Part 2

I went to a small art shop on the island of Kho Sami where I feel what happened there really encompasses my whole trip.  Although I had previous insight on the changes in myself and how I viewed the world, this interaction puts it all into a nice little package.
The art shop was a zen artwork boutique and all the art was made by this one little Thia Chinese lady.  Her art work was largely comprised of Chinese characters and bamboo with oil paint on straw/rice paper.  This type of art has always drawn me in and led me to stop in and buy something.  The artist was this small, overweight, jolly and extremely sweet middle aged lady.  She had that type of joy that could fill a whole room and infect your soul.  Her small artist hands would touch you, as she often did, and you could literally feel the love that she intended to spread to all that she met.  She was just a true pleasure to meet.
I decided to pick out 4 Chinese characters that had deep meanings (love, dream, soul and good health)  even thou it is very cliche, it just felt right.  These four words really capture who I am and strive to be.  Love and forgiveness is the breathing heart of the world and have the most remarkable power to make a difference.  Dreaming is why we take risk when things appear impossible, they make us work hard to achieve them  and they can also give us the greatest happiness and deepest sadness that exist.  Soul and passion are what makes us dream and love, sing and dance and just lay it out all on the line.  I have always admired those that are undeniably passionate no matter what they do, it takes a lot of strength recognize ones passion and act on it.  Finally there is good health,  none of these other characteristics would be possible without an able body healthy person. These 4 things  encapsulate  mind, body and soul.
I was disappointed to find out she didnt have a painting for the character dream.  I was forced to choose another to create a symmetrical piece of artwork.  That is when I found the character that represented wisdom.  At that moment I thought to myself "now that fits a lot better."  Why -- because wisdom is the mind part of the four words.  Love, soul, wisdom and good health are all foundational characteristics.  From them dreams, hopes and lively hood could be created.
So now my picture was complete.  These four things, that I now recognize, I already have within me.  On this journey I have discovered my life journey to develop these characteristics much further.  A journey that will take me 7 life times to complete but one I am full willing to attempt.
The magical part about this story is that the artist wanted to give me 2 gift in the form of two more character artworks.  The first was the Om sigh, a Tibetan symbol that is for meditation.  A cosmic sound that is largely connected to peace. The second piece of art that she gave me was the empty circle.  This represents life as it is complete and empty at the same time -- it is everything and it is nothing.  When she gave me these two art works she told me that some people come into her shop just to buy things and others just understand her.  She said to me that she could feel that I understood her -- powerful words.  It is a overwhelming feeling when you can connect with someone on such a level when you know so little about then and have a strong language barrier.  I left that after noon with a big huge and the touch of joy infecting my mind, body and soul.
I know there is a lot of symbolism in this story and I regret that I cannot explain it all because it is my life and my job to do those things for myself.  The one thing that I can do is to encourage you (who ever you are) to decipher the symbolism in your life.  As a suggestion I found that a little extended trip, not a vacation but cheap traveling, will set you on a course to find what you are looking for.


“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

I hope you all enjoyed the blog and maybe it got you thinking maybe you could do it too.  I will probably make a little picture slide show of some of my picture.  So if your interested send me an email (jstnwllns21@gmail.com).

Love Ya
Thanks
Cheers

Sailing back to the harbor but on this return trip I now know any harbor I can find food, water and happiness.

This will be a two part post, first a short recap of what I have been up to this last 2 weeks and finally the final farewell.

