I write now from a Jefferson Lines bus, currently between St. Cloud and Minneapolis in Minnesota. As I have now ‘officially’ started my four and a half weeks of travel, I am finding myself already in ‘travel mode.’ This is a term I like to use to describe the place, both physically and metaphysically, that I get to during periods of travel. It is a state of being that allows my mind to wander freely and see more easily some of the great wonders in this world. It also allows me to break free from the normal day to day thought patterns I have and really experience life on a moment to moment basis.
Although this state can be reached without going anywhere, I have found travel to be perhaps the best way for me to access it and as a result have found travel to be one of my favorite activities to engage in. When I get into ‘travel mode’, normal mundane experiences become great adventures. I also find myself digging deeper to more fully understand the world around me. An example was this morning as I started my travels in East-Central South Dakota.
This area of the world is my old stomping grounds and as a (unfortunate) result, I often overlook opportunities to look at the world around me with fresh eyes and see things as I would if it were my first time. This morning, however, after I was dropped off in Watertown, SD by the very generous mother of one of my good friends, I felt excited and looked around at everything like it were my first time being there. Once I had a chance to put my things down in a safe place in the bus depot, I set off to walk to a Target Store to get some last minute travel things. This might not seem like a big deal, but the Target was about 1.4 miles away and there was also a light drizzle falling from the sky. Under normal circumstances, though not always, I may have been inclined to scrap the idea of walking because of how wet I would get, but in this moment I saw an opportunity to walk a stretch of road and wander through a town I have been in hundreds of times yet rarely explored. So there I walked along US Hwy 212 with a HUGE smile on my face literally singing in the rain (I think I was singing a Mew or Fever Ray song). Ahh, what a great memory this will be.
One other aspect I love about ‘travel mode’ is the opportunities it provides to meet people and learn through conversation. An example of this was last summer while visiting my twin brother, John, where he lives in Oregon. On one of the afternoons/evenings while I was there, we decided to visit Oregon’s number one tourist attraction: The Spirit Mountain Casino. (Before I tell this story, though, think about how ridiculous it is that this is Oregon’s number one tourist attraction. With all their beautiful miles of coastline, lush scenery, rugged mountain terrain, as well as a National Park, it is too bad this casino is the most visited.) Most people who know John and I know that we do not gamble, at least not in the traditional sense, so this might seem like an odd thing for us to do. However, our main goal in visiting this casino was not to play cards, roll the dice, or bet, but to learn about the way in which an enterprise such as this works. So we set about ‘interviewing’ people (something I enjoy doing) and found ourselves talking to floor managers, blackjack dealers, beverage stand employees, and security guards to get an idea of the casino from their perspective. Also in this visit I personally set about to find and meet some local Native Americans (from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) in an attempt to educate myself; I also have an affinity for Native Americans after living on a Reservation for two years. We ended up meeting an older Native couple from the area and a father/son from the Makah reservation in the northwest corner of the Olympic Penisula who were in the process of driving a car from Arizona back home. I find it somewhat paradoxical that John and I were able to have such a great time in this casino without spending a dime. Seriously, we even ate there for free; John had been given a gift card so we got some Veggie burgers that were really good and took advantage of free coffee and tea! This experience provided great practice with meeting people and I ended up learning quite a bit too.
And lastly an example of meeting people from today. While transferring buses in Fargo I started talking to a guy who had also gotten on the bus this morning in Watertown. Based on both the tone/accent of his voice and his overall appearance, I suspected he might originally hail from Africa. After conversing with Odion for a bit I found out that he was from Nigeria and had been living in the Twin Cities for the past nine years. I told him about my plans to move to Yemen and also about my intentions to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (which is in Africa) in December. He was surprised at my plans, but not shocked at all. He encouraged me with my pursuits and asked me how I felt about the weather (there). I explained that I was looking forward to no winter and having a break from the Midwest in general.
The great irony I find in our meeting is that here are two men: one a Midwesterner soon moving to the Middle East and the other an African now living in the Midwest. It is almost as though we switched places in the world or some great cosmic force is attempting to keep things balanced in this world....who knows?
Well, not only is this a perfect note to end this post on, but I am also just arriving in Minneapolis and need to clean all my belongings up on the bus. You shall here more soon.
Namaste,
JOE
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