-Ben
(sent from my phone)

Posted from my iPhone via email

Youth

By Samuel Ullman (1840-1924)

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

My grandfather lived this way – and you could tell. He always laughed about life, and thought that living was the greatest adventure of all. Once you stop looking around the next bend, you stop caring what is next, and you might as well give up then.

I spent the weekend hiking out to some hot springs in Big Sur, CA and had a ten mile hike to myself to observe and think. My thoughts generally coalesce best while hiking alone and while writing. The natural rhythm of the hike, putting one foot in front of the other, twirling small sticks between my fingers with a piece of grass hanging out of my mouth, and the weight of a pack pressing against my back slowly working a burn into the muscles of my legs and shoulders all work together to bring my mind out of its continual hyperactive state. I am able to focus on the little things – the way the sun shines through trees, the movements of birds as they flit from one location to the next, the changing terrain and foliage as altitude increases and decreases. Most of all, I find myself always looking forward to what is right around the next bend. Will it be a cliff, fallen tree, group of hikers, or something new?

I return from these trips carrying a renewed outlook on life. What is around the next bend? Is it a chance to create a relationship with someone new? A chance to live in a different country? Or perhaps a way to create new programs and see my ideas come to life. I never know, which is exactly why it is always worth seeing what is “just around the next bend.”

This is the longest I have spent in one location since I graduated from Elon University in May of 2007 – a little over six months! (by five days). I arrived in San Francisco on the 13th of June, 2009 and will be leaving on the 18th of December, 2009. I fly to Atlanta for two weeks for the holidays, then hop a flight over the sea to Istanbul on January  7th, 2010.

What awaits in this part of the world? I have no idea, but I will have several months to explore.

Currently on the list:

• Egypt
  • SCUBA dive Red Sea
  • Pyramids
• Iran
  • While I still can
• Greece
  • Athens
  • Sparta
  • Brush up on my ancient history
• Italy
  • Venice
  • Rome
  • Everywhere
• Israel
  • Jerusalem

These are just off the top of my head… Now to do some research and find all I want to see. I may end up riding my bike down the Danube river with some friends who will be in the area. Who knows?!

Been to this part of the world? Drop me a comment with a recommendation!

While I haven’t stopped traveling, my travel style has evolved. I now relocate about once every three to six months to a new continent and live in one location for that time. I get to know the city I am in very well, but at the same time, I am no longer part of the traveler’s circuit. When I was leaving Panama, I was offered to go sailing around the world if I could leave the next day. I almost jumped at it, but had already made commitments to people and wasn’t going to let them down. Two years ago I would have been on that boat right away. (Ironically, this is the second time this offer has been made, in two different countries – next time, I will probably do it.)

Come January, I will uproot again and make my way to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul, historically known as Constantinople and Byzantium, will be an incredible experience. It is a massive metropolis (12.6 million) that spreads onto two continents. It has been the capital of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, a critical trade route, and most importantly, it is the epicenter for an incredible mix of eastern and western culture. People have been living there since 6500BC. That is old!

I spent much of my college career studying the history and philosophy that came out of this area. The battle of Troy, the Greek philosophers who were strongly influenced by the trade that allowed their ideas to spread, the crusades, etc…

Since I got back from Asia, I have had an idea knocking around in the back of my head to ride a motorcycle around the Mediterranean Sea, and here I will be, working on that sea! I plan on buying a motorcycle as soon as I get over there so that I can experience the country as much as possible. Rumor has it that I may have to buy it in Croatia and bring it over, as that will be cheaper and the export laws will actually allow me to leave the country with the bike.

I have been playing with remote work while here at CouchSurfing, and while my current job doesn’t let me do it the way I want to (read: big ass monitor and graphics tablet that require a desk for drawing) I am slowly transitioning into a leading role that will enable me to work from a wide variety of locations. If you have any advice on gear that will work worldwide and connect me to the networks that be, please fill me in.

I also have some good friends who will be traveling (perhaps moving to?) that area at that time. They will be riding their sweet tandem bike around and rock climbing throughout Europe, so I plan on meeting up with them during my travels. If you, or anyone you know will be in the area from Jan to August, let me know. I may be freewheeling around Europe on the back of a Croatian motorcycle for a while.

-Ben

This is what the kitchen island looks like when I wake up.

-Ben

Posted from my iPhone via email