April 21, 2011

"Go have fun now"

(thanks to Roy for that advice! Glad to report a successful mission.)

My trip is drawing to a close and I look back on months of traveling and getting to know people in many ways along the road. In Mississippi I talked to a man on a train, who was trying to convince me that the government should never interfere with the economy because (quote) the market always works (end quote).There was Nicolas Cage starring in a brilliant subplot to my travels, where he almost assaulted my host in New Orleans at her workplace and now got arrested in recent days. Hopefully he gets his life in order! I have ridden a bike on Beale Street and across a university campus. Old friends and their families have provided me with food, shelter, dog walks, dance parties, tours to graveyards, and afternoon tea in the sun. My host in Austin showed me a place where he used to float along a river with his buddy on inflatable rafts, drinking beer. I went hiking with an extraordinary new friend, who I hadn't met until we shared the same room for two weeks all through Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. In San Francisco I have connected with some gentle *g* people that I had only known via the internet. A podcast led me to a meditation center, where I got to know a peace activist, who gave me a place to stay. A blog led me to the house of an Iranian journalist, who is everything I had hoped for after having read her blog some years ago: warm, engaged, strong, and loving.

I have slept in tents, motels, on couches, on beds, on the floor, even in the back of my car. When I took along a hitch-hiker in Sonoma County, I was not murdered, and when I was hitch-hiking for a couple of miles in Flagstaff, I got to know a Texan couple, and a guy with a bed in the back of his van. I have not felt unsafe or unwelcome anywhere I went and can truly say that this is a hospitable nation. Certainly I will be back here.

After three months on the road the world has become smaller for me, more beautiful, and more colorful! When the world comes knocking on my door I will be sure to let it in and give it a big hug :)

3 comments:

The raccoon said...

Not only am I glad to have shared three weeks of travel with you but I am glad to have met someone who has shared my wonder and awe of the same country, to have shared the same adventurous, stranger-trusting travel style and even to have shared the experience of traveling over almost identical periods (even if you were wise enough to go south first and I was not!). I don't know whether our life paths will run parallel again but I feel privileged that they did for these special months! Safe travels!

Sebastian said...

Safe travels back home. Glad you enjoyed your trip so much and thanks for keeping us in the loop throughout your travels so we can share some of the impressions..

Big hugs!

Robert said...

@The raccoon: Special months indeed :) The world has gotten small enough now, you can bump into people more than once without much effort. We'll see when and where...

@Sebs: you are very welcome. It's great to have friends to share!