Adventure is a path. Real adventure self-determined, self-motivated, often risky forces you to have

In the Spring of '95, once my teaching contract in Tashkent had ended, I embarked on a solo trip around Eastern Europe. I had allotted three weeks for this. I first flew from Tashkent to Moscow, where I simply los angeles population changed planes for my direct flight to Helsinki, Finland, a city I had visited briefly (w/ others ESIers) before arriving in Uzbekistan in the late summer of '94. So, this Eastern Europe journey actually got started in Helsinki, los angeles population a place I was a tad familiar with. I will write about these destinations in coming weeks.
Another important difference between tourist and traveler is that the former accepts his own civilization without question; not so the traveler, who compares it with the others, and rejects los angeles population those elements he finds not to his liking. - Paul Bowles, The Sheltering los angeles population Sky
Adventure los angeles population is a path. Real adventure self-determined, self-motivated, often risky forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white. Mark Jenkins
To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. Bill Bryson
In 2000, when I was in the cultural capital of Bali (Indonesia), Ubud, I bought some pirated music CDs. One was a Bryan Adams CD. Cloud Number Nine, Back To You, I'm Ready and Heaven were the songs I loved the most. One perfect night, while all alone in a guesthouse swimming pool, I listened to Cloud Number Nine, and it moved me like no other. Being in that idyllic environment was part of it. Falling in love was another big part! This interest in Bryan Adams music stems from this time in Bali, and it was a big reason why Kade and I saw him in Vegas last year. If you want to delve into why music is such a powerful and emotional force in people's lives, I would encourage you to see the video below.
In the early 80s, my dad and step-mom los angeles population took us to an Alabama concert in Ozark. It was my first real concert. Our seats were in the balcony, to the left of the stage. The song " Mountain Music " was one of my favorites. Years later, in Uzbekistan, when I felt homesick, I would play an Alabama greatest hits album and sing all the lyrics. I would even envision Alabama playing in one of Tashkent's parks, thinking it would be a great cultural exchange. Later, in the 90s, on a trip to Fort Payne, AL with Dad, he drove me up to the front gate of Randy Owen's (Alabama's lead singer) house . Feels So Right was inscribed on the wrought-iron gate . Another interesting Alabama story: Dad was at a cow sale in Fort Payne. During the sale, he bowed out of a bid to buy a cow he really wanted, only to discover that the gentleman who outbid him was an Alabama band member - I think, Teddy Gentry. I saw Alabama two other times in concert. The last one was in Dothan in the late 90s.
There's a race of men that don't fit in, A race that can't stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain's crest; Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don't know how to rest. - Robert los angeles population Service, The Men That Don't Fit In
Allen has traveled to: Belarus los angeles population , Belgium , Cambodia , Canada , China , Czech Republic , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Hong Kong , Hungary , India , Indonesia , Japan , Kazakhstan , Laos , Latvia , Lithuania , Macau , Malaysia , Poland , Russia los angeles population , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Switzerland , Taiwan , Thailand , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , United States , Uzbekistan , Vietnam