Amazing adventures of a nobody

Amazing Adventures of a Nobody

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it - Goethe

Leon Logothetis was running a business in the UK.  He was jaded, burnt out, and felt out of touch with others.  So he made a bold decision; he left his job, and decided to travel from New York City to Hollywood on $5 a day.  He forced himself to connect with people, and was able to make this amazing journey relying on the kindness of strangers.

I recently read his book about this life-changing experience.  While I will never have Leon's bravado to embark on a similar adventure, the thrill from a sense of "danger and generosity intertwined" was something I could relate to from my own travels.  I think the "danger" often time originate from a combination of the reality (e.g. political instability, poverty, being the obvious foreign tourist target...etc.) as well as our own biased perception of our travel destination tainted by horror stories or what we see on the news (e.g. Africa being the dark continent with poor people everywhere, corrupt immigration officers...etc.).  In a way, the danger in traveling to foreign, particularly developing countries, is quite real, but I think many time it's blown out of proportion by our own ignorance and tainted view from subjective descriptions of the places.  I think this is what makes the "generosity" feel that much more endearing when we experience it.  It hits us at the most unexpected moments, and as a result, make the deepest mark on our hearts.

I also found a few other things Leon mentioned in the book quite thought provoking on a personal level: 

[why we travel]

• Hypothesis 1: "the reason we like travelling so much is because it places us in a position of control we don’t often find for ourselves in our daily lives.  When we are home in our routine, we go where we’re told, or where we must, on someone else’s time, at someone else’s pace – to work, to school, to the shop…but when we travel, we go where we wish"
• Hypothesis 2: perhaps we "travel to run away from the only ones who could hurt [us]. Traveling was a way to be safe and alone." I think there could be a grain of truth to this observation.  I find some chronic travelers, particularly those after their mid-30's, almost are in this endless search of something else.  They are constantly moving from one destination to another, which means a lot of short, enjoyable relationships with locals and fellow travelers, but very few of those relationships have staying power.  While I would agree that those relationship could be meaningful connection, the level of commitment from these relationship cannot be compared to someone from your home country, who's known you for several years, and will pick up your call late at night to hear you vent about something.  Sometimes I wonder if some of us constant travelers are searching for something or are actually running away from something, someone, or some situation?

[how we travel]

• De-emphasize the destination: "The destination is the obstacle; it draws such attention from us that we aren’t allowed to think about what happens in the middle, between here and there." I definitely find this more and more true as I travel more and get older.  While the "sites" are still very interesting, I noticed that the little incidents and various experiences en route to the sites are often what I remember most fondly upon after I return.  After all, I can always download a photo of the rice terraces in Sapa, Vietnam, but the people I met on the train ride there was what made the trip most special and cannot be replaced!
• Mode of transportation: "Efficiency is the enemy of connection.  We have connected less and less; talked less and less…Now, the journeys are just about speed – getting someplace as fast as possible."   Consider slower mode of transportation, it helps allows us to connect with others and enjoy our surrounding more.  

Amazing Adventures of a Nobody is a quick, easy read, and probably would resonate with many young professionals who feel disenchanted and wants more.  I think one may not need to do what Leon did to find happiness.  Traveling might not even be the right approach to get there.  However, I think the element of human connection and boldness to go after one's dream are key component to life's content. 

Ethiopia, a land with much much more than 13 months of sunshine!

Ethiopia is probably one of the most interesting country I've visited (and one I would go back again).  There are simply so many things to see and do in Ethiopia that our 10 pitiful days just can't do it justice. So, I decided to split up the trip into 2: first do the Northern historical circuit visiting Bahir Dar (a lakeside town with many monasteries), Gondar (the last capital), Lalibela (capital before Gondar famous for its rock-hewn churches), and Axum (the earliest capital for the Axumites, with mysterious stalaes); then do the Southern Omo Valley + Harar (the 3rd holiest muslim city famous for tamed hyenas roaming around town) in the summer.

Despite the short trip, the land of Habesha already mesmerized me beyond imagination.  It has one of the most awe-inspiring, unspoiled landscape I've seen

Beautiful Lake Tana in Bahir Dar

The Magnificent Simien Mountain Range

In addition, one can observe rich history, deeply-rooted culture and national pride in Ethiopia.  Ethiopians believe that they are descendants of King Solomon as described by the book of Kebra Nagast.  It described how Queen of Sheba met Solomon, gave birth to Menalik I, as well as how the Ark of Covenant arrived in Ethiopia as God's intended place for the Ark's final resting place.  This special connection gave rise to tremendous pride for the Ethiopian people, and as we visit around the many churches and monasteries, we see more and more mystical elements connected to (but not described in the Bible) which made the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church that much more mysterious and intriguing.

Castle in Gondar

Intriguing Stelae in Axum

Remote monastery around Lake Tana

Beautiful religious paintings found all over Ethiopia

   

St. George's rock-hewn church in Lalibela

Proudly passing the "I have not sinned" test in Lalibela

It's not surprising, with the amount of churches around the country, that religion is deeply rooted in the lives in Ethiopia (at least in the towns we visited in the Northern circuit).  The dedication people have for their religion and God is admirable.  We were visiting just a few days before the Ethiopian Christmas and the Epiphany celebration, so pilgrims from around the country were just gathering in various holy places.  People walk miles and miles to get to be part of this celebration; given the heat and dusty condition, if that is not dedication, I'm not sure what is.

 

 

Being one of only 2 African countries never been colonized (the other being Liberia), Ethiopians are able to maintain its traditions and strong identity.  As a ferengi (foreigner in amharic), it is also extremely refreshing to visit an East African country where I am treated as an equal rather than an assumed superior individual (given my "foreigner" credential).  While the "you are a wealthy tourist, give me some money" mentality is understandably still there, and that we still get a lot of attention and constantly hassled by people going "you! you! you! you! you!", the awkward African and non-African social divide so prevalent in the rest of Africa seems to be missing in Ethiopia, and that was very nice.

And of course, the normal developing country hustle and bustle 

 


as well as things that makes you scratch your head can also be observed here.  We expected crowded bus rides, the pro is that for some reason, although equally pungent, B.O. seem less prevalent among Ethiopians (compare to Kenyans). The con is that the infrastructure is also less developed in Ethiopia.  Buses are old and constantly breaking down (4 times for our ride from Gondar to Axum).  Roads are dusty, bumpy and dangerous.  And all sorts of things get carried on public transportation: 5 guns, 1 huge carpet, several bags of grains to name a few from our trip (the only thing we were missing were some livestocks).  The prevalent of firearms carried by average civilians was particularly intriguing to me.  Given the crowded (and bumpy) condition, there were several moments I thought the guns have a high chance of misfiring, and that will be the end of me.  However, it seems like us foreigners were the only one concerned about guns on board.  The Ethiopians were so nonchalant about it that at one point, some guy literally asked another unaffiliated passenger next to him to hold his gun while he can make a phone call.

  

My travel-mate Toba summed up the highlights of our trip best appropriately to the tune of 12 days of Christmas (since we were traveling over Christmas):

The 12 Days of Ethiopia
(although the trip was technically 10 days)

1 bus a blazing

2 pans of coffee beans a roasting

3 bottles of tej and angry men a staring

4 traveling ferenge (foreigner in Amahric)

5 armed men

6 trotting donkeys

7 pantless men a waving

8 gelada baboons a roaming  

9 images of st. george a fighting

10 you! you! you!

11 rock hewn churches

12 fasting meals

Amesegenallo, Ethiopia! I shall be back!