Geographical Pilgrimages

"The geographical pilgrimage is the symbolic acting out of an inner journey. The inner journey is the interpolation of the meaning and signs of the outer pilgrimage. One can have one without the other. It's best to have both." -Thomas Merton 1964 (A monk and author)

I found this quote in a book in Chapters. I like this quote. The book was about a man, who following an oil spill in San Fransisco, packed his things and starting walking. He walked for 27 years and didn't speak for 22 of those years. Can you imagine not speaking for 22 years! That would be more than my life up to this point.

I only read the back of the book and briefly flipped through it. There was a map of where he all walked (and boated). He walked all across the US, including Alaska I believe, ended up on the east coast where he then took a boat into the Carribean. He then walked across Cuba and another country before heading to Brazil. He ended up walking from Brazil to the tip of South America then boated across to Antarctica. That my friend is a lot of walking. He did this all to take a stand against pollution since he saw how the oil spill in San Fransisco affected everything.

Enough blabbing. I hope to one day do something similar to him but with less walking and in a shorter period of time. My last two continents to check off my list will be South America and Antarctica which I will do in one shot in a few years. Can't wait for that but first things first.

Have a good weekend!

I suck at blogging

I suck at this. I never update. I usually never know what to write or what people want to know about me and my life. Please those who still stop by here, tell me what you to hear!

My parents have been in South America since the beginning of March so I have had the house to myself which for the most part has been good. It's quiet but bearable. Matthew comes home on Thursday night which makes me happy. My parents come home next week. I guess I should enjoy this peace and quiet while it still lasts.

I am going to Australia and am very excited about it! I wrote about it on my facebook but will regurgitate on here so you know what the latest is.


I am heading to Australia in mid-October after Matthew and Chantelle's wedding. Here is the game plan. Kim and I are planning on traveling for about 4 weeks all around.
Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane and surrounding areas-Cairns-Alice Springs-Sydney for me and Kim will continue on to Perth to visit her good friends Jeremy and Shari.

My plan is to start working after we are done our traveling. I have been looking at a resort in a small town on the beach about two hours north-east of Sydney. I hope to work for about a year before continuing on my travels.

I am hoping to get an around the world plane ticket so that after I am done in Australia I can head to New Zealand for a few weeks. Providing I enough time, money, and a traveling partner, I hope to go to China before heading back home. Now, I hope to be home before the 2010 Olympics but I am not going to rush home if I have the opportunity to travel elsewhere.

I feel like I am in the perfect time of my life to do this traveling. I have no commitments here in Vancouver. I'm single, out of school, and have a job that would take me back after all of my time away. Why not?

The main drive behind my desire to travel? Besides the basics of seeing the world, experiencing new cultures and meeting new people, when I was in high school we had the wonderful privilege (haha) of building a CAPP portfolio. In this we had to set our goals there is only a few on there that I actually want to accomplish.
The big one for me is seeing all 7 continents before I am 30. Three down, two pending, then only 2 more to go which will be done in the same trip. Fulfilling goals is a great feeling.

That is my near future plan in a nutshell. Of course.. I am leaving this all in God's hands and if He calls me elsewhere or wants me to stay in Vancouver, I will do that, but maybe not without a fight :)


So that is the latest news here. Will try and blog more often!