Follow Your Bliss (And Don't Forget To Travel)

Every traveler experiences it at some point; some feel it for a split second, others can never shake it-- I like to call it "the spark". That moment when you're completely out of your comfort zone and your third eye just opens as if you've consumed the world. The hairs on your arms and behind your neck prickle and stretch as if you've heard the perfect harmony. Nothing seems more real than this moment.

For me, I felt it in a large marketplace in Cairo, two months to my seventeenth birthday. I was traveling with my father and my step-mother for my pre-graduation present--in my family, as we were graduating high school my parents took us one what I would consider "the trip of a lifetime" to wherever we wanted in the world. I chose Egypt.

I can't remember exactly when my obsession with Egypt started. I was raised Roman Catholic from my mom's side, but my father's side practiced Judaism (however we were not very traditional) so from an early age I was learning about the history of the ancient world from two different perspectives. Needless to say curiosity came naturally.

Egypt exceeded my expectations; I loved the music, the warmth of the hazy sun, and the busy streets. One of the first places we went was the Great Pyramids. We were guided into the second pyramid down a narrow shaft into a lower chamber and touched the inner wall. It was surreal. But I didn't feel that euphoric excitement I'd expected being inside 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

The next day we went to a Cairo marketplace to get some local gifts. By mid-day we came to an opening in front of a mosque, we couldn't go inside but had a peek in. Suddenly we heard bells and it felt like time stood still. Almost everyone in the open square stopped what they were doing--waiters, vendors, mothers, children, men just walking through, even some tourists. And they all got down on their knees and began to pray.

I felt my heart lift and felt myself begin to cry tears of joy. Such a euphoric spiritual experience; I felt awake and have never been so touched. I wished I had a camera until I realized nothing but words could capture this moment (luckily I kept a travel journal of the trip)

You don't see that living America. No one literally stops to take to appreciate this very moment-- their lives, families, the precious earth we inhabit--with a crowd of strangers. I was moved more by an entire crowd of people praying together than one pyramid.

I call this moment 'The Spark'.