Year in review

I have gone through many changes in my life over the last year and have seen and learned many things. I have lived with some of the richest people in the world and some of the poorest. I have lived aboard a sail boat, paid rent on two islands and two countries on two different continents. I have traveled through 12 countries and am now in the airport headed to Costa Rica where I will spend the next few months. I have seen some amazing things and have been through some difficult situations.



I started 2007 with a good career in a successful business in Hawaii. Decided I was cheating myself and my dreams so I quite my job and to travel the world. A few weeks after I left my job I jumped on a sail boat and set sail for California. After many mishaps we had to throw in the towel and return to Hawaii. Once back on the paradise island I bought a one way ticket for Thailand, rented an apartment in Bangkok and quickly settled into life in the capital.



While in Thailand I dined on frogs, squirrels, and bee larva while trekking through the remote northern Thailand jungles. I commuted on long tail boats in the canals of Bangkok, practiced yoga daily with my big brother (actually smaller but he looks much older), and snorkeled the waters of the Thai islands.



I have ridden on motorcycles through the congested streets of Kathmandu dodging cars, people, buses, and cows. I have trekked the spectacular Himalayan mountains led by Sherpas I bunji jumped the worlds 2nd highest bunji jump 4 kilometers south of Tibetan border (little did I know at the time that 5 months later I would be seeing the worlds largest bunji jump in Africa).



I spent 4 months bar tending in Nantucket one of the most exclusive islands in the world. With the money I made there I jumped on a plane and headed to Africa. Once in Africa I rented a car, bought a map, and put the rubber to the road. I traversed 8,000 miles of this massive and awe inspiring continent. I walked among Zebras, listened to wild lions drinking water 15 feet from me, drove through packs of African wild dogs (one of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world), watched Hippos walk past my campsite at night, fought off jackals trying to raid my campsite, ate wildebeest, warthog, springbok and much more. I saw herds of thousands of animals migrating to watering holes in Northern Namibia. Jumped on a piece of cardboard and rode 70 KPH down the worlds largest sand dunes in the world. I tracked a 15 ft long boa constrictor in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. I drove through the barren Kalahari desert, visited one of the most unstable countries in the world (Zimbabwe), saw the massive division between the rich and poor in South Africa and attempted to get treatment at a bullet ridden hospital in Namibia.

I returned home for Christmas where I spent an amazing month relaxing with my mom, dad, brother, and step father. I then shredded the largest ski resort in North America (Vail) with one of my best friends and my cousin and am now headed down to the tropical paradise of Costa Rica.

I have learned some invaluable lessons on these trips. Some of which I am sure I won't realize for years to come. I've learned not be judgemental. Everyone comes from a different background and holds different values. I have learned that I have no right to judge anyone based upon my values and my experiences. I have learned to be more relaxed and to not demand so much information. What I mean by this is in the culture I was raised in we always need to know the minute details regardless of their importance. We need to know things that really have no effect upon us. We worry about things that we have no control over and we try to control things which cannot be controlled.

After traveling for 2 months in Africa with only a small 'carry on' bag I learned that the less I own the better. There is nothing that I really need in life in regards to material possessions. In the culture of America we are taught that the more we have, the bigger things we own, the happier we will be. What happens however is the things we own end up owning us (Tyler Durden). We spend our lives thinking about all the material possessions that we need in order to make us happy when all we truly need can be found within ourselves. I spent three years in Hawaii spending money on things I did not need.

On my travels this year some of the happiest people I have seen have been some of the poorest. Most importantly however, I have reinforced the fact that this world is huge and the differences among the people even bigger. In order for us to really understand who we are we need to know who everyone else is. I think it is important but once again that is only my opinion which comes from my experiences. My thoughts are no better nor no worse than anyone else out there.