I've always wanted to travel and not in the sense of traveling of what I was used to growing up and until I was 20 years old. I mean, a true moment bearing, soul ripening adventure. I've been to places and seen some shit but it wasn't traveling. It was business. Traveling to these different cities and states, meeting all of those people, it was never really an adventure. We came, we saw, we did our shit, and we left. We didn't go out into the small areas that are hard to find. We didn't go out aimlessly. When we left, we knew our destination, straight shot there, straight shot the fuck out of there.
I got my first glimpse of what it's like to 'travel' in my hometown. It was in 2007, I had a bad night, the night before, I jumped in my truck, with no direction or an idea. No plan. I just left and drove. I had lived, pretty much, the entirety of my life. And I had found a place that I had never been before. In fact, when I brought it up to some people, nobody had an idea that this place was even there. Then, when my 'traveling' really began to blossom was when I was at the 2nd college I attended. It was in the mountains, over in Tennessee. I was in an absolutely gorgeous area, with only one thing matching it's beauty but I do believe that's another story. It was after I quit the sports team that I even went to the school for, in the first place.
There were 2 months left of the semester and I decided to, at least, finish out the semester. Which, resulted in me missing a month and a half of class straight because I was usually too shit-faced or stoned to even make it. But, when i wasn't too busy fucked up, I was out there. Walking the mountains. Adventuring, spending hours upon hours looking through the cracks, creeks, caves, crevices, waterfalls, everything. I'd easily spend 10-11 hours just to satisfy my craving. But, it wasn't enough. So, I'd go even further, getting lost was a necessity. The things I saw and experienced, it brought new life to me. Life wasn't as shallow and shitty as I thought it was. But, most of all, I learned that if anything were to ever happen to me, the world would go on, without even noticing that I'm not there anymore. Nature would keep on rolling without me. It was a sobering moment because to many people I was their world, or at least that's what they had thought and/or sad at the time. People looked up to me, I was a role model to some. But, out there, in the wild, I was nothing. I was nothing more then a small ant in a large pile.
I still remember, it was Thanksgiving day and everyone was gone but me. I was alone at the dorms, so I decided to just get out there, go up in the mountain, got to a small area, a clearing and I just laid down. Staring up at the sky, watching the wind move all of the trees, all the shrubs and tall grass just blowing. It was one of the most amazing things I had witnessed before. Everything was so peaceful. Nothing else in the world mattered or made sense, or maybe nothing in the world made more sense. I felt completely in peace. I laid there for hours, just watching as all of these trees swayed side to side. The sound of the wind ripping through the leaves and grass. It was a gentle yet powerful sound. Much like when you're laying on the beach and it's completely silent and all you can hear if the waves crashing down. It's such a powerful force but it sounds so peaceful, so relaxed, so gentle.
Now a days though, I don't get too many of those peaceful moments. It seems my life doesn't get to slow down enough anymore. Most days, I just wish I would spend an entire paycheck on a kayak and just take off on an adventure, not ever looking back, to pull a Christopher McCandless. Just leave, forget and discard all of this bullshit that keeps us from experiencing all life has to offer. Change my name and disappear, leave small traces of myself through the world in the people I meet and the towns I visit. Just small pieces of who I am and who I was. But, how do you really do that, I suppose you could just up and leave. But, if you survive, when your adventure is over, your friends and family won't even know you anymore. You'll have nothing to come back to. It would be too hard to start back up from nothing at an older age. It's hard enough to keep things together now and the world is advancing at such a fast pace. These ideas and dreams just aren't very practical in today's world anymore. And that's a damn shame.
I got my first glimpse of what it's like to 'travel' in my hometown. It was in 2007, I had a bad night, the night before, I jumped in my truck, with no direction or an idea. No plan. I just left and drove. I had lived, pretty much, the entirety of my life. And I had found a place that I had never been before. In fact, when I brought it up to some people, nobody had an idea that this place was even there. Then, when my 'traveling' really began to blossom was when I was at the 2nd college I attended. It was in the mountains, over in Tennessee. I was in an absolutely gorgeous area, with only one thing matching it's beauty but I do believe that's another story. It was after I quit the sports team that I even went to the school for, in the first place.
There were 2 months left of the semester and I decided to, at least, finish out the semester. Which, resulted in me missing a month and a half of class straight because I was usually too shit-faced or stoned to even make it. But, when i wasn't too busy fucked up, I was out there. Walking the mountains. Adventuring, spending hours upon hours looking through the cracks, creeks, caves, crevices, waterfalls, everything. I'd easily spend 10-11 hours just to satisfy my craving. But, it wasn't enough. So, I'd go even further, getting lost was a necessity. The things I saw and experienced, it brought new life to me. Life wasn't as shallow and shitty as I thought it was. But, most of all, I learned that if anything were to ever happen to me, the world would go on, without even noticing that I'm not there anymore. Nature would keep on rolling without me. It was a sobering moment because to many people I was their world, or at least that's what they had thought and/or sad at the time. People looked up to me, I was a role model to some. But, out there, in the wild, I was nothing. I was nothing more then a small ant in a large pile.
I still remember, it was Thanksgiving day and everyone was gone but me. I was alone at the dorms, so I decided to just get out there, go up in the mountain, got to a small area, a clearing and I just laid down. Staring up at the sky, watching the wind move all of the trees, all the shrubs and tall grass just blowing. It was one of the most amazing things I had witnessed before. Everything was so peaceful. Nothing else in the world mattered or made sense, or maybe nothing in the world made more sense. I felt completely in peace. I laid there for hours, just watching as all of these trees swayed side to side. The sound of the wind ripping through the leaves and grass. It was a gentle yet powerful sound. Much like when you're laying on the beach and it's completely silent and all you can hear if the waves crashing down. It's such a powerful force but it sounds so peaceful, so relaxed, so gentle.
Now a days though, I don't get too many of those peaceful moments. It seems my life doesn't get to slow down enough anymore. Most days, I just wish I would spend an entire paycheck on a kayak and just take off on an adventure, not ever looking back, to pull a Christopher McCandless. Just leave, forget and discard all of this bullshit that keeps us from experiencing all life has to offer. Change my name and disappear, leave small traces of myself through the world in the people I meet and the towns I visit. Just small pieces of who I am and who I was. But, how do you really do that, I suppose you could just up and leave. But, if you survive, when your adventure is over, your friends and family won't even know you anymore. You'll have nothing to come back to. It would be too hard to start back up from nothing at an older age. It's hard enough to keep things together now and the world is advancing at such a fast pace. These ideas and dreams just aren't very practical in today's world anymore. And that's a damn shame.