset and consider investing more into a person.
Advice from a traveler:
Everyone you talk to is going to give you their perspective. A little piece of themselves that they wish they had known sooner. This advice can be listened to but don’t take anything for face value, nor as a concrete fact of the world. You know about as much as everyone else does and no one really knows anything.
Change
Tbilisi, October 27th, 10:57PM
This feeling is rather difficult for me to put into words.
For the first time, I felt a surmounting ambition- from deep within me.
Some low and untouched part of my soul that briefly flickered with fire.
I am going to change the world.
I am going to change the world.
William Tate 