And that's a wrap...for now!

Well well well. What do we have here Mr. Calendar. What do you read? The 10th of who? DECEMBER??? No it can't be. It's just not possible.
"Excuse me sir, do you have the date?"
"The 10th"
"Of what?"
"December".

How did this date arrive? The trip seemed endless and the lifestyle everlasting, hopefully it will be. But wow, this journey took all kinds of sideroads and twisted tunnels that I could have never forseen and that was the beauty of it. It turned out the way it was supposed to, well maybe not even that, it just turned out the way it did, and the way it did was a way I could have never planned, and that's why I didn't, and why most likely I never really will! (Sorry mom!)

I saw the lowest of lows in society and the highest of highs.

As I was overlooking Syria from a ridge from the Golan heights I listened as bombs continuously went off, only 20 kilometers away, with the realization that people were losing homes, families and there possessions.

In Turkey as I was waiting to catch a local bus to Ürgub I went to a store to buy an Orange before the bus ride. Not understanding quite right I handed him too much money. He could have taken the money and said thanks, as I was a foreigner, we are stupid and supposed to get ripped off right? No he went running after me to hand me back my money, which turned out to only be a few cents. I didn't care about receiving the money just small acts of kindness and morality that makes you feel protected, that you are being looked out for. 

The warm arms (even if they weren't literally arms because hugging and body contact is not always welcomed in Asia) that welcomed me when I entered my friends and their families. It was way more than I could have ever asked for and I never felt like I was out of place,  although pictures look otherwise haha.

But it showed me the love and kindness that exists from the middle east, to east Asia and southeast Asia. In many diverse societies where in some religion is deep rooted and others where social groups are hard to enter. It didn't matter my religion, my skin color, my big nose, or my inability to speak their languages.

Even more touching then being welcomed in by my friends and there families was being welcomed in by people who I had just met. Most specifically in Thailand  and Myanmar. People I literally just met who were not other travellers, but the local people, took me in as if I was a brother and now I feel like these people are my brothers. Taking me to remote villages where foreigners rarely visited and in some had never visited, but I was still treated like a brother. These people owed me nothing and in some cases had close to nothing but they wanted to give me anything and everything. There are no words for these people, the only thing I can say is I hope to see them again and that I would do the same for them if they ever visited me.

Seeing friends that I hadn't seem anywhere between 1 month and 3 years was way cooler than I could have imagined.

Israel- Yak & Leah
Turkey- Yusuf
China- Luca & Peilin
Hong Kong- The Ronalds
Thailand- Jesse
China (2nd time)- Yiren, Joaquin
Japan- ROY! Sato, Ayumi, Roy Hongo, Kazu.

As Lucas family friend said friendship is as wide as the sky and long as the universe.

I could write forever, but I think the people at this sushi bar I'm sitting at for breakfast want me to order more than miso soup if I'm going to be here forever!

Travelling is a lifestyle. A lifestyle I won't be able to stop living.

This time has been amazing but I am excited to be back in the USA, especially to be back with my family at 639 echo lane. I understand what gpops means when we ask him what his favorite place in the world is.

Love you all! And see you all soon!

Also I CANT BELIEVE MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!! Huge felicidades a mi hermana!!!

The world is a beautiful place.

My Japanese brotha

Haven't seen my boy Roy in about 3 years now. Which sounds like wayyyy longer than it feels because we made so many amazing memories together. It was crazy seeing him again with such a gap of time between us. After 1:30 hours of looking for each other (we're both good with planning details) we found each other and we were off. What do you begin talking about after not seeing each other for 3 years? I wished I could just say one massive word and tell him everything at once but I'm still trying to invent that word. We spent the rest of the night catching up, laughing and making new memories. Before too long we were back to the basics of our friendship and it was awesome. I think it was difficult for him a little ar first adjusting to speaking English and he didn't want to feel or show me that he might not remember all his English.  But in reality we were communicating better than we ever have. His English might be better than ever and in a few snaps he was speaking "Mac" again and noone could understand us haha. I also think he was a little off guard seeing me again especially in Japan, he said he thought he would probably never see me again.

