"Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness <...>. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

The longtime dream

I have a dream of traveling all around the world — to see all the countries there, cultures, real happiness, and a genuine pain, to become wiser. Traveling has been a dream of mine for a few years now, and I've been taking small steps towards a multi-year trip (if I'm strong enough). Every day of my life is a question of "what did I do today for the sake of traveling?".

In fact, traveling is quite easy. It doesn't require money or contacts, just health and a very special adventuresome spirit within. I've experienced a bit of traveling without money, and will continue to. No way I'll give it up. With the arrogance of a 20-year-old kid, I declare: I will travel with the same wild energy even when I get old.

But anyway, I decided to be prepared. Not to take it too long, but not to send myself to the ass of the world. I'm studying now, focusing on professional skills so I don't have to think about money for food on the road. I mean, if you're a smooth-brained organism, you could feel bad wherever you are.

By the way, it's not influencers that inspired me to circumnavigate the globe, but my longtime love with cartography. I always imagined myself or my characters holding... maps. I love maps so much.

I'd like this travelogue to keep my journey notes, or travel memoirs. I'll probably start filming, but I'd also like to maintain a written records. There's something special about that. And this travelogue needs a nice, clean design. We have to do it someday.

Yes, this is just an introductory post with no specific topic. Yes, I like to speak with myself in written format. Be patient.

Wandering as a way of learning

A true vision of our reality, only a traveler could capture.

Absolutely every single person on this planet knows something that I don't. Another obvious truth that I find fascinating. It must be hard to understand the world through books alone, without actually exploring it.

Instead of applying to a master's program, I'll be traveling.

Traveling without money combined with a child's curiosity is the best general education course in life, which never compares to any school. Traveling puts you in situations of changing surroundings, opinions, traditions, attitudes and so on. Having no money, you'll be forced to interact with all of that. More importantly, you will be seen not just as a tourist, but as a traveler — a guest to whom they want to give knowledge about their culture, values, traditions, i.e. show their social group as good. The simpler you are, the more interesting for foreigners. When you visit them by car, for instance, it doesn't give the impression that you are on equal footing.

Interaction with different people boosts your socialization skills. Through socializing you learn about history, languages, cuisines, religions, everyday life and culture in general. You learn about psychology, bartering and begin to better understand how society works. A greater variety of social groups gives you more experience. Moving around teaches you geography, how to navigate, basic safety and survival. Observing in such a variety of phenomena gives you a basic understanding of biodiversity on our planet, as well as physics. The media makes it harder to fool you when you understand how politics actually affect people in different countries; you have a better understanding of other people's motives.

If you have no money at all, you have a chance to learn the basics of financial literacy so that you can spend wisely in the near future. You'll have to work from time to time to buy food. If you don't have a profession, you'll have to work various temporary jobs. Yes, this slows down your career growth, but gives you even more experience because of the variety of skills you can gain. By stepping out of your comfort zone and finding a way out of seemingly difficult situations, you gain worldly wisdom and adaptive thinking.

On top of that, you improve your health by increasing your stamina as you walk a lot.

An important disadvantage in this comparison is that the knowledge isn't structured like any educational course. You get heterogeneous information in a chaotic way, but through practice.

The narrow road

Have you ever heard of the travel diary "Oku no Hosomichi" by Matsuo Bashō?

The problem with Zen is that it's being interpreted, but let me tell you: this work is one of the most inspiring I've ever encountered, regardless of how I've conceptualized it. My blog, my travels, my entire life; it's all devoted to the road in which I'll find myself blissfully disappearing sooner or later, enjoying the gentle swaying of trees, somewhere far from home.

Be well.