We live with a constant diet of negativity. News reports perpetuate the myth that people are bad and the world is bad. When I told people I was going to attempt to travel around the world the majority reaction was one of anxiety. "Oh my - rather you than me. You could get raped, mugged, killed or worse!" This was usually followed up by the question "Aren't you afraid?" and then the statement, "I couldn't do that."
I always attempted to ignore these fears, but they are inherently infectious. After all, I've watched the same news all my life and read the same headlines in the papers. Even though I reassured my Mum and told her not to worry about me, I was anxious too.
But I have news for you. News that will make me sound like a complete hippy. People are beautiful and the World is beautiful too, really beautiful. If I said "hey man, the world is beautiful!" you'd assume I'd been smoking something dodgy wouldn't you? But bear with me, I haven't done that since I was last in Amsterdam!
The World is Beautiful.
This is a non negotiable, no-brainer. Admittedly, I have been to some of the nicest places on Earth, but you know as well as I do, that beauty is everywhere. Beauty that can be seen, heard, smelled and tasted. Shafts of sunlight illuminating forest paths, sparkling lakes and crashing oceans, snow capped mountains and rolling hills, amazing wildlife, fields of flowers, valleys, night skies, sunsets, clouds, rain...I could go on. This is not to say that less savoury places do not exist. Great scars on our planet created by natural disaters and by man. Landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, garbage dumps, barren wastelands, fouled land and rivers, shocking amounts of human litter and pollution and the impact of over population, over harvesting and war. BUT the beautiful places far outnumber the less beautiful - I know - I've travelled a long way.
And I don't limit a beautiful world to what can be found in nature either, mankind has created some majestic structures, wondrous art and sublime architecture. From cities to towns, villages to single dwellings, I have seen some amazingly beautiful places nestled amongst the natural world.
Believe me, for every picture I have shared in my blogs, there have been literally hundreds I could have chosen. Exquisite examples of man and nature working in harmony.
People are Beautiful.
How often do we recount negative interactions with other people? Acts of discourtesy, anger, unreasonable behaviour and thoughtlessness are all shared, often reinforcing our thoughts and stereotypes about certain members or groups in society, eliciting the 'there, there' response we are subconsciously seeking from sharing the negative experience in the first place. Do we do this equally when the human encounter is a good one or at least an OK one? I didn't.
In my travels I have met some people who have sought, for whatever reason, to take advantage of me. Extremely isolated incidents driven by an individual's disrespect towards me as a stranger or as a seized opportunity for them to improve their own immediate situation at my expense. My rather naive, positive yet 'touristy' outlook on life, coupled with some less wise decisions on my part, have certainly contributed to these opportunities. Now I could choose to dwell on these incidents, sharing near-misses and negative encounters with the wider world through my social media on a regular basis. And at times, I have done just that. However, as the extremely vast majority of my human interactions have been so wonderful, I have found it very easy to dwell upon them. In country after country I have been met with warmth, friendship and help in abundance. You will be unsurprised to hear that I have been recording the names of all the people I have met on my travels (rather anally and meticulously of course) to serve as a record of the best of human nature. Many I have kept in touch with as I have moved on, a few I have already seen again and others I will no doubt see in the future.
It is these encounters which fill me with such assurance and confidence about the beauty of people. Let me share a couple of recent examples:
Alli in Alaska.
Alli is probably 21 years old. She is from Milwaukee, but living and working in Juneau, Alaska. We met on a mountain path as I wandered ever higher with no real sense of direction. The path was delicate and had been eroded by multiple landslides and I was considering heading to a waterfall below me when Alli, walking up the path behind, caught up.
I asked her if she had ever walked to the waterfall before? She said she hadn't and frowned at the thought of it, as there was no path down and the sides were steep and incredibly eroded. I asked her where she was heading and she answered that she was taking the Granite Creek Trail, as she had heard that a recent avalanche at the top of the basin there was worth viewing. I asked if she minded me tagging along to begin with, reassuring her that I would probably not last the distance and would turn around at some point? She said that that would be fine. We walked in companionable, but one-sided conversation. I asked dozens of questions, I talked non-stop about my adventures in Alaska and commented on all the things we were seeing and hearing. Alli, spoke little, but positively when the subject matter was of interest to her. I knew I was straining too hard for things to talk about when I said 'I think Happy Days was set in Milwaukee!' As the path got ever steeper I talked less and allowed Alli to pull ahead (especially useful as I was then able to literally step in her footsteps when we reached the snowline.)
For three hours we walked in glorious isolation under a beautiful blue sky. We reached the basin and it was worth the effort. After taking a few pics and failing to ford a stream we retraced our steps back down the mountain before night fell. I thanked her profusely, assured her she was a guardian angel who had probably stopped me from attempting a dangerous waterfall descent on my own and told her that I had thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I declined her offer of a lift back into town, but said that as I was around for a few more days, if she fancied a drink or a meal one evening I would be immensely grateful for the opportunity to thank her properly for her company. To ensure she was not put on the spot, I told her the ball was completely in her court, as she had my blog address and if she chose to look at it, she could find my email address and then send me a message. We parted, and I walked away smiling, wondering if I would see her again.
That evening I received an email. Alli would love to join me one evening, perhaps with some of her friends for a drink or a meal? I replied that we could do both if we met after work! At the eleventh hour her house mate and her boyfriend were unable to join us, but rather than cancel, Alli met me at the appointed time and place and the two of us ate, drank and chatted (me doing most of the talking again.) I had to insist on paying the modest bill at the end as Alli wanted to go dutch.