After spending 3 unbelievable days of friendship together (not trying to make this a love story) all of a sudden we were having to say "nos vemos" again (not goodbye). He is seriously my Japanese brother. We dig each other's thoughts, approach to life, jokes, love towards others, happiness, dancing skilks haha and just each other's company.

But part of the reason it was a little strange at first when we first met is because he is working a job that is not who he is and it doesn't make him happy. It took him a second to throw this off of his shoulders and fall back into himself again. That's what I loved so much about seeing him again because I knew he would shortly crack out of this shell his job put on him and jump back into his comfy clothes. I was so happy to be able to help him do this and with the time we spent together I'm sure he will leave his job shortly and follow what he wants to do. Because we both understand (as much as one can try to) that life is short, you could die tomorrow and you wouldn't want to do it without living your life the best way you can. A compromise between what you want to and what you can actually do, but way more on the side of what you want to do and what makes you feel like making life worth living. Feeling every breath and being invested with your heart and energy into what your doing as well as having time to yourself.

But what do we know were just dreamers, but were not the only ones!

An unforgettable few days that has addedd to the highlight reel of my trip and definitely to the top of my Japan trip and I've had an awesome 8 days here.

Also, so cool to meet friends in there own homes/countries. Seeing the way you act in there countries and they act in yours. Understanding each other on a level that you couldn't before, there mannerisms, phrases,  childhood, environment, everyday life.

Also I love caos. Not being certain of anything. Looking behind the closed door and the unknown. For me adventure is not knowing and I can't live without adventure.

China round 2

NIHAO MA!!!

This whole trip I asked myself why I have a winter jacket and long underwear and now I know why! Because I was planning on staying in China for a long time and it is cold here!

After leaving China my last visit with a strange feeling I am pleasantly suprised about how amazing of a day and how excited I am for my days in Beijing. And as is when you get to a new place you want to see/do EVERYTHING and wish you had more time.

Here people speak English and the city is clean and beautiful. An ancient city in the middle of the new capital and its an amazing mixture. It doesn't feel overcrowded, overused or hectic the other places in China felt. This is a Chinese city where you feel like you are pleasantly in China. Actually I couldn't help but feeling like I was in Chicago all day. Something about the cold windy weather and the ways the trees blew in the wind and blew leaves around the streets. The way people dressed and the wide streets and clean city.

I also have had to keep in mind that all these impressions are coming after the countryside of China, Thailand and Myanmar.

I believe I understand the definitions of 3rd, 2nd and 1st world.

Happy thanksgiving to all! Love all of you! I'm thankful for all of you and your all constantly in my thoughts. The most important thing in life for me is people and the most important people in my life is my family and friends. THANK YOU!

Speaking of friends I got to see my amazing friend Yiren tonight who I hadn't seen in over a year but not a second had passed and it was unbelievable! Truly unbelievable to be able to go around the world and see people who you have created relationships with and to create relationships with new people as well who I hope to meet in future time.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet a cousin whom I never knew existed, should be fun!

On the air, road, bus, taxi, scooter, bicycle, legs, Mac

Will the real Myanmar please stand up

The land of the red stained teeth, but the golden smile. One of the only places a man looks fashionable and normal in a skirt (I must say its refreshing:)). Driving wheels on both sides of their 1960s battered cars. No McDonalds or other chain stores/restaurants (although they are making their way in). The land of simple bamboo houses but extravagant golden pagodas. A place where people give when they barely have anything for themselves, they are the most genuine and easy going people I have met. The place where people ask you if you are happy and truly hope you will return to their country. Somewhere where nobody is truly on the same page about road conditions, places you can travel, if you are being spied on, what the government is going to do next, if they will truly have fair elections in 2015, when the South East Asian games are even though they are being held in Myanmar. A place with one mother who has fought and will continue to fight for her people, and whom everyone considers their mother and loves her like one, Aung Sun Suy Gyi.
A place that is truly poor but there are hardly any beggers. You cannot avoid seeing poverty, people sleeping on streets as rats run past them, large piles of rubbish that stink up street corners, broken sidewalks and pudddles of oddly colored stagnant water. Seeing people taking bucket showers in public is common, especially in the rivers that are sometimes full of rubbish. A land where the family business is your business. Where people sleep where they can, in the back of their taxi pickup trucks, bicycle taxis and anywhere in the shade when they get a chance. A place with 3 seasons: rainy, cold and hot, but most would consider the cold season their summer. A place where people love to combine Grand Royal Whisky, which seems to sponsor the country,  and Myanmar beer.
A place where you can be the first tourist to lay eyes on a place. Somewhere you can see how the land naturally looks and functions without little human interruption and its beautiful. 
Somewhere that has a future which nobody is sure about but everyone is looking forward to. You can feel the development and see it coming but selfishly as a tourist you want it to remain the same and at the least hope they do not sell out and screw themselves over.

