themondayphilosopherandmore-blog

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Travel Memories and more

I have traveled quite extensively for a 20-year-old, and I wanted to post about my personal travel memories here. This may seem like a strange subject for an inaugural post, but I want every post to be very specific.

Everyone loves to have great experiences while traveling. That is why there are so many guides written for people to do that. Memoirs about travel experiences have turned into bestsellers. Heck, the main selling point of the (overrated) film Before Sunrise (as well as many others, but that’s the only one I have seen) is that it was based on an experience that two people had while traveling.

I have no travel plans in the immediate future, so let’s look back at past travels and the great experiences I had. I used to want to be a travel writer for exactly these reasons. Now that’s just one part of what I want to do.

However, let’s get to the stories!

The Most Incredible Summer

Let’s take us back to when I was thirteen. My dad decided it was a good idea to take his three children to New Mexico for over a week. We had a great time, and I could go through all the highlights (and lowlights), but let me just say this: for a trip to be great and memorable, good and bad things must happen. There must be highlights and lowlights. If a trip is just smooth sailing, it is not as memorable as one where some rough seas are hit. I am not saying that everything or even the majority of things should go wrong. My first of seven family reunions in Hawaii was like that back in the summer of 2007. And I didn’t like that one bit.

Rather, I am saying that there needs to be ups and downs, just like any story.

A Long, Grueling Flight

Sometimes great things happen when you least expect them to. Take for instance December 20, 2014. I boarded a flight from Miami to San Francisco, on my way back from Brazil, where I was living at the time, to visit family.

The flight took over six hours, and I thought we were farther along than we were the whole way, which was cruel as I thought landing was imminent even though we were still over an hour away. The rainbow I saw over the Bay Area out my window was a small consolation for what I had gone through.

Especially the turbulence. For the final two and a half hours, we were rocked. I was sitting in front of two older ladies who were freaking out. And just when it had stopped for long enough to think it was over, it started up again.

I thought I was never going to make it through that flight. It was so hard to deal with. But it was still a beautiful experience. You know why that was?

Because of the person sitting next to me, who I have never seen again. We talked for the entire flight. Just sat and talked.

Only Have Time For a Few Sentences

1. I am taking a hiatus from writing due to finals (this week) and spring break (next week). You know, I just want to relax.

2. So many people are prisoners to their own mindsets regarding how life should be lived. There is no single formula for what to do and when to do it. I believe in moral absolutes, yes, but within that, there are many ways to live life. If there weren’t, life would be boring, and yet so many people don’t think that way.

3. Another of my favorite travel memories is the so-called “Miracle on Ice Water.” The details are too sensitive to share here, but if you want, look up the short story “The Hours that Lasted Forever” on my Wattpad profile for a fictionalization (with all the irresponsible stuff taken out).

4. “Something to Talk About” by Bonnie Raitt is the single best soft rock song sung by a woman. Ever. I just discovered it about a year ago, and I can’t think of any song with those qualifications that comes close.

5. I watched this video on someone’s Facebook profile that ridicules the film Me Before You. I thought the quotes from that were awful, and the makers of the video agreed, as they decided to use those quotes in real life. Imagine telling a girl you know that she is the only thing that makes you want to get up in the morning!

6. This section was only included because I wanted to fully describe each, but it’s late at night and I have to get this in while it’s still Monday.

Props to Sundance and Emma

I had one of the best solo meals of my life on Saturday night, with my mom away to visit a friend and my sister away to visit a friend as well.

Sundance the Steakhouse, in my hometown of Palo Alto, is surprisingly cheap when you don’t order steak. Even more so when the kind staff gives you a free drink and a free appetizer because you’re a poor college kid. I think Emma had something to do with that.

Emma, you see, is an old friend of my other sister’s. She was really nice to me at the restaurant (she works there as a hostess). And I’m very thankful I got to share the evening with her, even though  I talked to her very little.

Important Quotes

1

“And since you called her out so fast, maybe you need to [work on your impulse control] too.” -Me, arguing with both my sisters.

2

“Aleph numbers are easy.”

-My middle-school age sister Daisy.

3

“Rock and roll never forgets!”

-My acquaintance Alyssa, on Chuck Berry’s passing.

4

“Someone will have to deal with this tomorrow.”

-My tired mom on our dining room.

5

“I’m not saying that’s what I think. I’m saying that could be what she thinks I think.”

-Me, on the subject of my acquaintance Julia.

Significant Figures

1

588. That’s how many days an old relationship lasted (active and in my mind), which inspired some things I want to write and self-publish in 2018 and beyond.

