February 28, 2008
Life on the road is like riding a rollercoaster, it has it’s up’s and down’s. You will go from having the best time of your life to 12 hours later as lonely as an old man in a retirement home waiting for his impending doom. For me traveling is about the people. When I look back on places I have been I mostly remember the faces and the friendships that were formed, rather then what the Great Wall of China looked like. I find that the friendships I form on the road are pure and genuine. When at home we tend to make friends based on a certain criteria. We meet people through work, or friends, and in a way I find that these people are sometimes just friends out of convenience with no real connection. But when traveling people are people, we leave all that built up baggage at home, we let are guards down. I have found that most people including myself are very honest and up front. We don’t have years to let someone chip away at the wall we put up, at most we have a few days or a week if were lucky. So you tend to lay it all on the line.
We have nothing to hide or to lose for that matter, because we know that we will probably never see each other again. So as quickly as the friendships are formed it comes time for us to go our separate ways. It’s sometimes overwhelming to go from such happy times surrounded by great friends to being all alone. But I guess that’s part of it all. The best thing about it is you never know what tomorrow will bring. Traveling is all about the unknown, and for me the unknown is not about if my bus will break down in the middle of Africa and leave me stranded for days, it’s about what new people lye around the next turn and the stories and knowledge I will gain from them. So I go to bed tonight alone and somewhat bored, but in 24 hours from now you never know I could be having the best chat of my life with some new friends over a few beers. And for me… that’s what traveling is all about!
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Jimmy under Philippines, Thoughts, Updates |
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February 26, 2008
Note to self: When on a tropical island paradise do NOT get sunburned on the first day! There are thousands of people from all over the world right now on vacation somewhere and there is a good bunch of them that are spending their first day of their vacation in the sun a little too long. Like them I was soo happy to be back on the beach I forgot to put on sunblock. I now have paid the price. I have spent the last 3 days avoiding the sun like it’s the plague. After a lot of Aloe Vera and loose fitting clothes I am finally back to normal. But thankfully I have a few more days left on Boracay to enjoy the sun, and then it’s off to Palawan (a group of islands in west Philippines) for some World War II wreck diving. Palawan has some of the best wreck diving in the world. There are a ton of sunken Japanese ships from the war that make for some awesome diving. I was able to scrap together a few photos from yesterday…. Hope you enjoy!
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Jimmy under Philippines, Photos, Travel Tips, Updates |
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February 22, 2008
I can’t believe that less than 72 hours ago I was in Tokyo bundled up in winter clothes freezing my ass off! And now I am in the Philippines sitting on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. It has been almost 2 months since I have seen the sunset. For me it’s truly one of nature’s most beautiful things to watch. They call people that like to sit on the beach all day “Beach Bums” I choose to call them “Smart”. I was soo happy to be back on the beach I forgot to put on sunblock. So I am now sporting a pretty sweet amateur tourist sunburn! I think I have just realized why I like being at the beach so much. When I am sitting on a beach there is an innocent feeling in the air. The sounds of kids playing in the water with not a care in the world, old grandmothers frolicking in the waves as if they we’re 13 years old again. The real world seems to drift away for a moment. All the negative things in the world that are drilled into our heads on a daily basis by the media fade into the horizon. And for this brief moment in time, the 4 kids in front of me, the grandmother to my right and myself are 100% at peace with ourselves and the world we live in.
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Jimmy under Philippines, Thoughts, Updates |
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February 16, 2008
Over the last few years of traveling I have put a quite a few miles on my feet. It is now time for me to strap on my Chuck Taylor’s and hit the road! I came to Tokyo with the thought of settling down for a bit, unpacking the backpack and hanging up my hat (I really don’t wear a hat… but you get the picture.) But before I knew it my bag was repacked and I was ready for new adventures! The famous Roy Rogers song says it all “Don’t fence me in”. I’m not sure why I’m having such a hard time settling down, maybe it’s because it’s freezing cold here in Tokyo and we all know I hate the cold. Also I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Tokyo is freaking expensive and the thought of teaching English makes me want to jump in front of the next bus. Or maybe everyone is right, I am like that kid in the move Into the Wild, I’m a drifter, a Cowboy that needs to be free. No job or pretty lady can keep me in one place for more then a few weeks. But seriously let’s cut the crap I’m not like that, I’m just an average guy “A very lucky guy” that has the opportunity to live his dreams and I’m not one to wait. I like to live now and deal with whatever people deal with later. But on a more serious side I believe that we are all here for 2 reasons. 1) To enjoy our life… because life is a beautiful thing and to not enjoy it is a slap in God’s face. 2) While we are enjoying our lives also try to help make the world a better place for the future generations. Our planet and the world we know is in some serious shit! We are already starting to feel the effects, and for the world’s poor they are getting dealt a much harder hand. I have and will continue to learn about the world’s problems through my travels and will continue to get the message out through video and photos. I have a lot of stuff planned in the future but for now I will talk about things as they happen. Hope everyone is well wherever you might be! Here are the last photos from Tokyo… taken over the course of 24 hours.
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February 8, 2008
After spending the last week battling the flu, the snow and the hopeless apartment hunt, today I found myself waking up in my new apartment with the bright morning sun warming my spirits. It really is amazing how things can change from day to day. Just yesterday I was at the point of buying a plane ticket to the Philippines to escape this bitter cold winter. I have spent the last 3 years living like a nomad, so the thought of “Settling” in one place has been hard to handle. My feet are already itchy for new adventures. But in the past I have missed a lot of the great adventures right in front of me, because my eyes were focused soo far in the future. The idea of coming to Japan in the winter probably isn’t the smartest thing to do, but it could worse. I know I will be back on the road soon, so for now im going to try my best to settle in to the Japanese life. So you might be wondering what kind of sweet apartment I found? Well I wouldn’t really call it an apartment; I’ve had closets bigger then this place. It’s more like a hotel room on a cruise ship. Its very small but its prefect for what I need. It comes fully furnished and has a sweet high tech toilet with all kinds of buttons that im still trying to figure out. It’s in a great location close to all the main hot spots, and the best thing is it’s month to month. So when I’m ready to hit the road it’s easy. Now that I’m feeling better and have some strength, it’s time for me to go out an enjoy living in Tokyo. So with that…. I must run!!!
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Jimmy under Japan, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Updates |
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