Dan's Travel Blog: THE PERFECT ENDING TO MY 7 MONTH JOURNEY......

So.... this one time.... I put a backpack on my back and a wallet in my pocket - and I traveled across the world.  I went through Europe and I went through India. I went to Africa and I went through Asia - and then I went back again.  The people I met - the sights I saw - the feelings I felt - the choices I chose - the information I  gathered - the appreciation I gained - the spirituality I discovered - the experiences I touched, the life I lived........ I will never be the same.  I have changed.  I have grown.  I have learned.  I have lived.  Pink Floyd once said, "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be."  I agree.

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Why did I write this blog and share it with you?  Because traveling alone for seven months can be lonely.   I'm used to being around the people I love.  But here, there is No family. No friends. No familiarity.  Everything is new.  Everything is pure. But, none of you are around to share it.  And, somehow sharing this with you gives me a connection to my roots - to the people I appreciate and those I adore.  For me, sharing is giving.  I hope I've given you something even while I've been gone.

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Last night I layed on the thin wood-railing of an all-night slow-boat from Surat Thani to Koh Tao Island, Thailand.  Clasped between a tire and a rope - legs hanging over the water, Beer Chang in my hand, I looked out over the ocean, up at the stars, over at my fellow travelers from all over the world who were sleeping and sweating inside - on bamboo mats layed out between egg crates and rice bags.   I wondered, I loved, I smiled. I cried.  Traveling alone for so long results in a personal journey to somewhere deep inside you - to places that make you feel. It's overwhelming at times like this. 

There are few words and photos that can explain my seven months on the road - all the buses, trains, planes, boats, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, and mopeds.  All the guest houses, hostels, hotels, and bungalows.  All the scam artists.  All the amazingly wonderful travelers from everywhere. All the Buddhist philosophy and meditation discussions. All the thoughts in my head and the words in my journals.  All the photos in my camera and the receipts in my wallet.  The power of the children at the orphanage.   The wonder of the animals in the Serengeti. The simplicity of the Buddha in my studies.  The peacefulness in my meditations. The  fondness for the people I traveled with - from Iranians to Israelis, and everyone in between.  All of this is part of me now - forever.  Ask me about it.

Thank you for allowing me to share this journey with you.  I'll be home next week.  Call me.  I'd love to meet up and catch up. My eyes and mind have journeyed far and the latter has changed.  But, I'm still Dan (with dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings??).  And so it is true what they say all throughout Thailand: I am truely, "same same, but different". 

See you on the other side.....