Happy Space

Once again, I sit on a plane to the next leg of my adventure. I've been absent from the blogging scene for all too long now. I could give a dozen reasons for this, or make a dozen excuses -- whichever way you see it. I think about writing often. Like a friend I've left behind, I miss it. I have had a pretty steady email and chat presence to those who have reached out. Every time I check my email, I have the anticipation of an old man who walks a half mile to the end of his countryside dirt driveway to check his mailbox. I've mostly satisfied my desire to write lately through direct contact. Now if I can just get into the habit of blogging at the same time.

I've spent the entirety of 2013 so far in China, mostly split between only two cities: Guilin and Shanghai. I had six weeks to travel around the vast country and explore, yet I did virtually none of that. Even though I didn't see much of it, China was one of my very favorite places so far. I probably wouldn't live there, but it was an incredibly thought provoking experience.  Of the countries I've been to, it easily felt the most foreign. For me, it was the hardest one to navigate as well.  The Chinese are very nice, in a curious and selfishly accommodating kind of way. You can't blame them -- imagine growing up in a country with a population of over 1.2 billion. After almost two months, it started to feel like I was in an ant hill. Granted, I only really went to urban areas, but those are home to the vast majority of the Chinese. They have little to no concept of personal space. Right this moment, for example, the nice Chinese man next to me, while slipping into a deep sleep, is also slipping further and further over my side of the armrest, making it a real bitch to type. Excuse me. Challenge. A real challenge. And I love a good challenge. I can't justify feeling annoyed on a plane to Hawaii.

One of my favorite parts of China, quite surprisingly even to myself, is the language. The dialects of the spoken language that I encountered are relatively simple and all the sounds are easy enough to make. Picking up Chinese was one of the highlights of my stay.

Ha.

Contrary to the first part of my travels, I've been much more social and much less motivated to move about. Since I got to China, I just settled into the places that I found most comfortable and stuck around long enough to build more quality friendships. It was a nice change but in some ways it wasn't as satisfying. I think that like every other time I've traveled long term, I reached a point where I just want to get back into a somewhat consistent daily routine. However, this time, I don't associate that urge to settle down with being home.

As it turns out, this is exactly the desired effect I was hoping for when I left. Why, I'm still unsure. I intentionally got rid of many of the things that typically contribute most to my homesickness while I'm abroad. Now it almost feels like I'm searching for a new place to call home for a while -- a place where I'm comfortable, and properly mentally stimulated, and excited to get up every morning.

Another anticipated effect of my travels that's materialized is this desire I have more and more to distance myself from the temptations of a lifestyle that's so carelessly destructive to our planet. I guess I'm playing the hippie card, but that shouldn't be news to anyone. If there's one thing I learned in China, it's how adversely air- and light pollution affect my morale. And when I hear of the inversion back in Salt Lake, that's just one more (and very big) reason that I'm eager to keep traveling. I haven't had a clear view of the sun or stars in well over a month. You know there's a problem when you look up at an open sky and feel more confined than free. I mentioned this in the End of the World post as an observation, but now that I've truly experienced it first hand, I do say that it's borderline depressing. I confirm that the best way to maintain some illusion of happiness without escaping to nature, is to distract yourself with the at once, over- and under-stimulating activities and products of urban life. That's exactly what I did. And to this I credit, in large part, the sudden change in my behavior.

So, what's next for me? I'm not quite ready to become an expat, but the idea is becoming more and more appealing. I'm in no particular rush. Plus, aside from not yet having found a suitable place, there are still some loose ends that I need to tie up at home. And I plan on doing just that.

After my two-week visit to my mom on the Big Island, I'm heading down to Costa Rica. The tentative plan as of now is to roam around there and the surrounding countries for about three months before making my way back to great city of the super salty lake. I'll stick around home until at least October...