For the last few days I have been lounging around getting healthy, reading and thinking about the first few weeks of my trip.
I am staying in a friends room just outside of london; she is actually traveling now so I haven't seen her but her roomates whom I've never met are all here. There are 7 kiwis (people from New Zealand) who are living and working in London for a year or so. They welcomed me in and treat me like a friend from the get-go, gave me a key and trust me in there home.
The friends of theirs that I have met have all been other kiwis that live here. Why go to London to hang out with Kiwis? there is more traffic, it's not as beautiful by any means and much worse weather. They do make more money but then the cost of living is quite higher too. What I've learned is THAT's NOT the point. The point is it is something that they have a chance to do that is different; it is unfamiliar and exciting. I have found that they, like many others who are away from home for an amount of time tend to think of all the great things they have back home that they may have taken for granted while they were there. When they do end up going back an settling at home they will have a piece of mind. Living in london is just something they have to do, for the sake of their life and the sake of the people they interact with during the rest of their life because knowing there is a different way of life(not necessarily better or worse) will make people have a more open mind for when they meet people who come from somewhere else that is different from what we know.
Backpacking isn't just seeing different places, it for me, is learning how to interact with people and understand the bigger view. Backpackers for the most part have a bag, clothes, maybe headphones or a phone, but their possesions are few. We travel together and sleep in rooms of 10 or so together. These are people who have never met and usually come from all parts of the world.
I was told before I left by many not to be too trustworthy of people, but that is what I find most enjoyable about this lifestyle is that is what we have, trust. People won't take us to their fancy houses or drive us in their cars or give us THINGS they own because they won't do us good. The things that travelers do value from people they've never met are much more valuable: a smile, a hug, a compliment, an ear to listen or the biggest sacrifice of giving a part of themselves. I know it sounds very cheesy but I think about life in the US or london for that matter (big cities) As Biggie says, "Mo Money, mo problems", because the more you have the more you have to worry about people using you for what you have or them trying to take what you have in some way or another. While people with little, such as we learned about the country folk in Ireland who grew enough food for their families, had enough animals and tools to make life work and didn't have an overabundance because it wouldn't do them much good. But when someone had a rough time it was the neighbors who would lend a hand and be there to pull there fellow man up. Of course money is needed to be able to do certain things but the means of going about it can be a dangerous thing.
It amazes me how I can meet someone in a day or a few days that could very easily impact the rest of my life.
If you do what you've always done, you will know what you've always known.-someone famous said that.
I got a great email from a friend; Steve G who just got back from a great venture in Spain; I would like to share it with you.
Camino de Santiago, i'll download the rest in september. It was by far the best experience of my LIFE. 650+ miles, 37 days walking, 100+ degree temps, walking through deserts, forests, over mountains, bathing in ice cold rivers, without cell phones, computers, cars, TV's, radio, music, ipods, etc... you were just alive with yourself and the others that were around you in the middle of natures majesty. Nothing felt like your own, you shared everything, you lived in community with the other pilgrims. They were your family, your world and life was beautifully simple. On the camino I felt super close to God, closer than I've ever been. I could feel the Holy Spirit guiding me each day, transforming me, teaching me, challenging me. People refer to the Camino as a life changing experience. It was life changing in the way that you are exposed to the ESSENCE of life. You are stripped of most ALL your material goods - you have nothing but the contents in your pack. You rely on fruits, nuts, and crackers for daily energy and sustenation. And although you have "nothing" you are the happiest person alive because the camino helps you realize that the most beautiful part of life is to just "be" and love others, without the ficticious facades of worldly accomplishments, material possessions, or societal pressure. Society tells me that i am respectable once i have a certain job or degree or title, make a pre-determined amount of money, drive a particular car, wear a certain style of clothing, possess certain materials...
NO. I am only respectable through the fact that God created me and He loves me. My inheirent goodness does not fluctuate on whether I possess certain materials or jobs or how society responds to me. My goodness exists in God's constant love for me which no job or title or material possesion could ever change.
The camino shows you "the way" in order that you may continue it. "Being" will be my focus knowing that I will always be nothing more and nothing less than "Steve", a creation of God.
I'm not telling people how to live their lives; to each his own, but I will try to get the most out of my life whatever that turns out to be as I hope everyone does.
Thanks
Carpe Diem
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