A Moment of Reflection

Brought to you by Lauren Hartz


As I sit here, drinking a cold Singha (the national beer of Thailand), looking out at the little street that lines our guesthouse; the sun is shining down on me through the bamboo plants along the table and I feel as calm as a meditating monk. As my mind flips through the photo albums of our trip, a smile is cast across my face and I know this is what I've been searching for.

The traveling life, or more directly the backpackers life isn't always easy. You're often faced with less than desirable surroundings, including: hard beds, cold showers, a smelly man snoring on your shoulder and invading every centimeter of your personal space (I'm not talking about Blake either), heavy backpacks, large bugs (filled with other peoples blood), and more body pains than an 80 year old man endures. But when faced with the choice of five-star hotels filled with rich, high class travelers or, interesting backpackers whom have been traveling for 6 months straight and have the craziest stories to tell you, my choice, hands down, is the latter.

I can't say I've enjoyed every second of this trip, but I can almost say I've enjoyed every day of it. It has been a gift to be able to take 4 months of my life, with Blake, and head to the places I've seen beautiful pictures of and heard jealousy invoking stories about.

At this point there is no clear favorite place, but it wouldn't be fair to make that decision before the trip is over. Actually, I don't think I could make it even if I wanted to. Every step of the journey has made the experience what it is, and although I may not revisit certain places, I would never change my decision to go there. I'm nothing short of ecstatic to continue our travels to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, and the experiences we've had thus far have only made us better, wiser travelers.

Traveling is something everyone should do. Many people have expressed their inner jealousy of our journey, but I hope that, if anything, we can be inspiring to others. I know it's not possible for everyone to quit their jobs and move all their stuff under their boyfriend's mom's house, but you have to find your own way. Up to this point in my life I've been nothing short of green with envy when I hear about other people's travels, but now I have my own stories to tell.

This is an amazing life, go out and find your place!