A Retrospective Look at My Travels

I’ve learned that Love and Listening are universal languages.

I’ve learned that it is okay not to be in control.

Sometimes the best adventures are the ones you don’t plan.

YOU have the power to make every experience what it is.

Landscape, people, and food are the most Important factors (in that order) to consider when traveling.

Somewhere around the end of November marked the halfway point of my trip. As surreal as it felt on July 8th when I boarded a plane to start this journey, it feels the same knowing that this life style will some day end. It is scary to be in the routine of a constantly changing routine. It makes me nervous to know that I won’t have the opportunity to meet someone new from a completely different culture every day. It gives me a nervous sweat to know I will be heading away from the new and back to the old. However, I feel that I have gained a wealth of knowledge from my time away. And like how I encourage running negative splits in races, I will be running a negative split during my travels. I have been a little slow paced and precautious for some time, but the second half of my travels is going to push my limits even more. I do think it is prudent to take a moment of pause to reflect on some lessons I have learned.

I’ve learned if you are deciding on somewhere to travel here is the hierarchy of things to consider: Landscape, people, and food (in that order).

Think about it like this, you’re going to eat multiple times every day. If the food is bland, spicy, expensive, cheap, flavorful, salty, fishy, grainy, wholesome, etc. that can make or break your trip. When I am back in the US, $5 for a full meal is my standard (little caesars I’m looking at you). However, if you’re in Paris you can forget about that unless you’re cooking in a kitchen. If you are like me and aren’t fond of seafood, consider that if you were to go to a place like Iceland it is a predominantly fish based diet. If you are in a place like Athens though, and you enjoy a kebab (souvlaki in Athens) it will cost you no more than $2.50. So choose somewhere with food that tastes amazing and fits your budget. Food can be your saving grace or the straw that breaks the camel’s back while traveling. I had some rough times on a vegetarian diet in France and some amazing times with the wholesome food of Romania. 

Even the best meal can be ruined by bad company. People without a doubt have the power to make or break an experience in a place. This is why I am so torn between traveling the big cities and the country sides. In the country sides are “some” of the most amazing people you will ever meet, but if you aren’t lucky enough to meet them, you will likely meet some of the worst people ever. The sample size is to small and spread out. However, in a big city there is lots to do and if you encounter someone who is a jerk, there are millions more to choose from. Plus, based on my experiences, people have the power to make an experience fantastic even if it wasn’t really anything amazing. The warmth of a conversation, the friendliness of a ‘good-morning,’ and the opportunity to learn about a completely different cultural context are things you don’t really appreciate until they are gone. I would say something about learning what a culture values before traveling to that place, but from city to city, village to village, home to home, and bed to bed it varies so greatly. 

Even if the food is trash and the people are rude, you can still have a great time traveling in a place all thanks to the landscape. I once heard a comedian making a joke about how no-one can be mad while riding a jet-ski. The skit is super funny but also very true. The same, more so even, is true of landscape. If you are surrounded by the mastiffs of the French Alps, the Parthenon of Athens, the endless rolling hills of Varna, Bulgaria, the beautiful beaches of Costa Brava, or the striking architecture of Romania you will be grateful when you go to bed at night and amazed at every sunrise you wake up to. You might get upset, sad, lonely, angry, or whatever, but once you look out at the horizon and see the vastness of beauty you are in the midst of, the volume on everything is turned down. Like a DJ who flawlessly fades from one song to another without you ever realizing the transition, so too will a stunning view change your mood to calm. It also works the other way though, if you are in a cloudy city with nothing worthwhile to look at, you will feel the drain on your soul. 

I have learned that Love and Listening are universal languages.