Now Alli didn't have to see me. She didn't have to accept my company when we first met on the mountain path. She didn't have to put up with my verbal diarrhoea. She didn't have to visit my blog or get in touch, but she chose to do so. Not because she fancied me (she was 21 and spoken for) and not because she expected me to treat her, but simply because she knew what it felt like to be a stranger in Alaska, and she welcomed the company. A win/win for human interaction and a new friendship to boot.
Tamra in Alaska.
Tamra is the mum of a couple who have opened their home to travellers as part of the ever expanding Airbnb fraternity. With her daughter and son-in-law away in Paris for a holiday, Tamra had moved into their Alaskan home from Portand, Oregon, to mind the fort in their absence and look after the likes of me. I knew I was in for a treat when she offered to pick me up from the airport. We chatted and got along instantly. In the course of the week we became friends and companions.
With it being the Juneau Jazz festival, Tamra told me she was off to a free lunchtime concert and wondered if I would like to go along? I agreed immediately and found myself sat on the floor behind 100 school children as a New York based stringed quartet treated us to some classical music. I noticed they were playing again one evening and asked Tamra if she wanted to go along? She did and she prompty got us tickets to the "Brahms, Beethoven and Baklava' performance.
Durring the week, Tamra and I caught up with each other every day. Sometimes for a chat on the stairs, other times for a walk in the mountains. We even managed a couple of short trips out. When Tamra had a coffee delivery to make early one morning and asked if I wanted to go with her? I answered yes as it was something to do and it meant I would be able to see a little more of the area. When we stopped at Auke Lake before 9.00am the following morning, I knew I had made the right choice. I still don't like coffee though!
We have kept in touch since I left Alaska a month ago, but I am grateful that my short time in her daugther's home was made all the more comfortable from the conversation and friendship Tamra had to offer. I like to think that she enjoyed my company too. She even influenced my decision to go and see Portland for myself, and when she learned I was going, took the time to make a number of recommendations about places for me to visit.
Nora in Seattle.
Nora was my Airbnb host in Seattle. She made me welcome in her home and as a consequence of my choosing to chat with her in her kitchen on my first day, we discovered we had a lot in common and ended up talking over cups of tea each day. She gave me advice about the sights and attractions of Seattle, and I was very much inclined to follow them. Then, when we saw each other the following day, I was able to share what I had seen and done.
Our conversations roamed over a multitude of subjects from education to authors, Alaska to Airbnb experiences, but it was Nora's genuine desire to help me see the best of Seattle that prompted her to offer to take me out to locations I would not otherwise get to see. Places like Lake Washington and the Ballard Locks and gardens. We even went out for a meal one evening to a local Mexican restaurant.
A cynic would say it was simply a case of companionship for two people feeling lonely, Nora with an ever changing combination of houseguests and me travelling the world on my own. But that does not account for the fact that Nora gave me a book her mum had written because she thought I would be interested in it, or the fact that she lent me another book (which I have safely mailed back to her) simply because it came up in conversation. Nor does it explain her revisiting a place she has been to many times before, just so I could marvel at a feat of 20th Century engineering before dropping me off at the Amtrak train station so I could move on to the next leg of my journey. These were her friendly and helpful choices.
The iconic Seattle Market which Nora encouraged me to visit
I could keep listing examples of people I have met, but the bottom line for me is that I am choosing to be more sociable and more positive. The consequence of that choice is I am more attractive (no - not in that way, but as a human being!) My increased gregariousness and overt confidence (still an act quite often) means that others engage with me more readily and it is usually sustained more easily. The fact that I am convinced the majority of people in the world are lovely and worth meeting helps enormously.
That said, I am sat in a Starbucks in Vancouver as I type, and a tall guy has just walked in, grabbed a paper sack containing several 1kg packets of coffee beans and tried to steal it. A small, asian male member of staff challenged him at the door and got hit in the face with the coffee for his troubles. The bags of coffee spilled to the floor, the thief exited with nothing and the the staff member was left shaken, but otherwise unharmed. A stunned audience of customers all felt pleased to see him unharmed, but we were all impacted by that 30 seconds of criminal violence.
So is it just a matter of perspective, the old adage of "a glass half full versus a glass half empty?" A conscious choice to celebrate the positive and the beautiful? I know that there is good and bad in the world. I know that there is both beauty and ugliness too. I choose to focus on the good (unlike the western news media) and I actively search for and expect to encounter it. Indeed, I can have no other attitude. How else would I be able to travel as I do, going from unknown to unknown, interacting and conducting business each day with complete strangers and choosing to trust them? I am pleased to have lost track of the news, shockingly brought back to the fore when I hit the US and saw continuous footage of police brutality and riots in Baltimore on every screen and paper. (Anyone would think that every cop in the country is bad and that America is in the midst of a Civil War judging by the coverage.)
Long may my good fortune continue as I travel. I know that I am blessed. I am seeing this amazing world first hand and meeting fabulous people as I go.
I say to everyone reading this who is fearful about the world - do not be afraid, but be positive - anyone could travel this planet - it's a beautiful place full of beautiful people who will encourage you, support you and help you. They will even be generous with their time and energy for no other reason than they choose to do so.
Me at Whistler
Bye for now.
Paul x
