The pre-travel jitters

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So this is my first blog entry ever... let's see how this pans out with updating on my location and information.

I have been planning this epic vagabonding journey starting in the South Pacific for almost a year now. Starting in New Zealand under a Working Holiday Visa and from there is hopefully another WHV to somewhere else to keep the journey going. But first I believe my inspirations and previous travels can explain my addiction to travel and fascination to just be me.

I started travelling independently in March '10. It was supposed to be a snowboarding trip with friends in Norway along the Olsofjorden. But as time got closer, they started backing out and I ended up all alone. So I found the courage (a wee bit naive and innocent) and just went. The first three days in Oslo were very obscure. Like a brand new baby being brought into this world with bright lights and blurry eyes, not knowing anything and utterly lost in the frigid winter aroma. The jet lag from Boise to Seattle to Reykjavík to Oslo was debilitating. While wandering this foreign city, many thoughts come to one's mind besides the obvious sights and sounds; I missed my bed, pillow, and general comforts of home. I found myself grunting through these three or four days of shrouded concsiencness to finally awakening and seeing travel for what it really is. All I had was my backpack, board bag, my free spirit and curiosity for exotic cultures. I shredded Norge for 2 weeks, meeting some of the most amazing, generous, and kind persons I could have been blessed with. On the train from Myrdal to Bergen I met a very beautiful and super nice Norwegian lady, Kjersti; we talked for hours about everything from politics to culture. She found out I was heading to Hemsedal for some epic riding. Come to find out she had just came from there and invited me to stay with her friends in Tuv (just outside of Hemsedal). Spent 4 days in a cottage on the side of the fjord with a most stupendous view of Norway's beauty. My last day, we all got up way early to get a head start on an off piste hike. We went and met up with 8 other locals and stopped off up the road a ways. We hiked 800m up the Fjord to ride down waist deep powder. Before this breathtaking moment in time, I knew the term epic powder, but not the definition. I could finally fathom the weight of this experience in all its glory. Shreddin' fluffy champagne powder with such dramatic scenery enhanced the feeling of surfing a fjord; exhilarating, I had a joyous smile on my face for four days. I just barely made the bus back to Bergen. Got back to Justin and Froydis' place and went into a coma. All in all I love Norway and its people and what they've done in their history for the rest of the world.

From there I snatched a cheap Ryan Air flight to Edinburgh, Scotland for 2 1/2 weeks. It was random and the best ever. The Scots DO wear their hearts on their sleeves. So nice all the time. They like their Haggis, Scotch, friends, travelers, women, beer, and large groups of people in the pub dancing. I also went back to Edinburgh in Dec '10 so I have spent an extensive amount of time in just Edi. Pub crawls, museums, drunken stupor down snowy high street coming back from Espionage (I've never danced that much before), deep fried haggis, all the friends made at the numerous hostels, and The Scotsman's Lounge. In March I went through Edi, Melrose, Stirling, Saint Andrew's, and Inverness. My experience in the highlands is beyond words... such a majestic splendor. If you want to hear the stories then ask me because there are too many to tell. There is one story that I shall tell to fully encompass the depth of my inspiration.

I met two Expat's in Inverness at the hostel (right next to the bus station). Way cool hostel BTW. Anyways, Manuelo and Andres are two of the most imperturbable and equanimous humans I've ever had the chance of knowing. They told sooo many amazing stories from around the globe. Traveling for 9 years will give you plenty of stories. These free spirits have accomplished the week long hike four separate times to Machu Picchu in Peru. They've been thru the states, chased out of Norway, lived all over Europe, spent extensive time in Mexico and southeast Asia (I don't what it is with those two). I notice the more one travels the more philosophical one is. Some of the conversation we would have were enlightening and created this deep thought of inner exploring. Its pretty awesome to see that far into your own soul. "Forever young Matt, forever young", Andres would always say in his funny Italian accent. Andres was like Fabio as a hippie. "Pura vida!", he would say a lot also. So I give both these great souls the credit for me to sell or get rid of everything and peace out, pulling the "rip cord" some would say. I leave in 46 days or 26 shifts, depends on how you look at it. As plans come along, the updates will follow.

"To embrace this ignorant world and see the beauty within, is the journey we all should be on. Only a select few will buy the one-way ticket to life." -- The Scot

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