Day two

There are some days in your life that are marked and noted in your mental journal by significant moments and for me today was one of those days.

We left Albuquerque, New Mexico today and headed for Tucson Arizona. The weather was cold, the bus warm and the road long. I was pretty excited about it because my host family gave me a book and I intended to read it. The book is called 'Into the wild,' and I had heard of the movie before but I wasn't familiar with the story.

I read all but the last twenty pages of the book during our almost 8 hour drive and I was moved to tears more times than I'm ready to admit. This book that follows the journey of a young man that ends up dying in the woods in Alaska did more than just tell me a cool story, instead it showed me what it's like to live without any borders.

The book is so interesting because it's such a tragic story of bravery and stupidity all bound together with the timeless idea that society has no right to tell you what to do or who to be.

I could have finished the book but I didn't, not yet. I know how it ends, I know that it's nonfiction and that it doesn't play out too well for the lead..I know what happens. Yet I can't finish it yet because I feel so invested in the faith that this guy had in himself and his abilities. It wasn't just something that he bragged about with no intention of ever actually pursuing his dreams. Instead he acted more than he spoke and left an impact on every single person that he encountered along his way and he wasn't even 25.

I think it's better to die covered in your failed attempt at a dream than live a life paved by the idea of "What ifs."

Tomorrow I will finish the book and I'm certain that I will cry. I will cry for young lives lost for brave souls that dare to take the route that isn't safe but makes them feel fulfilled and also for those who play it safe and will never know what it's like to dare to do something.


"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." - Into the Wild.