What the trip is and why I am doing it

I always knew that I was going to do something big after college since before I graduated high school. I wanted to do something that would set the tone for the rest of my life. I wanted to something that when I looked back years from now I could say "that is when my life started." Since my senior year of high school I have had many ideas as to what this something was going to be. The common ingredient in all of them was adventure. My first idea was to backpack either the Pacific Crest Trail, the Contintental Divide Trail, or the Appalacian trail.

However, as my experiences grew, so did my dreams. After my freshman year of college, a friend and I drove from Seattle to the Arctic Ocean and back in my little 92' Toyota Celica. This was my first real big trip without my parents and I loved it. Up to this point, I hadn't really ever traveled outside the United States. Throughout the 6000 miles we drove I did not sleep in the car once because I was so excited as to what we would see next. We spent no money for lodging and lived like nomads. We hired a bush pilot to take us out in the middle of nowhere (Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska) and lived and explored for a few days in the most beautiful and solitary setting imaginable. Waterfalls shot off cliffs, mountains surrounded us, a giant glacier was laid out before us in the distance, and there were bear tracks signifying that we were not alone. It never really got dark so we spent countless hours throwing the frisbee on our endlessly large glacier moraine. To me, it was heaven. As we crossed the Arctic Circle, I found myself in a landscape that was far more different than my wildest dreams. Wildlife abounded in all directions. Gates of the Arctic National Park was on one side of us while on the other side laid the vastness of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (on a side note: Bush's decision to drill here truly breaks my heart). It was breathtaking, exhilirating, stunning, and many other adjectives combined.

This trip took only two weeks but it ignited something in me. I started to get the feeling I wanted to do something bigger than a thru-hike after I graduated. During college I have gone on numerous backpacking trips but I did not feel the same exhilirating feeling as I did on the Alaska trip until last September when I went on a mission trip to Guatemala. What a strange place I found myself in. It was like a whole new world had opened up for me. For the first time in my life I was in a place where english was not the first language. I knew some spanish from school so it was exciting trying to communicate with people. The culture was quite different from any place I had ever been, even in Guatemala City. As my team was stuck in the hustle-bustle traffic of the city, we saw people herding cattle right down the street! As we drove to get to Cajixay, the village we came to serve, we saw more and more of the country and the poverty that people lived in. In Cajixay, I was awestruck at the poverty and the hard life they had. There was no electricity. The living conditions were very poor as large families lived in a shack with a thatched roof in an area the size of an average teenage bedroom in the U.S. It was a village seemingly cut off from society. The people had stories, horrible stories, of the war that cost loved ones to be killed and women to be raped. They lived through horrors I couldn't even imagine in my worst nightmares. Yet, there was hope that could have only come from god. They were filled with the joy of the lord. They were just as happy, if not more so, than the average U.S. citizen. The village was full of playful children who know nothing of the kind of pain their parents went through and who, god willing, will hopefully never have to. Although I came to Cajixay to help them, they helped me. I learned that living with nothing except for faith in Jesus is sufficient for happiness and for hope. I plan on going back to Cajixay in September to visit my friends and learn as much as I can from them.

My journey to Cajixay led to a stronger faith in god than I ever had before. It became clear to me what gets in the way of him. All the stuff we surround ourselves with that doesn't matter gets in the way. Trying to play things safe and controlling our world gets in the way. Too often, in this American culture, I find myself drifting away from god. Stuff gets in the way. I want to be in control of my life, my future. I play my life safe too often. I'm getting a college degree just for the sake of having a safety net that I can fall back on if I need it. I find myself shying away from people, not willing to take risks of friendship because I'm fine in my own little bubble. It's like I don't trust god to know what's best for me. I find myself constantly rededicating my life to god only to start drifting away again. I've come to the realization that playing it safe with god is not compatable. The times in life when I have been most excited, felt the most like I was truly living, are times when I am taking risks, discovering something new, or when I am completely free of the clutter that sometimes surrounds my life. I believe this is the life god calls all of us to lead. He calls us to a simple life, like that in Cajixay, and complete trust in him, wherever that may lead. I believe that god is leading me to South America.

It feels like all my previous experiences has been preparing me for this journey. I have learned of the excitement that results of venturing into the unknown, I have caught glimpses as to what god designed me for, and I have learned of the clutter that so easily distracts me. I have a good enough spanish foundation now to get by, which doesn't hurt. I finally feel I am at a place where I am mature and grown-up enough to do something like this.

So, what is the plan? That's the whole point. There is no plan. This trip is about trusting god to reveal the plan as we go along. I truly believe that having a plan would blind us from what god desires. I think we should have ideas of what we are going to do but we should be open to suggestions at all times. One idea that has been thrown out there is getting a one-way ticket to somewhere in South America and hitchhiking around South America and then back to the States. There are many areas of the continent that we want to see (Patagonia, Machu Picchu, etc.)

Where will we stay? We don't know. That is part of the excitement. We are going to bring a tent and will probably stay in many hostels and rely on hospitality a lot. We will try to leave each place better than we left it. Whenever I get the opportunity to talk about god, I hope I will be able to seize it.

When do we leave? How long will we be gone? We are going to leave in January sometime. We both graduate in December and will spend the holidays with our families before heading off to the great unknown. We have no idea how long we will be gone. Our standard response is when the money runs out. I have no idea what god's plan is so I don't know. We could be there a few weeks or we could be there a year. Who knows? My expectation is at least 6 months. To go along with my theme of not having a plan, I also have to entertain the possibility of not coming back. Although, I think my parents would come to South America and kidnap me before that happens.

Where is this money coming from? I have been blessed with wonderful, loving parents and although my dad doesn't like talking about it or admitting it, somewhat rich. They paid all my college tuition and take care of most of my rent and food. This means that a lot of the money I earn working goes directly to my savings account and does not come out. I will use this money plus however much my parents chip in for post-graduation money. I feel almost guilty being this wonderfully blessed (and somewhat embarassed).

What will we bring? Although its way to early to know specifically, I can tell you this: Not much. I plan on bringing one pack that is somewhere between a day pack and a heavy duty backpacking pack that. I want to pack as light as possible. I think that the less stuff we bring, the more we will have to depend on god. I'm for that.

In essence, I'm creating an environment in which there is very little between me and god. In this state, I will be able to search my soul, and better be able to listen to what he has to tell me. This period in my life will be a transition to the rest of my life. What does my future hold? Where will I go from here? What is my purpose? Who am I? I think that the best time in life to reflect upon these questions is as a young man, with no day-to-day responsibilites, involved in a sweeping epic with no end in sight.