Andrew VillalobosTaken from an email to my list of friends of family, December 23rd, 2022.
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city 🙂 We’re currently at an Airbnb homestay with a young couple just outside of the city center. Sarah is from Pamplona, Spain and Henry is from Lagos in Nigeria, they met at university here almost 12 years ago and just had their first child. Sometimes we like to have our own place for privacy and other times we enjoy renting rooms to interact with locals and see the kinds of lifestyles people live around the world. The view from this 10th floor apartment is of a freeway with two lanes in either direction, about a dozen large high rise apartment buildings and dense jungle covered hillsides on the horizon. The sky is filled with clouds from the thunderstorm that came through yesterday and it’s about 90 degrees; very different from the island of Phuket that we just came from in Thailand!
2022 has been a wild ride and as the year is coming to an end I wanted to try to wrap my head around this experience and share some of these thoughts with you, my friends and family. Most of you are well aware that Sophie and I left home in May to travel the world. I don’t know how accurate the google maps timelines are but according to my “Insights,” since May we’ve walked 887 miles, driven 4,500 miles, motorcycled 640 miles, rode public transit systems for 2,065 miles and flown 19,226 miles; equivalent to close to one full lap of this incredible planet we all call home. We’ve traveled to 13 countries in Europe and Asia which include Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, India, England, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, Spain, France, and Wales. Within these countries we’ve visited 179 cities from metropolises like Bangkok, London, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur to rural and remote villages like Hasanda and Bokre in Nepal. We’ve seen the absolute majesty of mother nature displayed in layers of low lying mountains across northern Thailand, the stunning lakes and rivers of Finland, rugged coastlines of Northern Spain and Southwest England, tranquil white sand beaches set against limestone cliffs in southern thailand and of course the immense and awe inspiring mountains of Nepal’s Himalaya. Witnessing both the sunrise and sunset blanketing the white slopes of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri is a difficult experience to describe and I can only hope, if it interests you, that you would have the chance one day to do the same.
“He who travels in search of learning travels along Allah’s path to Paradise.” -Mohammed
There is so much to say about our experiences so far but I know few people have time to sit and read for hours on end so I’ll break up the rest of this email into sections so you can pick and choose the ones that interest you. Before that though, I’d like to say thank you to everyone reading. Thank you for the roles you’ve played in my life and the lessons I’ve learned from all of you either directly through conversation or indirectly through observation. The more I travel the more I come to appreciate the importance of relationships and though it has been wonderful meeting new people and building new friendships that enjoyment has been paired with a feeling that I’m not doing enough to stay in touch with my current friends and family. It seems there’s always another person I forgot to call or text or should have included in an email. Many of you have responded to previous emails and I love hearing from you so please, especially if we haven’t connected in a while take a moment to respond and catch me up on your lives! If you’re not able to find the time during this busy season get in touch whenever you can. Wishing you all a very happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2023!
What I’ve Been Reading
Our journey so far has revealed to us a world full of wonderful people, unique and exciting foods with combinations of ingredients we’d never encountered before. We’ve enjoyed cultural and religious celebrations, unique music from each country and witnessed natural beauty in so many variations. I’ve been blessed to have had the chance to read more and so far have covered a range of books and papers as my interests vary. These titles include The Divine Comedy, a Bible commentary on Genesis and the Parables of Jesus Christ, Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’ve read the biographies of C.S Lewis, Soren Kierkegaard and Blaise Pascal and happened to come across some interviews from the 60’s and 70’s by Playboy magazine (of all places) so have recently read interviews with Dr. Martin Luther King, Federico Fellini, Robin Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre and Maya Angelou. Very interesting and available here and here if you’re interested. Lastly I read a commentary on John Ruskin, the English philosopher and poet which was fascinating and available here.
“I subject myself to self-purification and to endless self-analysis; I question and soul-search constantly into myself to be as certain as I can that I am fulfilling the true meaning of my work, that I am maintaining my sense of purpose, that I am holding fast to my ideals, that I am guiding my people in the right direction. But whatever my doubts, however heavy the burden, I feel that I must accept the task of helping to make this nation and this world a better place to live in-for all men, black and white alike.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Thoughts on the Journey
There are three thoughts or ideas that have been recurring for me throughout this period. The first is preparing for the unknown, the second is the unique intersection between who we are and where we are and the third is how we go about being present and experiencing this life in the fullest way possible.
Preparation for Life
As for the first, I currently have no idea what exactly we’re doing. We’re planning to travel the world but at this current moment we don’t have a place to stay or a ticket to get somewhere else beyond 3 days from now. At first this was scary and I was having a hard time remembering why we left home but I do believe and have learned to trust that this is God’s plan and God has us right where we are supposed to be. From early days I’ve heard a voice in my head telling me to just be prepared. One of my grandfather’s most frequent sayings was, “be prepared and your time will come.” I don’t know what I’m preparing for but whatever it is I’m sure it will require strength. Mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and relational. I’ve been reading, praying, exercising and reflecting internally much more than I have in the last ten years of my life and for now I’m grateful for this opportunity; it’s enough.
Internal Reflection
Internal reflection is a good segue to my next thought which has been the unique nature of the intersection between who we are and where we are. Every place is different, even the same place at a different point in our lives. To get the most out of where we are I believe it’s even more important to focus on who we are. If we don’t like our surroundings it’s a better strategy to change ourselves rather than our environment because I can speak from experience having traveled so much lately that you don’t leave yourself behind when you move. Who we are dictates how we interact with the world, new places are only temporary distractions but internal changes make all places more beautiful. I’m not saying I’ve figured this out, in fact I believe that internal change is a constant and lifelong work, there is no end destination. I suppose one way to located ourselves within the geography of our internal map is to look around externally, are we happy with where we are, with who we are with? Are we happy with our bodies and our minds? If the answer is no, what are the steps to make those changes, who do we want to be?
Gratefulness
My final thought that came front and center during our Pilgrimage across northern Spain was that of being present. Not missing out on a beautiful moment by the distractions of my own mind. It’s a hard thing to explain because it wasn’t just the external environment I didn’t want to miss out on. It was, again, that intersection between myself and my environment, as if I am the spark and life is the firework, I wanted to make sure my eyes and ears were open to experience the explosion. So far the answer I’ve found is gratefulness. Life moves in one direction and there is no going back. There is no holding onto, or prolonging the immediacy of experience and early on I felt this profoundly and it frustrated me; Like grasping at sand as it slips through your fingers. Having a grateful attitude released the sadness and frustration. Accepting that we cannot own the experience or save it for later, like a wild animal they are experienced more fully when they are not caged. The moments come and go and I’m thankful each and every time for the opportunity to take part in their beauty. If these unique moments are a result of the intersection between our internal and external world then I’d like to believe that I’m at least 50% responsible for these wonderful pieces of life and I hope to continue to live that way.
Next up…
So what’s next? We’re currently seeking out places that are less effected by technology and infrastructure. We have a rough plan to visit the Indonesian Islands, the Phillipines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam and then Singapore before heading back to Europe. Stay tuned and stay in touch!
