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Published: March 26th 2008
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Obligatory Airport Sendoff Shot
Mom drove me to the airport. I was hiding it in this photo but I was experiencing an intense emotional rush realizing that I was saying goodbye to and hugging my mother for that last time until I return in 3 months. Love you mom. Dedicated to all my loved ones back home. Thank you for coming with me on this journey, in my thoughts and my heart.
I'm going to take this opportunity, my first blog entry since 2006, to inform you briefly of my lift since I left you. I came back from Southeast Asia in August of 2006. I have worked for a year and a half as an academic tutor, a personal trainer, a soccer coach, filing membership papers for Gold's Gym Marin, and a few other odd jobs not worth mentioning. I took time off after graduating from Berkeley to experience working, traveling, and life outside of being a student and a collegiate soccer player. Life has been amazing. In this time I have made amazing friends, applied to and been accepted to medical school, travel to increadible places in the US and outside, developed a passion for cooking and food, strengthened my relationship to my family, and refined my view on health. With medical school starting in August I am taking these next few months to travel parts of Asia. I last wrote on this blog when I was in Vietnam in 2006. About 18 months later I find
Red Carpet Club
Chris, my buddy from Cal, roommate for two years, tends to some business in the red carpet club before we leave. What a stud... he upgraded me to economy plus seating and almost had me in business class. I snuck into business class for the first hour of the flight...we got caught. myself getting ready to go back. I guess to finish what I started then. I want to see so much more of Asia and will certainly not see it all on this trip, but hopefully make a great dent in it.
Some of you know how you got on this list, the one to receive blog updates. Some of you may not know how you ended up here. I take no offense to any of you who choose not to read any more of my entries. For those of you who do I love to hear feedback and get personal message from you all. Write them on this website or send me emails at mfilly@yahoo.com.
I'm going to try and write a blog for each of my major stops on this trip, or when I feel I have something inspired to say. It is an opportunity for me to catalouge my trip as well as give you a peek in to my thoughts and adventures along the way. I'm keeping a written journal along the way that I will often times take entire sections from and post them here. Other times I may just give you a list
Have you ever seen on before?
I know it is a stupid picture, right? A 747, not the most exciting picture I intend to post, but better than nothing. Or maybe not of things I've been doing and most importantly there will always be pictures.
If I'm headed off in a direction of the world that you have been be sure to send me your throughts on where I should go and what you think I would enjoy to do there. And so it begins..... I will share wit you my opening entry on the plane to Hong Kong.
Enjoy!!!
Monday March 17th (5:20PST) - Somewhere over the pacific on United Airlines Flight 869
I'm approachign the international dateline on my first trip ever to Hong Kong. I should mention that HOng Kong is really just a stop over on a much longer journey that will begin and end in Singapore, having taken me through much of South and East Asia.
A couple of words that are going through my head as I suck down my 3rd Vodka Tonic of this flight (free drinks in economy seating, good to help you sleep my neighbor says) are WHY and EXPECTATION.
WHY - I'll put this into to context for you. WHY am I leaving the warmth of my home, a beautiful house in Mill Valley with the
Beverage anyone?
Chris and I enjoy a cocktail on the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong. I'll have one, two, three, four, oh no I lost count.... most loving family, a relatively profitable line of work (tutor/coach), great friends, and an unfinished application process to medical school all in order to travel Asia on a limited budget, in places I don't speak the language, and more importantly don't know anyone yet?
Part of the answer lies in the very last word of my long winded question that I'm sure is full of poor grammer. That word is "YET". I don't know anyone yet, but I most certainly will in due time. Why am I so certain? I suppose it is partly becasue I have done this before. But my certainty runs much deeper than that. It even goes deeper than the fact that the Chinese gentleman to my ritght has already engaged me in an hour long converstation that resulted in an exchange of email addresses and possible place to stay in mainland China (I already made a friend). It goes deeper. This certainty, my faith, the unwavering resolve, all begins with my own thoughts, my own energy. I am meditating on it as I write this. I want to meet people. I desire to share my experiences wit hothers and in doing so create unique memories that could only be the product of our collaboratoin in life. I am attracting this into my life every moement through univeral law.
Does that fully answer my question? Most certainly not. Travel is more than just meeting folks. Hell, I have millions of Americans I don't know and could meet without the long plane ride. To further answer my question I turn to "self-awareness". To become more aware of myself I need to place myself outside my comfort zone. What is comfort zone? I define this as the set of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual environments we live most of our lives in because it helps me to avoid having to ask difficult questions of myself, try new things and fail, and actually get in touch with how the world triggers me and makes me feel. (Anybody experience this?) So awareness to me is facing my non-comfort zone. Working through all the stuff that comes up. I want to expand the definition of comfort zone to include all of these new found truths.
Other ways to answer my question. I could throuw into the pot of responses that I left Asia too soon last time. I have unfinished business. I won't bore with the details of that story except to say that at one point I considered the experience of having to come home too soon to be a tragedy the might never be rectified. Now I consider it to have been one of my life's best lessons and a true gift for which I am forever grateful.
Have I lost you yet? Before I completely do, I'll answer this question with a something a little less deep. Something closer to the hearts of hard working individuals like yourselves, "It's a (enter explitive) vacation. I'm going to some fo the most beautiful places on earth" The crossraods of culture, booming economies, spiritual life, and probably the birthplace of every cuisine worth eating. I'm fascinated with Asian culture. I peaks my interest, makes my mouth water, awakens my spirituality, and strengthens my resolve. I say YES to travel, YES to the unknown, and YES to traveling on a budget (AKA about to be very dirty for the next 3 months).
Until the next entry
Loving you and wishing bright light in your life.
Marcus
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nomad_ninja
racky
Hey
Just came across your blog... keep on travelling dude!