When you are un Myanmar you know you are in Myanmar, there is no avoiding it ir trying to live your lifestyle in this country and that iswhat makes it so amazing for some and difficult for others.

A place where you feel far away from the rest of the world but all the people want and try is to make you feel at home

Rambling man

I was so ready to leave scumbag city aka Bangkok. I made a really great group of diverse friends at my hostel that I had a great time with but Bangkok isn't anywhere I wanted to spend any more time in. Looking around you see white guys with Thai girls and rarely ever the opposite combo. What you see is neither love or lust, but prostitution. You wonder how these hags could feel comfortable holding hands with girls who look no older than 18 around town as if they are showing off a prize. Don't feel special buddy! It doesnt matter what you look like or what your personality is like,  just the size of your wallet!

After staying out way late on Halloween on Khao San rd, the famous town for backpackers in BKK I was on the road again saying adios to Thailand, until next time or forever. I had a great mix of tourist fun and unique exotic experience that I could not have imagined myself getting into.

Most memorable moments of Thailand: Staying in Umpang with my friend I met who worked for an NGO there. Hermit village, Burmese refugee camp, cock fight, breakfast lunch and dinner with only Thai people, rice wine, eating frog that i saw get caught, killed and cooked. Hitch hiking in the back of a pickup truck on a 2 hr ride  Sleeping in a bamboo house in the middle of a rice paddy waking up to roosters and in the meanwhile my friend had picked up breakfast and we ate it on the porch. Also my motorbike rd trip around 300km through more than 1,300 windy turns up and around mountainous rds through the jungle.

Anyways, after a super-tourist night I shortly after on a plane to a place where I feel far far away from the party haven of Bangkok. 

As I was sitting in a restaurant getting lunch I suddenly got the feeling as if a ghost had crawled up my spine, a cold flash and a light head,  the feeling of your body and mind at the same time realizing you are in a very different place. Hard to explain but we've all felt it. I had lunch and all the girls at the restaurant looked at me so we started communciating, barely and all of a sudden 8 girls are surrounding me laughing at me/ with me and speaking Burmese language. We entertained each other for awhile and finally when it was getting too difficult to talk more they ran and grabbed a older guy who spoke English. We got to talking and didn't stop,  he ended up taking me around the city showing me all these local things and explaining to me the culture, beliefs, languages, history, etc. Etc. He is an amazingly friendly, funny, spiritual and philosophical guy. We then went out to eat at a restaurant that while we ate and drank there was a stagr that ran in the niddle of everything where girls sang karaoke and did a fashion show. It was wild.

I'm exhausted but I just wanted to get some of these things down before I forget so excuse the rambling that proaby doesn't make sense.

I cant believe any of this happened such an unexpected day. Put yourself in situations and some things will happen.

The Hermit has spoken

Wow. Most different place I've ever been to in my life. I was so lucky to be able to make a connection to this village and we spent 2 nights with a local family that my friend knows. They speak Karen, a minority group that originates from Burma. 

We showed up unannounced, after a 20km trek through the jungle, and it was as if they were expecting us. They cooked breakfast and dinner for us everyday no questions asked. All the food they grew or gathered themselves. Men and women eat separately and men eat first. They ate with their hands but they had fork and knife as options also. The food was delicious and im sure it was healthy because it was fresh and "organic" even though that word doesn't exist to them because all food is. Everyday we would eat free meals with other villagers my friend knew or people we would meet and they would invite us for food. 

