There's a Mark Twain quote that I like to think of whenever I'm in a
situation in which a decision will drastically change the course of my life.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."
Needless to say,
when it comes to staying put, saving money forwhatever and settling down or leaving the US and
traveling, I have had a tendancy to choose the latter. The comforts of life in
the US
- a job, TV, pizza delivery...the regular routine - can be nice, there is an itch
that doesn't seem to fade. (No, not that type of itch...) I'm talking
about the ever-present travel itch. I'm a firm believer that you live once so
while we're here, we have to make the most of it. Or as my travel buddy DJ aka
Donny aka Mr. Don aka Delphinius Jorge would say, "we're here for a good
time, not a long time". So while the preparation, saving for months-long
trips and especially the goodbye's can
be difficult, there is no such thrill that exists more than dropping everything
and taking off on a new adventure.
South America was
originally first on my list of continents to visit (solo) back in 2009 but as
Aaron was already living in India and being the...let's put it
"convincing" brother that he is...I took off for Asia instead. Then
in 2010, we were given the opportunity to go to Israel
on the Birthright program which we were able to extend to travel throughout the
Middle East a bit further.
So now, the time
has come to explore our sister continent to the South - warmer, wilder,
diverse, and as I've come to find...still extremely unknown. There have been
many explorers to South America yet there is
still so much that is left unanswered and
unexplored. Some places that have been discovered have now
"re-disappeared" into the jungle once again waiting to be
"re-found". Some places are still completely untouched, where
indigenous peoples still thrive in seemingly impossible environments.
The mystery
surrounding South America is still strong and
as such, it attracts people from all over the world. So now I'm here, sunburnt
to hell after a few
days of hiking in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, but ready as ever to
begin a new journey.
Memory isn't really
my strong suit (I've been known to buy herbal "memory" pills from
Whole Foods, forget to actually take them, and subsequently throw them out in
an acceptance of failure) so this blog is as much of a way for me to keep my family
and friends informed of my travels (and for my mom to know I'm still alive) as
it is for me look back years from now to reflect and remember.
So here goes...no
real description of travels quite yet - but to give you an idea of how it
started (apologies for the run-on sentence, but it seems necessary): we jumped
on a bus from the Bogota Airport upon arrival, got completely lost with all of
our stuff, crammed in the back of an overcrowded colectivo (minibus) with my hip about to
detatch from my leg, had 6 locals trying to give us directions (in Spanish,
mind you) and eventually got off in the middle of nowhere, had the police draw
us a map and hail a cab for us to our hostel.
All adventures
start with an adventure!!
Take care and much
love,
Max
