Trip of a lifetime

Inspired by the movie ‘Motorcycle Diaries’, this is a trip I am planning to do some time in the coming years. The idea is this: I would start in the north of South America, go along the east of the continent, the Atlantic side, all the way south to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once I get there, I would rest for a few days, maybe weeks, and then continue the journey to La Patagonia, cross the Andes to Chile, and start moving north by the Pacific side.

Too crazy?!… well, perhaps… these kinds of trips have to be done while still young, so this is my plan… I will graduate in about two years, find a job and work for about 3 years to pay back the money spent in college; I would probably work one more year to save money for this trip, some money to go back to graduate school, and some as back up… once I have paid back the college money and with still little to no financial responsibilities (hopefully), then I would be ready for the trip, at around 28 years old, which is still pretty young ;)

How would I do it? Well, I have no idea yet… would it be by bike, hitchhiking, by bus, a combination of the three? Don’t know… but I have plenty of time to think about it. Naturally, no itineraries… it would probably take more time than the expected anyway… in fact, it’s kind of impossible to develop a timetable specifying when I would arrive at each place…. but this is the BEAUTY of the trip… you don’t really know what to expect, what the road will present you with, and you can’t really imagine all the countless situations you might encounter.

Why do I want to do such a trip? Considering the fact that I am breaking my butt studying, studying, and studying all these years, I am entitled to having a ‘little’ vacation and some fun… =P … but also, I don’t like going to a place on vacations, staying comfortably in a hotel, enjoying it’s good food, it’s piscine, going to the downtown area and buying at its expensive stores, etc… that’s very superficial… In my view, it is much more preferable going to those ‘different’ places where one can appreciate directly its culture, the place, learn from it, and let others share their traditions and lifestyles with you.

It is also very eye-opening as one is directly exposed to the conditions and characteristics of the places visited. I’m sure I’ll find poverty along the way, and getting familiar with these places at a young age will definitely help in the future if I have the means and time to do something and help, probably in that place that would impress me the most. I am convinced the knowledge and experience gained in such a trip would be essential in objectively and ‘precisely’ determining what the real needs of the people living in some rural village of Latin America are.

I want something different, something most people don’t even think about, and those that do, dream about but end up never doing; a direct consequence of the structured, narrow-minded, boring lifestyles that society, in general, imposes to us. Some have told me that once I start working I will like the money and I will not want to stop working and go back to school, nor to quit the job to do such a trip… well, it takes determination to do it… it would probably be hard to find a job after 6 months of being inactive, but the idea is that after the trip I would go to graduate school, so after finishing a graduate program it’s much easier to find a job directly through the connection that companies and the university already have.

I am writing this part of the post not precisely for others to read, but for myself to read as many times I think necessary so that I will not make the same mistakes others have done. I will repeat the phrase I have already posted on July 30, 2006:

“The intelligent person learns from his own experience
The wise learns from that of the others
The fool never learns.”

Many friends whom I respect also had plans in their youth, but once they started working, for some reason or another (they begun getting raises, having more responsibilities at work, had children, etc.), their projects and ideas faded away, and they could only accomplish some of their goals they had set in their youth. Learning from their experience, I will not make the same mistakes. Some of these projects can only be done when still young. Money can wait. Respect in the job environment can wait. Promotions can wait. Life and time don't, they just pass by. As John Lennon said, “life is what happens while we are busy making other plans”. I will live my life wisely, open-minded, flexible to any situations that might present, and enjoy every moment of it.

If an employer happens to someday read my blog, he / she will have to understand that if they appreciate me, or my capacity, and if I like the job, then I will probably want to continue working for them after going to graduate school. They will also understand that this kind of trip can only be done while still young, and that I will not allow myself to miss this opportunity, not for money, not for a job, not for recognition, nor for promotion. I can always have this a little later in life.

This is the way I think, at 22, would be the wisest way of spending the coming years of my life. I thank God for the opportunities that I have, I thank my parents for their support, and if no unexpected problems arise in the coming future, this is a trip of a lifetime, something I would never regret having done, worth the effort and time spent on it.