Everybody at first appeared to be vampires. With there teeth stained of red and red liquid smeared on their lips. But this is betelnut (sp) a type or tobacco that they all grow and chew regularly throughout the entire day and night.

A dirt road was just built there 5 years ago and now people are starting to have cars and mmotorbikes and access to the nearest town (20km away). In this town I was able to have a feeling of living in a gathering and growing society (they dont eat meat). But even in thid kind of town with at most 4 tiny tiny stores I was able to find coca cola, sprite and fanta. Along with roads houses now have electricity and some even small televisions. 

Beliefs:males must grow out hair and have a front ponytail, males can not wear shirts that they pull over their heads because you cannot open a t-shirt so it is like closing your mind. Button up t-shirts you can open, like your mind, women wear traditional clothes, and babies clothing seemed to be optional. Also the clothes, if not traditional, should only be one color. Males also wear these skirts as you can see in the picture of me with the family.You cannot kick any round balls I.e. soccer balls because it is the shape of the earth so it is like you are kicking the earth,  no alcohol, drugs, meat.

This village is called the "Hermit" vvillage because they believe in the Hermit, who I spent time with both days I was there. Below is a picture of me with the Hermit. We went to his grounds to speak with him. A beautiful, peaceful spot in the jungle full of his disiples. He had around 30 disciples probably between 12-20 years old. If you are part of this belief you are supposed to be a disciple for 3 years. Learning from the hermit and living on the grounds. When talking to the hermit behind hhim his disciples sat listening weaving baskets and smoking cigarettes.

Have yyou ever met anyone who didn't know what a computer was? He did not know what it was. I asked hI'm if he could have a computer if he would wsnt one and he said why would I want something he doesnt know. Also he asked me if i've been to the moon bc he heard that white people have been there. He asked me what material my camera was made out of, because everythint they have they build tthemselves and have to use from their own resources

 

Journey or Result?

Not only seeing the world, but meeting the people who make it up.

It has been amazing to see different parts of this beautiful floating rock we inhabit. But more than seeing things its meeting the people who live in it that has made this trip extremely special to me. As well as reflecting on the situations I have found myself in.

For example:

As I am sitting on the porch of a wooden cabin in the mists of rice paddies and the jungle as a mix between insects calling and Thai music blasts from the cabin across the way. A reality which would have never crossed my mind. And thats something I love about travelling is that your reality is constantly something you were unaware existed before, you are constantly expanding your map.

At guesthouse I stayed in in Chiang Mai I always had great talks with the German co-owner named Sid. He told me something important that day which has stuck with me since. As he was giving me a route to take on motorbike from one city to another and detailing all of the relics on the way he told me "but after you see a few waterfalls or caves they all blend together.  The relics are great to see throughout the day but its that one stand you stopped at along the way where you got the best piece of corn and conversation.  It's whats happening at the moment your riding through a town and the things you see. These are what make the trip memorable". This guy is obviously more about the journey then the end result and I liked that a lot.

On my journey I met a guy in a guesthouse where we were the only occupants and we chatted all night. He just finished his contract at one NGO working with healthcare for Burmese Karen refugees. He was telling me about all the interesting things in this town and I was captivated by all the NGO talk as it is something I am interested in and I have talked about so much in my INTL classes.
Next thing you know I was on a 7 hour truck ride around a mountain squeezed amongst 30 others and boxes of goodies in a truck thats faded capacity limit sticker read 15. It was the most unexpected, nauseating, eventful ride I could have asked for, and I wasn't asking for anything. Women breastfeeding their children,  people on the roof slingshoting trees, little kids holding enormous insects as pets, people's "cocks" for the upcoming fights this weekend etc. etc. Etc. And at the end of this ride I exchanged facebook info with one person on the ride. Everyone in the world has a facebook im convinced.

Today was the end of Buddhist lent and we woke up early and gave all the monks food in the pouring rain. Noodles for days!