2

18. That’s how many days I will take to write my debut novella, called Always Found.

Things That Only Interest Me

1

Last year, we had “The Games of the Thirty-first Olympiad.” In reality, we have only had twenty-eight modern Olympic Games. For some reason, the IOC counts the Games we missed due to the world wars.

2

People say that “liberalism” is inefficient at fighting terrorism, but the deadliest terror attack in American history came under the leadership of George W. Bush, who is our most recent conservative President.

3

I think that the opening sequence of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra would make great music to walk into a room with.

Throwback

I want to discuss the two days in my lifetime today (March 27) has fallen on Easter: 2005 and 2016. On March 27, 2005, I was in Mato Grosso, Brazil, on a hike to a cave in a national park. It was a great hike marred by an inefficient guide and bad weather. On March 27, 2016, I had just been baptized for Easter and celebrated my mom’s birthday at my grandmother’s house (tonight she came to our house).

Favorite Social Media Moments

1

The debate about which TV character you would call if you were kidnapped.

2

Reacting to the “white nationalist” ideology that has regrettably gained steam in the past 5 years or so.

3

Posting my thoughts on a certain Biblical teaching.

Announcements

I have no spring break plans as of now. I was going to write a 630-page novel, but pushed that back. I would go to Colorado to see a friend, but I don’t have the money.

I am expecting to ace my finals. I have taken one, with another yet to be taken.

The new quarter will be another great learning experience with two more prep classes (writing and advanced algebra).

Important Points of the Week

1. Happy birthday to Mom (today) and my dear friend Nathania (Sunday), who have their birthdays in the same week, a rarity as they are six days apart. I love both of you very much. Mom, you have always been there for me when I needed you to be, even when we were a long way apart. Nathania, I love being your friend and our conversations are amazing. You may be one of my favorite people in the world. Scratch that. You are one of my favorite people in the world. And I miss you very much.

2. I’m glad that the Raiders will move out of the Bay Area. Now the 49ers will be the only team here, so all those pesky Raiders fans can move to Vegas or be irrelevant. It’s their call.

3. I get really emotional when it comes to political matters, but especially when it is late at night and I am sleep deprived. Then I’m just a no-filter loose cannon who will offend anyone in his path. Hey, at least I know myself.

4. I can just feel Easter getting closer and closer. Thank You, Jesus, for your unending mercy and grace.

5. Speaking of Jesus, have you ever stopped to think about how absurd it is that certain people think that people who are not Christians should get the full extent of their religious freedom, but Christians should be restricted in it so as not to impose their religion on others? It’s a double standard.

6. Ed Sheeran’s new studio album, ÷, is the definition of top-heavy. It has two good songs, but the rest is just so boring.

7. Palo Alto, California is so overpriced. Where else can you get an iced tea with lemonade from a coffee shop for nearly four dollars?

8. I think this has been the best edition of March Madness in several years, pending the Final Four.

9. The end of the fifteen-year-old film The Others will blow your mind.

10. Recent random thoughts:

a. Too many people have too many friends, if the statistic that you can only stay connected to 150 people over a certain period of time is legitimate. Or at least that’s what I think with regards to Facebook.

b. Still, anyone can make up statistics. 2 out of 3 people know that.

c. See what I did there?

d. Way more people like me than I like to think.

e. I probably could get married by the end of 2018 if I set my mind to it, but I have bigger fish to fry.

f. People talk too much about things that don’t matter.

g. That is because things that matter seem to offend everyone.

h. I hope I did well on finals, but I won’t know until the end of next week.

i. The above was not a random thought. I don’t care, because I couldn’t fit it in anywhere else.

j. I have never been lost in the wilderness, even though it seems kind of fun.

k. If I make it out, that is.

l. The weather this spring is supposed to be warm and wet in California. That’s my least favorite type of weather.

m. I don’t like spring weather in general. In the summer, we have warm days. In the winter, we have cool days. In the fall, we have in-between days. But in the spring, we can have any of the three.

n. I love reading.

o. I have way too many books to read.

p. I love writing.

q. I have even more projects I want to write.

r. As I write this, I have a final to go to, but I can’t tear myself away.

s. If I fail that math class, you are reading what is to blame.

t. I still have over an hour to get there.

u. Other people are hard to figure out.

v. Especially people older than 40.

w. I really have to go.

The Final Question

What is your favorite travel memory of all time?

Sign Off

That’s it for the week of March 27, 2017. I hope you enjoyed reading The Monday Philosopher.

With love,

William