I know I owe an update from our travels in and around the Mediterranean, but this is about impulse and thoughts that need to be shared.
Since coming back to America I have had some difficulty adjusting to the life I had left behind, not because of the economy or inability to adjust, but because of expectations I held prior to my return. Through our travels to seventeen countries in eight months we learned about ourselves, the world, and the United States. We embraced every experience with a desire to learn, understand, and understand the lifestyles, religions, history, and cultures of the people and places we encountered. We became experts at approaching everything with an open mind and adapting to rapidly changing environments as we rapidly traveled throughout the region. This fast pace mentality soon slowed to a screeching stop once we got to Croatia, a country so perfect in every tropical way, we just wanted to lay on the beach for hours. After several days of doing this, though, we realized that we needed to get moving if we were to make our rendezvous with Suzi in Italy. Little did we know that Suzi would ultimately decide to not go because of financial reasons. So once again we were on the move only this time with plenty of time, little cash, and only a few countries to go. As a result we opted to go trekking which first started off expensive in Slovenia as we were forced to stay at overpriced mountain huts, but we finally made our mark in Austria. Trekking some hundred miles through Austria into Germany we took in the amazing beauty of the countryside and talked about going home. After nearly ten days of non-stop trekking we were exhausted as the mountains of Austria gave way to the plains of Germany. It should be said that there was some difficulty adjusting back to Europe after going to the Middle East with emphasis on the price of things. We soon felt that Europe (Germany) lacked a certain kind of cultural richness that we experienced in the Middle East and began to grow homesick, counting down the days. With the amount of traveling conducted on a budget that kept us in the slums, we were ready for a break and thought that returning to the United States would be a relief in itself.
Since arriving it has become apparent that this feeling is comparable to that of going home after being gone for a long while. You expect it to be great, that friends and family will be at your beckoning to hang out and “shoot the shit” at night, but upon arrival you find that although everyone is happy to see you, no one is wants to deviate from their own personal lives. Perhaps not in the same context, but this was the case for us as we had played up our arrival so much that we set unrealistic standards for how our return to the United States was going to be. It’s ironic that after all our travels, our home country is the hardest to adjust to. This, I believe, is a result of lack of satisfaction. Overseas every experience was something worth remembering and embracing, hence everything had meaning. Coming back the meaning was lost in the chatter of conceited American life that, like Europe, seems to have replaced the cultural foundation with monetary wealth. This of course is generalization, but I have found few people in Montana that are in tune with what’s happening outside of America. Coming back through me into a short identity crisis of where I wanted my life to go. First it was solely working for an international non-profit, but that soon changed with a call back on a job that would have been a dream job for me. Had I passed the interview. Now my focus is still international, but in service to this country that I love despite sheltered American lifestyles.
Which brings me to a few more points, please bear with me. Americans often view developing nations as primitive in their development compared to Western countries, but I would argue that though they may be industrially inferior they are socially superior. I am just as guilty as anyone else in this country in that we do not hold a high value on time spent with family. Sure families may get together on special occasions, but in developing nations families often live together and are an integral part of any person’s life. Which leaves me the question: does there have to be a special occasion for families to get together? One last point. It is evident in almost every place that we travelled to that people will do whatever they can to make more money, but being a ‘sap’ I am reminded of a thirty second survey that was aired on the John Tesh radio show. The survey asked people in their late adulthoods if there was anything they could change about their lives and what would it be? The overwhelming answer was that they wished they had chosen a job that was more meaningful to them. Since then I have asked myself two basic questions when deciding on future or current careers. 1) Will I be/Am I happy doing this job? 2) Is this job meaningful to me and is it how I want to define my life? For some it may be money oriented such as being successful, and that is fine so long as you can honestly answer with an affirmative, but money in itself shouldn’t be the answer.
I am off my box and yield the floor…
Since coming back to America I have had some difficulty adjusting to the life I had left behind, not because of the economy or inability to adjust, but because of expectations I held prior to my return. Through our travels to seventeen countries in eight months we learned about ourselves, the world, and the United States. We embraced every experience with a desire to learn, understand, and understand the lifestyles, religions, history, and cultures of the people and places we encountered. We became experts at approaching everything with an open mind and adapting to rapidly changing environments as we rapidly traveled throughout the region. This fast pace mentality soon slowed to a screeching stop once we got to Croatia, a country so perfect in every tropical way, we just wanted to lay on the beach for hours. After several days of doing this, though, we realized that we needed to get moving if we were to make our rendezvous with Suzi in Italy. Little did we know that Suzi would ultimately decide to not go because of financial reasons. So once again we were on the move only this time with plenty of time, little cash, and only a few countries to go. As a result we opted to go trekking which first started off expensive in Slovenia as we were forced to stay at overpriced mountain huts, but we finally made our mark in Austria. Trekking some hundred miles through Austria into Germany we took in the amazing beauty of the countryside and talked about going home. After nearly ten days of non-stop trekking we were exhausted as the mountains of Austria gave way to the plains of Germany. It should be said that there was some difficulty adjusting back to Europe after going to the Middle East with emphasis on the price of things. We soon felt that Europe (Germany) lacked a certain kind of cultural richness that we experienced in the Middle East and began to grow homesick, counting down the days. With the amount of traveling conducted on a budget that kept us in the slums, we were ready for a break and thought that returning to the United States would be a relief in itself.
Since arriving it has become apparent that this feeling is comparable to that of going home after being gone for a long while. You expect it to be great, that friends and family will be at your beckoning to hang out and “shoot the shit” at night, but upon arrival you find that although everyone is happy to see you, no one is wants to deviate from their own personal lives. Perhaps not in the same context, but this was the case for us as we had played up our arrival so much that we set unrealistic standards for how our return to the United States was going to be. It’s ironic that after all our travels, our home country is the hardest to adjust to. This, I believe, is a result of lack of satisfaction. Overseas every experience was something worth remembering and embracing, hence everything had meaning. Coming back the meaning was lost in the chatter of conceited American life that, like Europe, seems to have replaced the cultural foundation with monetary wealth. This of course is generalization, but I have found few people in Montana that are in tune with what’s happening outside of America. Coming back through me into a short identity crisis of where I wanted my life to go. First it was solely working for an international non-profit, but that soon changed with a call back on a job that would have been a dream job for me. Had I passed the interview. Now my focus is still international, but in service to this country that I love despite sheltered American lifestyles.
Which brings me to a few more points, please bear with me. Americans often view developing nations as primitive in their development compared to Western countries, but I would argue that though they may be industrially inferior they are socially superior. I am just as guilty as anyone else in this country in that we do not hold a high value on time spent with family. Sure families may get together on special occasions, but in developing nations families often live together and are an integral part of any person’s life. Which leaves me the question: does there have to be a special occasion for families to get together? One last point. It is evident in almost every place that we travelled to that people will do whatever they can to make more money, but being a ‘sap’ I am reminded of a thirty second survey that was aired on the John Tesh radio show. The survey asked people in their late adulthoods if there was anything they could change about their lives and what would it be? The overwhelming answer was that they wished they had chosen a job that was more meaningful to them. Since then I have asked myself two basic questions when deciding on future or current careers. 1) Will I be/Am I happy doing this job? 2) Is this job meaningful to me and is it how I want to define my life? For some it may be money oriented such as being successful, and that is fine so long as you can honestly answer with an affirmative, but money in itself shouldn’t be the answer.
I am off my box and yield the floor…
