I just received a call from a friend of mine. When he asked what I was doing, I gave an answer that I’ve become used to giving over the past 20 years or so: “hanging out, waiting on a flight”. When I said it this time though, I let the thought hang out there. I started to think about how much of the last two decades I’ve spent on the road, and I drew this conclusion…
It’s been pretty cool. I could complain about the awful delays in airports or being away from my family or the hundreds of extra calories consumed every day away from home. I could, and the stories would be accurate; but it’s actually been a pretty cool way to experience life.
For one, I’ve had the chance to see, taste, and smell just about everything. I’ve been in the tallest building in the world, tasted the most hoppy beers and finest wines (both in the US btw), attended a major league baseball game in 23 different parks, eaten at the original Brazilian steak house in Sao Paulo, and once watched two 80 year-old street painters fist fight in Paris. I ate at the oldest restaurant in the U.S. in Boston on a Tuesday night and took two engineers from Saudi Arabia to a honkey tonk in Houston on Wednesday night. I’ve fallen in love with towns like Walnut Creek, CA; Portsmouth, NH; Stratford upon Avon, England; and Victoria, BC. I’ve learned tolerance and perception and brilliance from angles I never thought possible. I’ve met people that have frustrated, challenged, delighted, and inspired me. Many times because of my unfamiliar surroundings, I’ve been forced to think liberally and feel responsibly.
Has it all been a vacation? Of course not. I’m sitting in LAX right now finishing this post, wishing I was home with my wife and daughter. However, I’ve become the person I am today partly because of my travel. I like who I’ve become and the life that I have. If running around the world continues to give me this type of life, I’m all for doing it the next 20 years… and the fact is, my wife might kill me if I don’t!
