This is How I Do Things

Back when I considered myself a traveler, or a wanderer or fucking whatever because I thought it sounded romantic and Kerouacian, I idolized people who could travel freely and extensively and I flat out looked down upon those who seemingly had the part of their soul that longs for sojourn surgically removed.

I would have conversations where I would say things like, "Why would someone want to stay in one place?  Why don't they want to go out and experience the world?"

And the individuals I spoke with would agree with me, and say yes, of course, why wouldn't they?

The assumption that there are people who have an ideal world that opposes my own is inherent to my personality.  I grew up idolizing personalities that had a direct enemy.  Finding out I have no one to fight is...uncomfortable. Is this a generational thing?  thanks to eighties movies, we grew up believing the protagonist was always an underdog, and we're learning that is really never the case and as a result we feel unimportant.

Or is this just me?

I've always assumed there were people out there who had a desire to stay put and experience nothing new, that there were people whose goals never reached beyond remain, consume, endure.  In a way, I made them my hypothetical enemies.

But I've never actually met any people like that.  

For reference, here is a list of other people I have never personally met, but hypothetically frown upon because I assume they exist:

1.  someone who has never felt like an outsider
2.  someone who believes pit bulls are inherently vicious
3.  someone who super enjoys a good office cubicle
4.  someone who never questions authority
5.  someone who hates Disneyland

Sure, I've met people who cannot afford the luxury of travel.  I've met people that grow out of their insecurities.  I've met people who are afraid of dogs.  I've met people who enjoy their job at the office.  I've met people who follow the rules, and I've me people who don't give a crap about amusement parks.

But that's living in a shade of gray, and it's undesirable to fight gray.

You know, it's not that I want to go out and "experience the world."  It's that I like wandering into new places, and having a beer and talking to people.  That's what I like to do.  And I want to do that in as many places as possible.

And when MoLinder, Katsisch and I got to Munich, what did we do?  Well, we hugged Gyna like hell, because she lives there and she's amazing.  We rode Falkor (oh, that's right), said howdy to ze Germans, then immediately got a beer and shared stories.  We went to Salzburg and we wandered around and then sat down and had a beer and told stories.  We went to Copenhagen and we wandered around and had a beer and told stories.  Sometimes we were talking to strangers (natives and fellow travelers), sometimes we were talking to each other.  But it never got tedious, it never got pressing.  Not to me. Unless I had to pee really, really bad or something.

To me that is doing something.  That is experiencing the world. Because I'm taking what I love and I'm making it work within other places and cultures, I'm learning about other people's lives and how they relate to my own, I'm learning about my sister, I'm learning about my best friends, I'm learning how we fit together and I fucking dig that.

I got some criticism because we went to five cities in ten days.  But it was never stressful, really, since our goal wasn't to tour.  It was to wander, enjoy people's company, share memories and stories and have beers.  I loved it so, so much.

And that, I think, makes us awesome. 

What would I do if the world was ending tomorrow?  I would invite everyone I liked to wander aimlessly around with me, get drunk, yell at people and share stories.  That is what I would want to do.

So.  Seeing as I am not Dave Attell or Anthony Bourdain, how do I turn this into a job?

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