“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain
Much time has passed since the last post. I can't say that it has all passed as time well spent, but there has been some progress since August. The majority of the month of October was spent doing one of the things I enjoy most in the world, and that is traveling. I was fortunate enough to spend time gallivanting solo to the Pyramids in Egypt and across the Mediterranean Sea on a Carnival cruise. On the cruise, I was joined by my wife, her little brother, my dad and several of his cruise buddies. We "sailed" from Athens Greece to Malta, Italy, France and ended in the beautiful city of Barcelona Spain. A Mediterranean cruise had been on my bucket list for many years and finally the opportunity presented itself. Using frequent flyer miles made the trip affordable but the experience is impossible to quantify.
The most humbling part of the trip was when I decided that I would walk the original marathon route from Marathon Greece into Athens. It was a little over 40KM and made for a long day of walking. I completed the course, and it only took 11 hours, 5 different asks for directions (for when wanderlust becomes wanderlost), several protein bars, two giant blisters, one meal at Everest which was a milestone in and of itself, and one treacherous stretch through a protest flush with police in full riot gear in Syntagma Square.
In the months leading up to this trip I had originally planned on jogging and only walking short portions which would have improved my "time." I decided against it though since I don't really like running and it was quite literally a marathon, not a race. The only time I jogged was when there was a car that needed a push-start. I greatly enjoyed going slow and was able to discover many interesting things along the way and cliche as it is, even stopped to smell flowers. I feel like I am ordinarily in a rush from one thing to another, and it is nice to just sit and appreciate being in the moment. Turns out a better way to improve my "time" was to enjoy the journey and finish when I was good and ready.