Hop, Skip & a Jump

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my travels around the world with one of my buddies back in December 2001 and how much id love to do it again. I was only 19 at the time and even though I felt like I was taking in everything I possibly could, there was a lot I didn’t or just wasn’t mature enough to that I would now. Maybe it’s just that I didn’t know then what I do now that would make the whole experience so much more fulfilling.

I mean, I saw all the museums and art deco’s but did I really take them in or just see them to say I saw them? I traveled the cities and saw the people but I didn’t get to know the locals like I would now and I didn’t take in the culture as much as I saw the tourist locations that are all the same where ever you go. I spent 3 ‘wasted’ weeks in London, 2 ‘uneventful’ weeks in Miami and many lost days trolling around for underground bars.

Don’t get me wrong. I had the best three months of my life on that adventure but there were things I would do different. I would have taken notice of the smaller things that were either too trivial to expand my knowledge on or I would only scratch the surface of due to the bigger and better things coming in the next country.

The pictures have so many stories that only Wayne and I can share. He has some I don’t remember and I with him. Some of the pictures I can actually remember being in the moment taking; how cold it was, how sick I was from that damn stale orange juice or how cool it was I took that picture because I was too drunk to remember without it.

There are some instances that I remember so vividly I can close my eyes and see everything. What I would give to be there again.

I met some great people in my travels. It would be so intriguing to fall upon Jaime who we met in Niagara Falls and see if she finished her degree. A school mate who I hadn’t seen since I left school almost 10 years ago except for once, across the other side of the world in New York City. Juan who we bunked with in Miami had such a warm soul but was paid peanuts for the hard work he put in day and day out. I wonder where he is today and if he eventually made it back to South America.

Perhaps Im grasping for something that is not there. Another opportunity to hold on to and conquer the world like I know I can. Maybe I am wishing that if I had done more, seen more and experienced more I would feel that much closer to the dream again. Surely there is another opportunity on the horizon to test my will, wit and world experience. With everything I learnt traveling through 13 countries and countless cities I know there is much more to learn. To see. To experience.