The plane touched down less than gracefully. The elderly lady sitting next to me jumped and clutched her armrests when the aircraft lurched to straighten as the large tires gripped the concrete runway. We all jerked to one side, then the other, then all righted ourselves and exchanged brave glances. “Well, any landing you can walk away from,” I said to my seat mate, “is a good landing.” She didn’t look completely convinced. “Crosswind on the runway,” I told her, “that’s actually a really good pilot to stick that landing.” She smiled. I think she just wanted off the plane.
Outside, the bright sunlight of Manila welcomed us all to the Philippines. My heart raced, partly from the landing, partly from the thought of the experiences that were waiting for me just outside that window, and mostly for the anticipation of the lovely lady waiting for me at the next airport in Cagayan de Oro. It was my first time leaving the North American continent, and it was love that got me there… well, and three airplanes.
I had spent one week in Manitoba, Canada back… let’s just say a long time ago. At various times in my life I had visited much of the lower 48 of my home country, good ol’ USA, but that was the extent of my travels. I had always been a tourist in my large home, but this was something very different. This was my first real adventure.
Why do people travel? For some it’s escapism, the chance to step away from their everyday life and relax in an interesting place. Others have a bucket list, a check list of places to say they’ve been. For others, travel is a Rolex watch or a Gucci bag. It’s bragging rights.
For me, and others, it’s something different. I am firmly convinced that I have figured out the illusive “meaning of life”. Likely you have your own opinion, but I really believe our “purpose” is the Quest. Oh, I can feel you rolling your eyes. Hear me out. To me, our life mission is the quest for knowledge, the quest for wisdom, the quest for understanding. It’s the attainment of facts, experiences, and emotions to maybe find some kind of “truth”. All wrapped up, I think humans are at their best when we are actively working to better ourselves and then, by extension, to also lift others up.
Ok, I readily admit that part of what drives me is wanderlust. My ancestors were the Vikings and I feel the blood of sailors and explorers coursing through my veins. Yet, that wanderlust is driven by the need to discover whatever I don’t know or haven’t experienced. I really do feel drawn to see what, or who, is on the other side of that hill… beyond that horizon.
(Click the arrows above to view a sample slide show of the Philippines. All pics by Shawn Berit.)
At the same time, I’m also driven to understand all my fellow brother and sister humans. Ooo, that sounds wu wu new age. Well, maybe, but it’s true. If you have a religious faith of any kind, you believe that all life was created by a creator. If your faith is in science alone then you know that Mitochondrial DNA points to every human having a common ancestor. In fact, we share large amounts of DNA with all life on Earth... except the octopus, they're weird. So quite literally, and regardless of your perspective, we are all related. We are all on this big boat we call planet Earth together. We should learn to understand each other and get along, even if we just agree to disagree. I swear I will not be breaking into “Kumbaya” or “We Are the World” at any point here.
So, there’s the base of why I’m here writing my first blog post. Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you’re fascinated by cultures, history, art, music, geography and you’re hungry to experience and learn more. If so, I invite you to join me. I’ll be writing about my experiences in travel (mostly in the USA and the Philippines to start with), but also travel tips and some art and music appreciation thrown in there for good measure.
Oh, and that lady I went to Mindanao, Philippines to see. We’re engaged! She’s sweet and gorgeous and strong, and I’m just blessed that she loves me. Awww.. I know, sappy. It’s true though. I’ll tell you more about her and me as we go also.
Shawn and his lady, Anica Jean, on Mindanao.
If you made it this far, wow, thank you so much for reading. I’ll have some ads here and there to help support my writing. Click them if you like. I have a “real” job too, but I’m working to shift to blogging so I can share more of the world with you. I’m also writing a science fiction novel I’ll tell you about some other time. Anyway… thank you for reading and please keep coming coming back!!
Let's go on some adventures together!
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