An Odyssey of the Mind

       Hello everyone! Welcome to my new blog. I was inspired to create this blog by my European Odyssey. I saw 9 different countries in 18 days. I was traveling through Europe from June 15th through July 2nd. I spent 10 days in Scotland, 3 days in Germany, and 5 days in Slovenia. I saw a lot of nature, met new people, and experienced different cultures. It was my first time in Europe, so it was one hell of a learning experience. I will leave the pictures and niceties for Facebook. This is a blog and blogs should be deeper than that, so I will discuss the lessons that I learned on my journey that I believe can be applied to life in general.

Lesson #1: Whenever you are despondent about the present or your prospects for the future, look to the past and see how far you have come.

Rationale: In Slovenia, I was asked to give a couple of presentations to organizations advocating on behalf of developmentally challenged children and teachers that work with them. I was asked to do this on the basis of the fact that I myself was slow to develop, but was eventually able to progress through the education and higher education systems. As I spoke about my life and the problems that I had as a child, it became apparent to me that my periodic phases of hopelessness were irrational. For one, it was very nice to receive such a positive reception speaking about things that were always a source of shame. As a matter of fact, it was the result of these presentations that I even started this blog as I was asked multiple times if I had one. Additionally, I realized that if I was able to get to the point where I am now from the point where I began, it is surely within the realm of possibility that a higher level of personal development and happiness is in my future. In short, it will be difficult for me to rationalize any degree of hopelessness following this trip. To anyone reading this who has something in their past that causes a lingering sense of pain, I ask that you find some means of exposing this pain to the light. Please use the darkness as an impetus to drive yourself forward and see the resilience you have shown in getting to this point as a source of hope.

Lesson #2: Time is the currency of life; you possess nothing more valuable than your time.

Rationale: On my plane ride back to Houston, I had a 9.5-hour talk with a 65-year old man. He had a lot of interesting things to say, but the thing that stood out to me the most was what he had to say about time. He said that as you get older, time speeds up. This is because you slow down as you get older and it takes you longer to cover the same distance as a younger person. Thus, there are fewer things that you can fit into a single day as you age. When combining this insight with the great magnitude of physical and social activities that we were able to squeeze into my 5 days in Slovenia, I realized that I was fretting away a significant portion of my youth. I realized that both physically and mentally I was capable of doing a lot more in a day than I would have previously thought. Before my trip, I wasted several hours each day maintaining my garden of dark thoughts. Perhaps, the most valuable lesson of this trip was that I must have an adequate appreciation for my youth and my time.

Lesson #3: Always make time for physical activity.

Rationale: I never would have believed that after only 3 hours of sleep, I would be able to climb/hike up and down a 2108-meter high mountain in a single summer day. I also never would have believed that I would be able to dance that night and wake up the next day after only 3 hours of sleep again, and swim for 2 hours at the seaside. I discovered on this trip that I enjoy outdoor activities and that even without proper training, I am able to do a lot of them. I am very excited about this, because I love nature and activities such as these allow me to experience it in a new way. Additionally, physical activity allows me to focus my thoughts in a far more constructive manner. Things that were not readily apparent to me in my daily life became quite obvious while on the mountain. In short, I feel as though this trip has given me an additional coping strategy for managing the chaos that periodically grips my life.

Me climbing Ledenski Vrh :-)

Lesson #4: Sometimes separation is the only cure for family problems.

Rationale: I have a very close relationship with my maternal grandparents and my mother; however, my grandparents and my mother cannot stand each other. My grandparents and my mother would never talk before I went to Europe. However, the shock of my absence and the desire for information on my whereabouts and exploits brought my mother and grandmother into communication. My mother and I would at times have an adversarial relationship, but while I was away we could not possibly have been nicer to each other. This continued when I came back as I had plenty of stories to tell and a renewed desire to help around the house. All of my family was terrified about me taking this trip, because they did not believe that I would be able to look after myself. My mother strongly advised against it. The fact that I went anyway and was able to survive it without incident has no doubt built a more healthy and respectful relationship between my family and I. As a matter of fact, my mother has already asked me when I plan to travel again. Overall, I feel that this trip provided a significant boost to my family life as it gave us the opportunity to miss each other. It also gives me a greater sense of independence and a greater sense of belief in myself.

Lesson #5: Self-discovery is not the result of brooding over oneself in the comfort of one’s own home, but rather the result of deviation from one’s normal routine and separation from one’s comfort zone.

Rationale: There were moments on this journey, particularly in Scotland, where I would feel alone or out of place. The cold, wet weather of Scotland surely did not help with this situation. Despite the fact that these feelings and the weather were not particularly pleasant, I consider my Scottish journey to be one of the more educational experiences of my life. For one, I did not allow these feelings to depress me to the point where I would just stay at home and brood. I continued to explore the city of Edinburgh, I went up and down Arthur’s Seat twice, and I went on a day trip to the Highlands. I took lots of pictures and was able to make something beautiful out of the situation. Additionally, it became readily apparent to me why I was struggling; I was separate from my work and my writing. This journey taught me how important science and writing are to my self-esteem and my normal daily functioning. Without them, I was not the same person; not on the inside or the outside. This is one of the reasons I was so happy to give the presentations; it gave me an excuse to write and focus my thoughts onto something productive. I was also frustrated with my inability to lift weights normally while abroad, so one of the first things I did when I came back was bench press. In short, this journey taught me a lot about myself by showing me how much I missed certain aspects of my normal life. I will never take these things for granted again.

In conclusion, I learned a lot on this journey. I learned that I love traveling, Slovenia, and outdoor activities. I also learned a lot about myself and the importance of time. I took over 1300 pictures while I was away, so that I would be able to keep the memories fresh and maintain a connection to the nature that I experienced. I have already looked through all of the pictures several times since I got back. It was an awesome, life-changing experience and I am happy to share it with you all. I hope that you enjoyed my blog and that you will visit again soon.

       Special thanks to Teja Ograjsek for organizing this trip and providing me with housing though out.