You don’t have to say anything to show your love for someone. It can be as simple as a hug, a kiss on the cheek, a hand on a back, holding a door open, giving a gift, drawing a picture, showing a smile, singing a song, winking, playing a game, brewing some coffee, cooking some food, and so much more. I have met a lot of people that I struggled to communicate with, but some of them are the ones I am the most fond of. I have especially been taught this by many of my students in Romania. Some of the smaller ones don’t speak much more English than “Hello Josh,” but many of them don’t need to say anything more. They will say it every time they see me, they will give me a hug when I’m not looking, they will smile at me every time we make eye contact. There is something transcendental about knowing what someone is saying without actually knowing what they are saying. That is where the second universal language comes into play: Listening. Yeah, I can hear you saying, “well listening can’t be a language and if you don’t understand someone how can you listen?” I can’t explain it, I suppose everyone just wants to feel heard. Everyone just wants to have a moment of possessing someone’s entirety. There is a quote in the movie Fight Club that I have been using ever since I first saw the movie and it goes something like this, “When people think you’re dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just…. instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.” I have found this too true with many people I have met and myself sometimes. We get so enthralled by what we can contribute to the conversation that we forget to take what the other person gives. Imagine it like being in a kitchen with someone else, and they make you some toast. Then without touching the toast, you make a quesadilla. Then they make a burger, you a steak, them a cake, you some brownies.. and it goes on and on and you have all this food on the table that no one has taken the time to eat and digest. Sure you are sitting amongst a feast which is a great feeling, but looking at the greatest meal in existence will never satisfy your appetite as much as eating a single raisin.

I have learned that it is okay not to be in control.

I think anyone who has traveled extensively has had to swallow this pill at some point. I am a pretty go with the flow type of guy to begin with, but I mean I am currently just over 2 weeks from my job in Romania ending and I haven’t even begun to make my next travel reservations. I have 4 months left and not the slightest clue as to where or when I will be. This is the norm now. It is nothing to hop on a 4 hour bus to a place I’ve never been and simply figure it out as I go. There are times when you might feel like you’re wasting an opportunity, but you never know what the universe is going to throw your way. I have had so many travel plans delayed, canceled, and changed that allowed me to meet some of the greatest people on earth. My entire stay in Athens was not suppose to happen but it did and it was a blessing. The same goes for Bulgaria, and it has been one of my favorite places ever. Don’t be dumb but also slow down and let go sometimes. This kind of goes hand in hand with the next one too.

I have learned that sometimes the best adventures are the ones you don’t plan.

This past weekend I ventured into the Bucegi mountains, a sweet town called Brasov, and a village called Bran (the one with ‘Dracula’s’ Castle). My planning went to the extent of reserving a ride in a stranger’s car for 6am on Friday morning at 8pm on Thursday night. Everything else was just figuring it out on the go. I ended up walking in the exit of Bran castle and getting a free entry. I got lost on a trail in the Bucegi mountains that ended in me scaling a frozen rock wall to find my way back to the path, I didn’t get to see the summit I wanted, but I had a heck of a time seeing a herd of what honestly looked like reindeer shuffle up the snow covered mountain like they were on a ski lift. Just as well, I accidentally bought a bus ticket for a train (don’t ask me how) and didn’t have the cash on me to buy a ticket on the train, but this led to me meeting a group of Romanian university students who spotted me the cash. I gave them some of the spare $1 bills I keep in my wallet so they had a souvenir. Even better, I met a couple that was traveling while I was in Athens, and saw they were traveling in Romania while I was there. I shot them a message to let them know I had an extra bed for them to crash in if they ever came through. Sure enough they came by a few days later and we had a great weekend of celebrating old and new friendship, cooking, seeing museums, and avoiding the cold weather by eating some traditional Romanian food. These all are given with the caveat of the next one.

You have the power to make every experience what it is.

I honestly hate the saying, “it is what it is” because it isn’t. It is what YOU make it. If you choose to stress out and miss the beauty around you, then that is the experience you chose to happen. If you choose to stay in and not be bothered with meeting new people, then that is the experience you will have. However, if you choose to over ride your immediate gratification voice and just go for it, you will have a heck of a story to tell. No further explanation needed.

 This was originally suppose to be a post made while I was traveling, but I neglected my writing and sharing my thoughts. So, here it is now instead. I think it serves for me as a reminder that it is finally time to close this chapter of my life, and to begin the new one ahead. These were months I will absolutely never forget, and if you are debating traveling, putting yourself to the test, and seeing somewhere new; go for it! Remember, it is what you make it.

Thank you,

Josh Moore