A Note on Travel, Humanity, and Kinship.

"Ignore the pondering prose and just fucking do it amigo. The longer and more difficult the journey, the more profound the metamorphosis. There will always be reasons to postpone, that's what most people do about everything substantial in life. Forget the naysayers, they want to discourage others from achieving what they fear or are too lazy to attempt. Pick your goal and move forward without hesitation. A decade ago 7% of the US population had a passport but for Germans, that number was 90%. What does that tell you?

All journeys alter your perspective so imagine the creativity a lengthy international ride will stimulate. Is your life going to change? Hopefully. I don't know anyone who has traveled extensively and came back wishing they never left. Want to reassert your faith in humanity? Roam the developing world alone and reel in the magic of what occurs when we humans meet face to face without intervention from governments or the media. Surprise, surprise, we don't really hate each other after all.

What you do with that new angle on life is up to you but you will surely be more aware and in tune with what is really happening in the world, and in particular, in your own mind. Being broke down in BFE, or stranded in some remote desert sucks, but how you handle those challenges will also define your character and reveal what you are really made of. (And that's when you discover that great powers aid those who struggle hard.) Then there are the kindly folks along the way, eager to assist a foreign vagabond. Prepare to be overwhelmed as those with the least, share the most. Are there great lessons there?

Roaming the planet by motorcycle is like weaving your way through the landscape of humanity, an experience far more pronounced in tribal society. Indeed venturing beyond your comfort zone can be difficult, yet the further from "home," the deeper the experience. A trip to Europe can be enlightening, but not the jolt you'll get from camping with primitive tribesmen in Brazil or Ethiopia. We humans come in different flavors, yet still, we are cut from the same genetic cloth and you will surely learn to marvel at our similarities while celebrating our differences.

Don't worry my friend, raising your awareness of the world has no negative consequences." - Striking Viking

I was browsing a thread today on www.advrider.com, and I came across this statement by world-renowned traveler, Striking Viking. It was a response to another member who was worried about the transition phase after coming back from a long trip. I read through it 5 times over, because it hit me harder than I could possibly convey.

I pondered this quote for quite some time, reflecting upon it as I sat in a truck stop, 500+ miles from home and family, amongst people I have never met. In the background, CNN Live was on the telly, and other patrons were involved in random discussions.

Listening to the discussions, and thinking about my personal travels, and the caliber of people I've met, I realized just how we in the United States have become very distant from the people around us. I'm as guilty as anyone else in that regard, and it hit me like a boulder.

Years ago, Americans traveled this gorgeous country of ours, for no other reason than to see places they had never been. I'm talking way back, as in before the modern interstate system. These people, more often than not families, would travel down US highways, going from one town to the next, as they made their way to a final destination. Along the way, they would see the faces of the people in these towns, make eye contact, and acknowledge them, even if they never stopped the car.

Town after town, and farm after farm, America was viewed as it really was. The travelers would see the people working in fields, manning their shops, and living their lives. When they stopped for food or fuel, they stopped at privately-owned, small businesses where people served them as if they were family. Often, conversations would spark up, and the travelers got a chance to take in the life of someone they had never met. We, as a society, were interconnected in ways that were very personal.

Now, however, we speed past these small towns, often not even knowing they exist, with our faces buried in our laptops and our cell phones glued to our ears. When we stop for food or fuel, it's at large, corporate-owned businesses, where the people working are paid near minimum wage, and have no desire to even look at you. When you take your vehicle in for service, you never see the technician. When you go to a store, it isn't the the little shop on the corner, it's the large conglomerate in the retail park. The people you meet at these places could care less if you spent your money there, and often would rather you just go away.

I sat there reflecting on a few of the conversations I'd overheard (ok, so I eavesdropped a bit), I started to feel very depressed about the whole situation. Rather than debating the latest political dribble, light-heartedly arguing over sports teams, or discussing the latest happenings in the family, these people were all engaged in conversations of zero intellectual, moral, or familial value.

They argued about who should assassinate the president, what their latest welfare review was like and how to "beat" that system, and what races should be kicked out of our country. That last one struck me hard. It was a group of people, all well over 300lbs, who had been discussing the fact that they were disappointed in our president because he basically hasn't given them their money. They were, according to their conversations, unable to work because of various "health issues". Most of it centered around weight, while they took their 5th trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

The "family", and I use that term sparingly, had decided that the various non-white races, of which many unethical slurs were used to describe, should be "shipped back", because their stealing the money this family should be getting. It made me wonder if these people realize that their families stole the land from the Native Americans...

I eventually decided enough was enough, and left. It was time to get moving anyhow. I got back in the truck, and headed for my next stop, all while reflecting upon the quote from Striking Viking, my personal travels, and the things I've seen myself.

I've realized that we can no longer let our children run the neighborhoods with their friends. I took great pleasure in doing this when I was a kid. Back then, the neighborhoods knew each other, and we were always safe, even when we were out of sight of home.

We've lost the connection with out kin. I don't mean blood relation, I mean social kin. We no longer associate ourselves with the people around us. I mean, it took me 6 months to meet my neighbor, and our units in this duplex share a wall! When I was growing up, and a new neighbor moved in around us, we all greeted them, usually invited them for dinner, and got to know them right away. We made them feel welcome.

I've had the good fortune to travel to some fairly remote places, in countries aside from the United States. Striking Viking is very correct when he says travel will change you. I've never been to a "third world country", but I've been to places in Europe where they still plow fields with horses. I have continually heard that they were "poor", but as Striking Viking said, "the people with the least give the most". They aren't poor, in any form but monetarily. They live off the land, and each other. Entire communities work together to live and raise children. They work the fields by day, and by night they gather and celebrate the greatest gift in the known universe: Life. Seeing this and now having a family of my own, has definitely changed me, and I look forward to future travels, so as to continue the process.

Hopefully, I am able to pass some of this on to my children.