Letter Provided by Dana & Jake Gordon
On November 1, 2006 Jake Gordon and Dana von Louda submitted the following questions to QuestionsForLiving.
We are not on a vacation. We are on a journey. An expedition around the world to learn about new cultures, see new cities, eat unique foods, hear new languages, smell new scents and learn more about ourselves in the process. It is mid-November and we have been gone from the States a little over four months now. We are currently in Bangkok, Thailand, which is our 41st city of the journey. We've visited some new places in Western Europe, traveled overland through Eastern Europe from Helsinki, Finland to Athens, Greece in exactly a month, ridden the rough roads of India through Rajasthan for a few weeks and spent over 30 days trekking in the Nepal Himalayas. And we're still not done! We're still only halfway around the world, just beginning our travels in Asia and the Pacific. We've seen some amazing things and while every minute of every day hasn't always been totally enjoyable, no matter what we are experiencing things we could never ever experience in the States. And we're better for it.
We know we are both fortunate to be able to embark upon this kind of expedition, but still we are both proud of ourselves for "making the leap." Not everyone can go on this type of trip, but many people who "can" still choose not to. We both had to quit our jobs in June with no solid plans for our return which alone is an incredibly scary proposition. But quitting the job isn't the only scary thing. Taking this leap also involves leaving your loved ones behind, putting yourself in a new environment, out of your comfort zone, and experiencing what the world has to offer.
We just spent almost two months in Nepal, where most of the people live in abject poverty, but it is wonderful to see their upbeat spirits and positive attitude about life. We especially learned a lot about ourselves during a 30-day trek around Manaslu and Annapurna (the 8th and 10th highest mountains in the world) We walked everyday for at least 4-5 hours through incredible Himalayan scenery and local villages. Being able to disconnect from the "real world" and escape to the simpler life of mountain villages helped put everything in perspective.
Jake has read extensively on the region and he enjoys a quote from Willi Unsoeld (an American and one of the greatest Himalayan mountaineers ever). Unsoeld gave a lecture in 1974 at a Spiritual Life Symposium at Evergreen College on the meaning of spiritual values and his trips to the wilderness and Himalayas. He said "For me, it's an alteration, a regeneration. I want to have every weapon in the arsenal [to make life with people livable.] And if one of those weapons happens to be a total change of pace, where you shift gears to such a [degree] that the cosmos dissolves about you then so much the better...so the function of spiritual values...is to mobilize one's flagging energies, to rescue belief that there is meaning...a spring to resuscitate the faith of man." In his biography of Unsoeld "Fatal Mountaineer", Robert Roper adds "[t]his is a philosophy that is hard to argue with. It says we need to take breaks -- call them 'vacations' if you will -- and that wild nature is the best place for them if we, like Willi, are the kind of people who take inspiration there. "
And so it was for us. A break from the grind of day-to-day workplace drudgery was necessary to "mobilize" our "flagging energies" and "rescue our belief" that life has meaning. The incredible Himalayan mountain vistas and the extended living close to the ways of the local people (including eating local food and staying in local accommodations) made us realize how beautiful the world can be, but it also made us realize how much we have at home. For me, during the days that were most difficult, I began to ask myself a few key questions.
1. Do my friends and family members know how much I love and appreciate them?
2. Have I done enough for my friends and family members who may not be as fortunate as I am?
3. Do I show my friends and family that I am interested in what they do, what they think, how their lives are going and how they are feeling both physically and emotionally?
These are some of the questions that ran through my mind that I believe will help me better my life in the future. Additionally, we actually feel we appreciate the trek more and more each day we are AWAY from the Himalayas. During the actual trek, sometimes, we asked questions like:
1. What the hell are we doing here? It's freezing cold and snowing and we can't breathe because it's above 17,000 feet!
2. Do we really need to have the prospect of death by altitude sickness to be a vital part of our "vacation"?
3. Why didn't we just go to Tahiti?
Yet when all is said and done, such a long period spent being deprived of the normal comforts of everyday living in America has made the world seem vibrant and new again. As they say, if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. And we are not only stronger, but our perspective has changed and things that we once took for granted now seem incredibly wonderful. We both feel refreshed and changed, for the better.
We also believe total immersion in a culture for an extended period of time (not just a three day weekend here and there) forces you to see the people and customs in a different light. It also leads you to understand better who you really are. We know each other much better now than when we left.
Of course, when I, Dana, am home in the U.S., I ask myself much simpler questions to maintain a smoothly-run life.
1. Have I taken my vitamins today?
2. Have I returned all important phone calls and emails (hate it when someone doesn't acknowledge an email or call.)
3. What are today's top news headlines?
4. Have I paid my American Express bill this month?
5. Have I put an adequate amount of money in my savings this month?
So there are different questions for different living situations. I know when I return I'll be asking myself both sets of questions. This journey has taught me to appreciate all that I have at home and not to take anything for granted. It has also taught me to appreciate current events, world cultures and different living environments. Travel opens your heart and mind. As Mark Twain said in "The Innocents Abroad" way back in 1869, "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many [Americans] need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
In short, the world would be better off if someday everyone could embark upon an "Around the World" expedition. It is an enlightening and truly amazing experience.
