I See You Building the Castle with One Hand

View from the Tate Museum of Modern Art in London, U.K

Music for the Day: Nujabes
Some of you may recognize the name or the beats from the show Samurai Champloo. Nujabes is a very lyrical, rhythm-based sound with piano tones. These tones are intertwined with drums and guitar strokes and even a bit of flute now and then. Check them out! Dance a little, or maybe bob your head to and fro.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sML2bq_WGw

The Final Day: Where Reflection Lives in London

It's easy to think that because this is my final day I should be out partying or making the most out of every second. This could be true. But I don't want to conclude this trip in that fashion. The Vagabond Project has been more than a vacation, a holiday, an assignment, or a process. It has been a challenge, physically and mentally. A hearty one at that. And you know what? I'm proud to say I have overcome everything that has been thrown at me. I'm proud to say that I have grown and adapted through life as a traveler. I am proud to say that I am a better person because of the people I have met and the sights I have seen along the way.

A "Secret Place": The Reservoir of Peckham Rye
I don't mean the famous sights like the Colosseum, Big Ben, or the Manneken Pis. They are great, sure (well, maybe not the Manneken Pis!). But I've been inspired much more by what lies off the path. These out of the way locations are the sights that I call Secret Places. Places like the King's Woods, the Paradise, and the Reservoir. But what is a "Secret Place" really?

Currently, I'm staying with a CouchSurfing (CS) host in London. His name is Duncan and he is a fantastic, cheerful, and interesting guy. He's been incredibly kind to let me stay here. Duncan advised me to stop by the Reservoir and gave me basic directions on a map to find it. I first visited it for a run and workout, but I returned to it this morning to really take it all in. It fits my idea of what a Secret Place is- which means that it is a location of mystery, beauty, and while not really known, it is a place that tends to be right in the middle of everything else.

To get to the Reservoir you have to follow this small footpath that looks like a dark alleyway. Notice the demon head sticker, and above, on the left-hand wall, graffiti marks the territory. Maybe a slight sense of danger is also an important inclusion to the definition of a Secret Place.

Graffiti! Nothing creative though. Just numbers and signatures.

So you eventually find a hole cut out in the fence. It's just big enough to slip through, so you do. You want to see what is on the other side, why a fence is there in the first place, and perhaps, more importantly, why someone would cut a hole in that said fence.

The other side of the hole in the fence. A hill, huh? You climb it. You notice the trash. The empty beer cans and condom wrappers. The additional graffiti on the reservoir caps.

You reach the top of the hill and follow a concrete outline across the plateau and to a littered staircase. When heading to a Secret Place, height and elevation are your friends. They somehow add a little extra to the location.

At the apex of the staircase, you're here! You're on top of this wonderful space of grass. The clouds are just above you and below you, houses and trees and farmyards expand into the distance. But then, you decide to turn around.

And you understand why this is a secret place. Why your jaw drops just slightly. Why you stand there an extra second or two and take in the entire skyline of London. Why you know, even when you take a picture, it isn't going to do it justice. Because Secret Places aren't meant to be experienced by photographs- they are meant to be found and experienced in person. 

Informal Musings of a Changing Adult (me!)

As much as this trip has been about the homeless and travel experiences, it has also been about self-advancement, discovery, and development. I have changed and grown in these 84 days and I would like to register some of my changes in thought. This may end up sounding like one of those advice philosophy books. If it does, I apologize.

1) Find the "Pause" button. Hit it.

I move quickly, especially with a physical deadline ahead of me. I have a flight? Better stress and make sure to get there two hours ahead of schedule. I want to go see this museum? Better plan the next few things to do while walking there. That was the old me. It's weird, because I always thought I was a more "do it as you go" kind of guy. And while I am, I like to have things planned, too. But I've learned, through this trip and with the patience of Chris, that you can't plan and make everything perfect. Sometimes the best choice is to "Joe-Cool" it up and relax on the beach for three hours. It's really paramount to be able to find this "Pause" button and hit it. It lets you soak up the experience instead of seeing it in the distance.

Taking this to the next level, I've learned it is important not to rush life. I used to believe it was of the utmost importance to graduate in four years, to sprint to medical school, and to gain my final degree. But honestly, it isn't. Life is about what you make of it and how you enjoy it. This is very counter-intuitive at first to the goals I have set in the past, but I am learning to pursue what I love instead of force feed myself what I want to become. I'm not taking a sloth approach by any means, but I am doing my best to take the right and most favorable route in life.

We can always stick to our primary routes, sure. But then we'll never see what is off to the side of the road. If I didn't take the time to hit the "Pause" button, I never would have hit golf balls with a 6-iron in the middle of the mountains in Austria. I never would have danced a very clumsy waltz to the Fleet Foxes at an outdoor stadium late at night. And I never would have hitch-hiked in Norway.

Your road is always going to be there. A bulldozer isn't going to scream by and strip the asphalt from the earth. Take the time to hit the "Pause" button and explore what's out there. It's all beautiful, man.

2) Your life isn't set in stone, no matter how good of a sculptor you think you are.

When I was a really little kid, I wanted to be an author. I wanted to write fantasy books like Brian Jacques and Garth Nix and help little kids like me grow their imaginations. But I heard being an author was incredibly difficult and took a wild amount of luck. I didn't want to gamble with my life, so I changed the career that I wanted to pursue. I switched to an interest in architecture as I started to draw more and more. I would imagine wild building designs and sketch cities from films and pieces of structures that I thought were unique and powerful. But I started thinking more and more about what I wanted to do in my life and I realized that I wanted to work with and help people. I read the book, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Paul Farmer and I immediately urged to become a trauma surgeon and travel to third world countries. I wanted to be modern-day superman.

This was all before I turned 16. I was so confident in who and what I wanted to be. 

3) There are good people and bad people. But the good people are or so wonderful.

This is to be continued. I'm writing this as I get ready to leave to the airport, and frankly, I've run out of time!

I'm going to leave to fly home now! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I'll finish this later. I just wanted to get some thoughts out there. There is a new batch of pictures up, check 'em!

Here I come, Arizona!

Cheers!

-Sam