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Who are you? Who am I? | Week 31

August | Travel and Experience | Week 31 | 8/6/2023
Traveling with friends

The sources of pure elation in this life are truly scarce, but with proper due diligence, genuine connection and adequate resources, there is one which can be reoccurring and reliable - travel with friends. The due diligence; picking great friends. The genuine connection; deep friendships not reliant on substances or situations. The adequate resources; enough capital to fund a plane ticket, a rental car and a hotel, if necessary. 

I've been extraordinarily fortunate to meet and cultivate the right friendships that have allowed me to experience the joy of travel, both domestic and foreign, on more than one occasion. The three of us, Zach, Daniel and I had a first glimpse of travel together back in college when we took a day trip to Cedar Key to watch the sunset on Earth Day. We snuck onto an abandoned air strip to get as close as we could do the water and finished the night at a wooden bar that sat close enough to the break that it probably wasn't cleared by the inspector, if they had one in town. 

It wasn't long after graduation that the travel began, first it was Daniel and I in Detroit, making a trip to Niagara Falls, then it was the two of us again in Colombia, staying with his family in Medellin. We had to make up for the incredible opportunity that Zach and I had gotten in grad school to go to Argentina together. In fall of 2019, the three of us took our first trip to Seattle where the boys came to see me. The moments of silence were few and far between, mostly reprieves from laughter or introspective contemplation about a somewhat profound sentiment which had just been expressed by one of us. Everything from the car ride to Mt Rainier to the breakfast walk to Pete's Coffee was joyous. Being in the presence of my two friends filled an existential loneliness that we all fight and yet it satisfied a desire for novelty which we often are unaware of. 

That Seattle trip kicked off what would become semi-yearly trips: LA, Hawaii, NYC, San Francisco, Yosemite, Japan. It has been one of the highlights of my life to travel this incredible world with two guys that love it as much as I. Just when I thought I would be the one to enjoy a moment the most, I'm getting told "5 more minutes," by one of them. This most recent trip to Japan was a funny example of the kind of travel-synergy that we've co-developed. Zach led us through the streetwear shopping districts of Shibuya and Shinjuku. Daniel led us through the quiet walking paths of metropolitan parks in Tokyo. And I led us through the Buddhist temples of Nara. But I loved the parks just as much as Daniel, and he loved the streetwear shops just as much as Zach and Zach loved the temples just as much as I. Navigating busy train stations, renting cars, checking into hotels and picking places to eat, when the English was minimal, the sleep deprivation was real, and the finances were low, proved not to so much as even slightly negatively impact the mood. Not once in almost 10 days. 

I've traveled with other friends to many exciting places as well, and sometimes it's the group size, sometimes its the group dynamic, but usually it's just the group, which makes it hit or miss. There is a beautiful harmony which can be reached between a friend group traveling together, which balances planning vs spontaneity, control vs flow, novelty vs stillness, conversation vs quietness and many other juxtaposing states of being. But when the correct harmony is struck, weeks feel like hours and many memories are recorded in stone, colored by blissful positivity in the wireframes of our cerebellum. 




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