What have I been doing? Great question and the answer is lots of relaxing.  You must understand relaxing Justin style is a bit different from normal people.  I honestly cant sit on a beach and do nothing.  Ask my sister she knows to well I need detraction. Relaxing to me is maybe taking that hour on the beach and then probably some diving, snorkeling, swimming, exploring on a motorbike or hiking.  Just being by the beach and on an island was enough for me.  These last 2 weeks of my travels have been more of a vacation then traveling.  I ate more (gained 5 pounds back from the 25 I lost), slept in A/C hotels and did some shopping.  Oh and I cant forget, I also had an amazing 1 hour massage on the beach.  One of those memories that sticks with you -- It was pouring rain and lighting while I was getting this hour oil massage under this romantic little grass hut looking out onto the ocean.   I guess you could say I really enjoyed myself and was able to get ready to get back to life in the USA.
One of the big highlights of the last few weeks was taking my dive certification course on Kho Tao.  As a swimmer I am on top of the water but now I got to be under it.  I have been wanting to get my cert for a really long time but never had the time or the money.  Now I had both and I took the opportunity.  It was way better then what I imagined and once it was over I was craving for more.  Lucky for me one of the guys I took the class with was also from California and we already made plans to go diving.  My dad and I can finally fulfill his life long dream of going diving with me in the Great Barrier Reef.  I also really enjoyed my time with my sister; we really had the chance to just bond, something we probably hadnt done in 5 or 6 years.  It also always nice to have a big sis to look out for you, hence the weight gain and A/C hotel rooms.  It was a remarkable end to an unbelievable trip; you could say a trip of a life time but I dont think is true because I am still young and after doing this trip it has only just begun.

I Picked Up a Travel Mate In Thailand

It has been a while, but I just didnt feel like I had a lot of good stories to tell.  The good news now is that I know have a bunch to say.  So lets begin:

Last you heard of me I was in Laos and had just left the homestay.  From there I made my way to the capital city and had to spend a few days there to get a 60 day Thia visa.   I often find capitals and big cities boring and try to get out as soon as possible but Laos being on the under developed side it was a bit different.  My time spent there was largely just chilling out and relaxing.  From the capital I was making my way north trying to hit a couple of more cities before I went into the north of Thailand. The next city was called Vang Vieng, the infomus party tuding city.  Everywhere I went in South East Asia everyone said I had to go tuding in Laos in Vang Vieng because "it was the best time they ever had."  I got there and it was pouring ran but that wasnt going to stop me from having fun until I released that no one else was going that day. That put me in a tough spot because I only really had time for one night unless I wanted to cut out something from somewhere else.  I spent most of the rainy day at a resterunt watching Friends reruns with some other people I met that where taking shelter from the rain.  That day I came to an interesting insight in myself and as a traveler.  I dont like party tourest town or people.  To be honest the party stuff I would much rather do with really close friends then random poeple I just met.  The peolpe in these places (although this is a large genralization) tend to be people that I really cant relate to, what you can say not my kind of people.  I guess I now know I am not a huge party person and would perfer a great conversation then getting wasted.  Oh the wonders of travel.  As you can guess I never went tubbing and I moved onto my next town.  It was a great choice because I got just what I was looking for, I met really great couple that I was able to have interesting intellectual conversations with.  I really enjoyed there company and I also ened up taking a cooking class with them.  I thought I knew how to cook before but I came to the realization that I know very little.  I guess I will just have to add that to my list of other passions to persue.  The next day after the cooking class I left Laos for the north of Thialand on a 24 hour bus journey.

After the long ass bus journey I was on my last stop of my travels,  my 5th counrty in 4 months.  I wanted to see a bit of North of Thailand before I met up with my sister in the south.  As I sit in Bangkok now I see how different the two parts of the counr\try really are.  The north is alot less untanted by tourism and the people are very sweat.  Example - I spent two days hanging out with a shop owner in the North because he just wanted to talk to me.  Although the people in the south are nice you can tell that they have been tanted by the grind of the tourist.

I now stand between me and two weeks before I go home.  The whole idea just freaks me out alittle bit and I dont know how to discribe it at this point.  I also just met up with my sister and I am extremly excited to spend time with her and see where our adventures lead together.

Well that it for now because my internet time is up but more to come soon.  Cant wait to see thouse of you in boston and then maybe others soon after in California.

Love You All

The Fam

The Fam

The mouth of the cave -- Kang Lo

Mountain Biking