a travelers surrealism

There is something surreal about travel.  when you're moving through space into something unknown the whole world is full of wonder and you are free. you have the eyes of a child. looking at hills rolling out in every direction from the window of a cracked and smelly bus holds a magic. after a while walking through crowded streets as an outsider becomes comfortable and speaking a different language seems normal. somehow you cannot quite remember what it feels like to live a life in english. stationary becomes terrifying. and while you're sitting in your sleeping bag on the side of the road waiting for a bus at the crack of dawn in Patagonia you laugh, because of course a week to that plane ticket and your here doing what you do best. Climbing to the top of a mountain to look up at the peaks of the Torres in a park at the end of the world makes sense because what else would you be doing on a thursday in november?

There is something surreal about traveling, and while you sit on that smelly bus, or while you freeze on the side of the road, or climb that mountain you have time to think. You get to think about every single moment of your life, you can evaluate why you said or did certain things or think about all those who've broken your heart. You can analyze your life decisions and still have time to imagine a world where everything goes exactly your way. You have time to study spanish in your head and think about loved ones. mostly though, you learn about letting go. you think about how unreal it all is, how the kilometers have gone right past your eyes and you are not quite sure any of it has even really happened to you.

These past ten months have become a lifetime, and while you know that the world will turn right back to normal when this year's hour glass flips, it certainly did happen. yet, like everything else in life you will have to let go. you must move past the mistakes you've made, the people you have hurt and those who have hurt you. if you have taken anything from your time on the road it is that nothing is permanent. sure you are stranded, maybe you are afraid, you could be cold or alone, but you can laugh because thats what it takes to see the world. thats what it takes to experience the rush, that is what makes it all worth it. Everything will be alright, just breath and remember the good, and you will be able to keep walking.