Friday, May 29, 2009

Two (or three) week countdown back home....

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Sir Winston Churchill

I just finished reading Endurance, F.A. Worsley's account of Sir Edward Shackleton's courageous expedition to Antarctica. It was not a mere coincidence to read this book towards the end of my own journey, as I picked it up recently in one of the hostels I was staying in. Though we both took very different tracks and had unique outcomes, Shackleton and I have at least one thing in common-- the curiosity to keep exploring the world no matter the cost. Though this trip is coming to an end, I will continue to quench my thirst for travel and adventure whenever I have the opportunity to do so. I did not get additional pages in my passport for nothing!

There are so many little places, nooks and crannies of the world I am glad I saw. I never thought I would get the chance to explore places I never even heard about prior to the trip, much less even thought about visiting. From the idyllic countryside of Mariestad, Sweden and Krelingen, Germany, to the sleepy beach towns of Cabo Polonio, Uruguay and Canoa, Ecuador, to the surprisingly amusing Rovaniemi, Finland (Santa's residence) to drunk bumper-car driving in Munich, Germany to the awe-inspiring sounds of glaciers calving in Patagonia, to the soul stirring experiences of teaching kids how to add and subtract in the remote villages of Ghana, to cliff jumping in Krakow, Poland, and lava walking in Antigua, Guatemala, *sigh* this truly has been the experience of a lifetime.

I also thought at the beginning of this trip that some profound "A-ha!" moment would arrive, in which I would see the error of my previously foolish ways and discover what I truly wanted to do in life and "voila" suddenly change into a different person. Instead, what I have figured out over the past year travelling and meeting so many different and interesting people is that I have not changed at all. Rather, this trip reinforced what I knew I enjoyed most about my previous career in sales-- relating to people, engaging with them and forming relationships. Admittedly, I probably have changed, ahem, evolved in other ways though-- I have gone from a 32-year old beer-guzzling dude, to a 33-year old beer-guzzing dude who has travelled around the world. Big difference!

Though I will be trying to return (currently interviewing, so any job leads you may have out there, let me know!!) to my old career in software sales, I will be rounding it out with an added focus on things outside of work. Besides travel of course, I would like to write more (a book maybe in the future??), read more, surf more, help my village in Ghana drink more clean water, and also start planning the first few steps towards opening up my hostel in Mammoth. I know, big things, but I am lucky and fortunate enough to not only be able to dream, but actually have the opportunity to accomplish them as well.

Speaking of dreams, I am headed off to Columbia for a couple weeks to propose to my long lost love, Shakira. If all goes according to plan, WE will be arriving into LA sometime June 17th. Details on the wedding party to be announced shortly!

2 Comments:

At June 2, 2009 at 10:56 AM , Blogger Matisse said...

Looking forward to hanging with you when you get back.

Pablo

 
At June 9, 2009 at 3:25 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Daniel,

the River Queen and the Shuffle King here. Glad you managed to strech your trip this far :-)! As for us, we are sure you have a bag full of good memories to take home with and as you say this is not the end, it's just the beginning! We only have another 6 weeks to go as well. Have been island hoping around Indonesia the past month and are planning to cross onto East Timor in a couple of weeks time from where we will ship our mighty Zoltan to Darwin and travel down to Sydney.

Due to the current financial situation (well we have travelled almost 3 months longer then we were supposed to :-)) I have seriously started to consider to became a professional pocker player, do you think I would have a chance in Las Vegas :-)?

PS. You will have always a corner to crash in in Sydney or Tallinn or Edinburgh. Just let us know. We miss our fantastic/frustrating/bloody pocker nights :-)!

 

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