Traveling

"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." Alexander Solzhenitsyn
As I return from my travels in Brazil I feel as though my mind has been gorged after near starvation. The capacity of the human mind to perceive and the heart to love are never so fully exercised as when one leaves all familiarity behind and ventures forth into the unknown. It's almost as if one can transcend your earthly coil through the nirvana of a reality separate from the one you've grown accustomed to. When one goes down the path of the wanderer you are taking a course in life taught by the world, and it is a teacher that never fails. That which I learned on this trip is difficult to corner with words. The immensity of the experience makes one drunk with thought and as a result fills the mind with more than can be processed. It is a series of moments that have fused together and yet maintain a particular place in ones memories. I'm thinking of the kites flying high above favelas held by children whose existence is painful and precarious, yet they smile. I remember dancing in new ways and having people relish my attempts and laughingly tell me "you dance well for a gringo" (which is like telling a deaf man he hears well). Images of the endless skyline of Sao Paulo, an impenetrably deep jungle, rolling hills in Minas Gerais and the perfect beaches of Rio de Janeiro are all separate things held by my mind in one special thought. As much as I like to study the world academically, it is this personal perception that makes it all real and breathtaking. The individual human experience is nothing but a journey through space and time, thus does travel fulfill so much of our being.
"Who lives sees much. Who travels sees more." ~ Arab proverb