Notes from the Path AJ Photo
On Travelers & Tourists.
Alias Jones
I left the United States, in March of 2006, to do about six or nine months of traveling through the Mediterranean.
At 41, I was in the mood to have a little fun and see some new places.
So I quietly ducked out of the corporate world, tied up some loose ends & started my journey.
The general direction was to land in Lisbon, Portugal, buy a motorbike and make my way to Istanbul, spending all of my money in the process. Looking back, it seems I was subconsciously detaching from “things”, a process that is now very conscious within me. It's been interesting, and truly enlightening in many regards.
By November of 2006, I had made it to Istanbul in fine spirits, and wasn’t quite ready to go home. I had successfully completed the mission of spending all my money, so I sold the motorbike and became a backpacker. Now two years later, and while I do expect that I’ll make it back to Texas, it may just be for a visit. I wouldn’t try to predict when it may happen. My family – only half-jokingly – have acknowledged that if they ever want to see me again, they will have to get on a plane. But they love what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
I have been amazed at how many people I’ve met who are traveling indefinitely - usually with no real destination in mind. Sure, I’ve met the Canadian, Jean Beliveau, who is nine years into a walk around the world, covering 12 years and 75,000 km, in the name of “peace for our children”. I’ve met “Spanish Walking Sam” who was walking from Barcelona to Nepal on a spiritual journey, using no mechanical transport, not even elevators. But I’ve met scores of others just traveling at their whim, either in perpetual motion or on the move-settle-move-settle-move plan. Even Spanish Walking Sam has demonstrated wisdom in altering his plans as 'life suggested'.
Yes, I’ve met hundreds of travelers... Wanderers... Vagabonds.
If you ask them why they chose this life, the answer usually comes down to some version of, “Nothing else even seemed to make sense.” I get that. We sometimes wrap some kind of justification around it – existential realignment or mid-life crisis or some such thing – but those are just easily digestable short-hand terms. It's something much more essential than a catch-phrase.
One of the most frequent questions I get from readers or from new friends I meet along the way is along the lines of, “I’m jealous - how did you get the courage to leave everything and just travel? I don’t think I could do that!”
Actually, yes, you can...
When nothing else even seems to make sense - that is when solutions begin presenting themselves. Then all you have to do is take the first step and trust.
It gets easier everyday ...and that, is a beautiful thing.
Alias Jones is a rat-racer-turned-vagabond and is frequently considered to be one of the luckiest guys in the world. He does not argue the point. In his travels, Jones is a frequent columnist for English speaking newspapers abroad, has hosted a Texas Blues/Rock radio show in Bodrum, Turkey & teaches Reiki healing. He is completing his book tentatively called: Would-Be-Super Heroes: An Official Training Guide - non-commercial project that is slated for free download in multiple languages early 2009.
More details on Jones & his travels can be found at his official website or you can write to him at: aj@aliasjones.com
November 5, 2008 by Network Abundance Publications
