We went to the Tate Museum (a contemporary art museum). The exhibits that stood out were: women empowerment in art/media, the contradiction between media connection and interconnectedness, and an interactive piece on immigration. The immigration piece had a room of silence. Before you entered, you received a number stamp on your hand. This number changes daily and represents the number of people who migrated from one country to another last year plus the number of migrant deaths recorded this year. This reflects the sheer scale of mass migration and the risks involved. After you received the stamp, you entered the room that had an organic compound in the air to induce tears and invokes what Bruguera (the artist) describes as “forced empathy.” This immediately invoked my response of STAY AWAY you hate crying. However, this now ... read more

This post is for Jacob who is a 4 year old in love with risk. We took a tour of the Winston Churchill Bunker. Over 30,000 tons of bombs were dropped on London during WWII accounting for 40,000 deaths. Due to the fear of air raids, these bunkers were built, reinforced and expanded during the war to allow all war time functions to continue regardless of attack. It was INSANE how much space the facility covered (at its peak more than 600 people worked and many slept in the facility). Here the War Room, Map Room, communication between high ranking officials and a secure line to other ally leaders existed. The map room would be the highlight of the tour for Jacob. Here they document EVERYTHING (amounts and location of troops, important German infrastructure, amount of ... read more

The Imperial War Museum (IWM) is four floors of war and its impact. My overwhelming feeling was museums should have more diversity. You can't look at 4 stories of art, history or science without reaching a mind-numbing glaze. Today, 4 floors of war, destruction, intolerance, and maximization of harm was too much. The IWM particularly focuses on WWI, its role in the occurrence of WWII and the aftermath resulting in future conflicts. At first, I was certain trench warfare was the one thing no one should experience, then it was ghettos, then concentration camps, then suicide bombings, and then what will be next? A book my teacher had me read was The Peace to End All Peace. It was about how when the Allies created the terms of peace for WWI, they failed to ... read more

I am actually off on this exploration, jaunt, crazy journey of madness. I am not sure what this is or what this will be. I have been telling people for the last 8 months that I am going on this four month journey, but I still don't believe I am going to do it (even sitting in the airport with my bags checked onto the plane). There is one plane ticket purchased and two weeks of lodging booked at this time. Most people I have talked to about this have shaken their heads and said, "WOW! What an experience, good for you?" Most also ask "Why?" and "How?" Honestly, I have no good answer for either question. I only knew deep in my gut that it needed to done. I don't have a goal, a vision ... read more