travel...

just caught the tail end of an episode of "no reservations" on the travel channel - celebrity chef anthony bourdain's travel/food/philosophy show. i love watching his show for the simple reason that he's honest and seemingly fearless - he is who he is, and makes no apologies. at the end of his shows he always manages to sum up the experience of traveling to whatever country he's traveled to in one simple and profound statement. i found the one at the end of the malaysia episode very poignant and filled with meaning for myself...

"travel isn't always pretty. it isn't always comfortable. sometimes it hurts. it even breaks your heart. but that's o.k. because the journey changes you. it should change you. it leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart and on your body. you take something with you. hopefully you leave something good behind."

fuckin-a, tony... i couldn't agree more.

gathering moss

i'm back in l.a. now from a week-long visiting with my parents in hawaii and i'm finally able to sit down and organize my thoughts about everything that's happened over the past month or so.

it was great to see my parents and the new life they've built for themselves on oahu. turns out my fears of them being bored and restless during retirement were unfounded because there's always something for them to do - whale watching, looking after the green sea turtles on the north shore, volunteering with their church group, hiking, sightseeing... all of it against this gorgeous hawaiian backdrop. and if they ever get antsy for something different, the other islands are just a 30 minute plane ride away. they have a great life there. a deserved reward for so many years of sacrifice and hard work.

i can't believe how long it's taken to formulate my thoughts about my trip to niger - a testament to how intense the trip was. but i think i've come up with my take-away from it all...

over the course of the 9 days we were trekking, i came into contact with some of what i would categorize as the most impoverished people that i've ever encountered. these people - all of them nomadic tuareg (as opposed to the ones who have settled in small villages) - had nothing, less than nothing, nothing of nothing. most of them had a small herd of goats to tend to, shelter and minimal posessions but one woman we met lived in a cave with her son and had only the clothes on her back. not even the goats she was tending were hers. and still she extended to us an invitation to come to her cave to visit for a while.

so then what does that really mean to have nothing? the term "impoverished" is really a judgement - me qualitatively interpreting their circumstances based on my vastly different life experience. but their circumstances were what they were and they were happy. life is as life always has been for them. it's a hard life - i'm not contesting that. but they have nothing else to compare it to (perhaps until we came along). and with nothing to a/b their life against what have they to want for as long as their needs are met?

i mean the only thing that separates me from them is chance - a genetic roll of the dice. i was born into the life i was born into and i'm thankful for what i have and who i am but if i was born into the life of a nomad would i be any less satisfied and thankful if i had nothing to compare it to? most likely not.

so in the end, all that matters is happiness - whatever form it comes in. whether it's working hard to raise a family and then retiring in hawaii or periodically travelling the world in order to reconnect yourself to it... or tending to a herd of goats... and if we're able to recognise happiness when it's there then maybe that's all we need.