Monday, December 29, 2008

Taylor's Travels: Walk The Earth

“If I were 21, I would walk the Earth. I would go barefoot longer; I’d learn how to throw a Frisbee, I’d go braless if I were a woman and I would wear no underwear if I were a man. I’d play cards and wear the same pair of jeans until they were so stiff they could get up and strut around the room by themselves…So don’t take the short road. Fool around. Have fun…You’re not going to get this time back. Don’t panic and go to graduate school and law school. This nation has enough frightened, dissatisfied yuppies living in gated communities, driving SUV’s and wondering where their youth went.

We need you to walk the earth, so that other nations can see the beauty of American youth, rather than seeing our young in combat fatigues behind the barrel of an M-16”

-From the 2005 Pratt University commencement speech given by writer and composer James McBride

I first read this in the bathroom of my ex-girlfriend’s Brooklyn loft. I’d just turned 22, and was a couple of weeks away from beginning my final year at San Diego State University, in a Hotel Management program that based it’s reputation on landing students careers as they exited stage right with diploma in hand. I was reluctant to dive into a career, but I’ll admit to being swayed by the faculty selling me on the importance of “getting experience” and “building my resume.” The above quote, however, grabbed me. It was a wind that swept away the cloud of bullshit that lingered above my head, raining societal expectations upon me. Maybe I didn’t need to chart my life’s course in the approaching years. I could goof around. Adulthood could wait. I didn’t even ask, I just ripped the page out of the magazine, folded it up, and put it in my wallet. It’s been there ever since.

I graduated that May. Once my teachers and advisers accepted that I was to “ruin their numbers” by not graduating with a job, they quietly encouraged my plans to travel.

“Go sew your wild oats for a few months, then come back and we’ll help you find a job,” conceded my Internship Director.

I smiled, agreed, and gave and an enthusiastic handshake, but I knew it was phony. I wasn’t traveling to “get it out of my system” like so many of my classmates who were off to Europe for three week bus-tours. Just the opposite, in fact. I wanted traveling to be in my system, and to experience the freedom that only a one-way ticket can give. No work to return to. No school. No girlfriend. Be able to fan the travel flame my parents lit in me when I was nine years old, instead of dousing it with water because of pre-existing obligations awaiting stateside. A chance to walk the earth.

I traveled for six-months with my best friend, Zack, surfing and laughing our way around the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. We slept in a van for a month in Australia, and extended our stay in Papua New Guinea because the waves and people were so good. We partied all night or stayed in and read, and opted not to ride Elephants in Thailand because, “They [were] too small, talk to me when you get an African Elephant.” We were free, the morning commute and office jobs galaxies away.

That freedom is addicting, and like most addicts, I’ll do what it takes to support my habit. I returned after that trip and began working as a surf instructor by day and a busboy by night. I lived with my gracious and supportive parents to save money, and nearly all I earned was saved. I’m off to walk the earth once more, trying to get my fix via an African journey that will likely be the most challenging and rewarding of my trips thus far. Travel will play the lead role, with surfing, photography, and writing rounding out a strong supporting cast. Stay tuned to lifesgoodwhen.com (click on Blog) for theaters and show times.

I will be updating this blog throughout my trip. If you like it, tell your friends. Actually tell strangers too cause why should they be left out? If you don’t like it, youtube.com is a website I recommend.

by taylor paul

From New Album 10/5/08 11:52 PM