Things I’ve Learned While Roaming the Earth

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It’s odd, the things a person learns about life while riding a motorcycle into the far reaches of the borderland jungles of Cambodia and Vietnam, backpacking into the wild. We had left in the stillness of the dawn, the capital city already alive and bustling, many of its citizens silently watching and wondering what a handful of foreigners were doing at such a time and place.  We were on our way to the northeastern corner of Cambodia, Ratanakiri, my mentor, his friend, and myself.  My mind was already conjuring a thousand images of what was out there — ancient ruins, mystic peoples, unexplained phenomena.

We pulled up to one of the sparsely placed stop lights in the city, next to a moto-taxi driver, not yet in possession of his first customer. The sun finally crept over the low-lying buildings. The light turned green. No one moved. The traffic from the other side continues their cautious flow through the intersection. For some reason that none can seemingly tell, in Cambodia, green means wait. The cars and motos on the other side continue to stream into the intersection through the red light. A few impatient motos on our side see their moment and burst forward. The rest of us linger. Slowly the stream of traffic on the other side dwindles, our side now ever creeping forward, until the deluge is allowed to release.

As I moved off at last, my two friends just ahead, the light on our side has already turned yellow. Heading down the end of the main road, and transitioning away from the traffic of the city, and into the quiet countryside, I remember feeling something for the first time that I would feel only a handful of times later. The feeling is difficult to describe. All I know, is that looking back, it was as though my mind changed from being a thinking thing to an observational thing – simple things never before noticed now pushing to the forefront of my mind. The wind in the trees, the distant clouds – each took an elevated importance that was never there before. The entire world seemed more alive, as though my role were only to watch that same powerful play, still in quiet narration since the dawn of time.

It’s fun to be in a place where the mind takes on that different role, of watching the world as though an observer, and not an active participant. It’s as though the entirety of life comes to a single point, my life seen from beginning to end. I feel strangely connected to the rest of men who had come before, who had spent the wages of their lives with freedom and resolve – who had done great things, lived courageously, loved fiercely. Will I do better?

I would have to wait and see.  For now, all I can do is continue on. The dark jungle in the northeast corner is over 500 kilometers away. It will take us almost two days to get there.  And as often proves true in life, the journey would turn out to be better than the destination.  Thanks for reading!