Oh, The Places You Can Go

The obnoxious number of pictures I have posted on Facebook the last two weeks have come with an internal battle for me. 

I have a hard time knowing how much of my private life I want out there for the public to see. Sorry Gen X, I'm slightly too young to be one of you - I do appreciate the value of social media. And sorry Milleneals, I'm a bit too old to be one of you - posting, tweeting and snap chatting everything for the world to see.  I guess I'm the man without a country when it comes to social media use...

But for the last two weeks, I have posted like a fearless teenager. For one, I know most of my family and at least some friends really enjoy the pictures, if for no other reason than to know I am still alive. 

BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, I WANTED TO SHARE MY LOVE FOR TRAVEL BY BRINGING THE WORLD TO YOU AND HOPEFULLY INSPIRE SOME PEOPLE TO DO SOME TRAVELING OF THEIR OWN.

You see, less than four years ago I had never traveled internationally without a group and professionally organized itinerary. I saw international borders as impermeable lines that could not be accessed without travel groups and major price tags.

What I have found since is that there is nothing more exhilarating than creating, planning and taking a trip to the places of the world that aren't found on the first - or even tenth - page of travel guides.  

The adventures that come from these places have been endless.  Trying to figure out transportation from one unknown point to another. Tasting new food free of preservatives with flavors I didn't even know existed. Seeing the ingenuity of people who make less money in a year than you do in a week. Scalping tickets in a foreign language. Drinking fresh squeezed mango juice all day in 100 degree humid heat because mangoes are so abundant that the juice is .20 cents per glass rather than the $2 it costs for bottled water. Hiking miles through the jungle with monkeys and snakes to reach a beach with water so blue you look around to see if anyone is putting artificial color in it. Eating the best fried chicken dinner you have ever had from a street food stand and paying .67 cents for it.  

There is a liberating freedom found in ditching all forms normalcy and packing life in to a backpack for a few weeks.  These are all experiences that just can't be found any other way except by going out and seeing it!

And more than anything, these places not known for their tourism provide the most amazing opportunity to meet the people of the world and see how they live their lives.  This has been fascinating and makes me realize that from the jungles of South America to the Middle East to the heart of Tokyo, nearly every human has a warm and welcoming heart that wants the best for their family and the world. Seeing this live allows to come to my own conclusions about places and cultures rather than settling for the misleading mainstream perspective created by the media and politicians.

I'm hooked and I don't see an end in sight. The more I travel, the bigger the world gets. The number of places I want to see accumulates exponentially every trip I take!

If these pictures make you think "I want to do that too!", there aren't enough exclamation points to express my encouragement and tell you GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And if you're thinking you would like to do something like this maybe, but are also feeling scared, remember less than four years ago I was there too! Hold your breath and jump in... I promise it will be worth it!

So take this as my apology to any of you who got tired of picture after picture posted the last two weeks. But to the rest of you, I hope you enjoyed and hopefully at least someone can be inspired to take a trip of their own! You will be better for it. And so will the world.