Wrap Up: What I’ve Learned Along the Way
First off I’d like to thank everyone who read and enjoyed my blog along this journey. Thank you for tolerating the awful grammar and spelling errors that were a result of me writing these at a very late hour. I’ve re-read most of my posts and have hopefully caught enough of them to prevent me from looking like a total retard. At some point I’ll be printing out some of my photos and if you’re interested hit me up on gchat (awong1337@gmail.com) and I’ll try to send some out to you. Now for the wrap up.
It’s been a little over a week since I’ve been back. From the little house in Eugene OR to my driveway in Minneapolis MN over the course of 9 days I traveled 2563 miles, this is longer than the trip from Orlando to LA. Both of my hands feel like there’s an extra layer of skin on them, I’m not sure if that’s from subtle sub callusing or minor damage to the nerves. Getting back into the work routine is a bit difficult, like I said in my last blog post I still want to keep going. I really do envy the people who can just let go of everything and travel as long as they can on a shoestring budget. At the same time I enjoy my life as it is right now. My job allows me to afford things not possible with that type of lifestyle and these are things I’m not willing to give up. This trip for example, could have never happened if I didn’t have some decent funding but at the same time I probably could have toured SE Asia for 2 months on the same amount of money. It’s a hard choice but I would miss my friends, I would miss hockey, and I really do love my toys (motorcycles, scooters, etc) that may sound materialistic but there are communities and bonding experiences shared through the love of certain things.
I’m by no means a travel expert, my couple trips to Japan, single trip to Canada, and trips around the US hardly qualify me to be on Lonely Planet but I have some advice I would like to tell everyone. Don’t always educate yourself, this is counter to my general philosophy but in the case of travel I feel it can soften your experience. I can say without a doubt that the most phenomenal experiences I’ve had while traveling have come when I’ve made a point to not look into the the places I’m going. The quality of travel guides, travel shows, and now even youtub videos are so high that you end up knowing what you’re going to see before you see it. When I was in Japan and my friend took me to see Himeji Castle for the first time he only told me “Yeah we’re going to a huge castle” I didn’t know anything about it other than the fact it was big. After visiting I went to look at a travel guide and I know it wouldn’t have been as amazing if I had already seen all the pictures and heard the stories. “Spoiler Alert!” at some level does apply to travel. Find out whats awesome and just check it out for yourself.
If you’ve already read everything there is to read about Yellowstone or any other massively scaled natural experience my spoiler theory applies at such a minuscule level that its nearly invalid. As a kid my dad had a few Ansel Adams posters in the house, no one else’s work captures the power and scale of seeing these natural wonders in person as well as his. The problem is these only capture such a minor portion of the feeling of at these places in person. As much as any landscape photographer can ask for is the want of the viewer to actually be there. The full sensory experience is something you cant expect anyone to be able to capture. The video/photos I took around the park and on my trip help take my mind back there but they’re hardly a substitute.
After coming back I thought about some things I would have done differently on this trip if I were to do it again. While packing I shouldn’t have been as naive to think that I wouldn’t need a visor suitable for night time riding. Blasting through Yellowstone at night mostly blind was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life, it was stupid and it didn’t need to be as bad as it was. I don’t regret not packing the instructions for my saddle bags, when I got home I was looking at the included straps and I would have never been able to make those work. I should have purchased a tail bag before I left, wearing a 15lb backpack for 400 miles would have been hell. I should have stayed in more motels, some nights I’d just latch onto Yelp and have it tell me where to stay. It’s as if I forgot that people wouldn’t always review the sketchy but cheap motel they stayed at, they’re ALWAYS cheaper. Honestly that’ts it, for a trip I prepped so little for and could have had so many things go wrong I think I did pretty decent.
Traveling on your own can be a bit rough but there are times where I actually prefer it. Just like a trip to the art museum it’s hard to tell when someone you’re with wants to move on, this can create an awkward and annoying pattern of politeness. You don’t want to leave before you’re done appreciating the view but you don’t want to be the person who says “You’ve had enough, lets go to the next thing”. While alone I had plenty of time to take in the scenery and no one else to worry about, it was nice. This is all fine and good but you will miss deeper human interaction. Small talk, the motorcycle wave and nods only go so far. Social networking helps but it’s not the same as speaking with someone in person, there will be points where you’ll want to break down.
My last bit of advice is pretty cheesy and cliche but I feel it’s important. Push yourself, never in a million years did I think I could enjoy something like this, I have no clue why I decided to do this, and I still have no clue why I went through with it. Prior to this I could hardly stand a 150 mile road trip in a luxury car yet I bought the plane ticket anyway. Months ago my intent was to use this extra money to buy the new Macbook Air after it was released. Guess how much of a shit I give about missing out on some thin laptop. None. It’s amazing how much we spend on dumb crap that provide such minor conveniences when we could allocate that money to creating life lasting memories. On my trip I heard a couple people say “I wish I didn’t have a real job so I could do something like that”. Taking 7 business days off work is not an insane proposition, people do this all the time. Don’t let your job be an excuse not to do something like this unless you’re absolutely financially bound to your situation. I came into this totally unprepared, I made horrible mistakes that put my life at risk, I spent too much money at some places, there were times I was hurt physically, there were times I suffered mentally, and after all those mistakes and all that soreness this was one of the best experiences of my life.
Here’s to many more,
Andrew Wong
