I've been traveling for quite some time now, and I never really thought about writing down my accounts. I mean, I have seen lots of things. Granted, I never left the continental United States (except to go to Canada once to snowboard), but I have been to over 30 states, and after a while, the experiences overlap each other, and it's hard to discern what's what. So, why not write it down, for you to enjoy and for me to remember?
Every year it's a new state. It became my mothers goal to reach all 50 (God only knows when she got that idea. I got dragged into this, whether I wanted to or no), and I can safely say that we're doing well as of now. I'm currently in Tennessee, in the "business center" of a Wingate Hotel, typing furiously as I try to escape from my family and myself. Kind of 'safety in writing' I suppose. (To me, my writing has drastically improved over the past few months, but that's neither here nor there with this post.) It's only day 3 of this vacation, and I'm already having a hard time remembering everything that we did. Some God-awfully early flight from LaGuardia, followed by some Southern Estates, a tour of Jack Daniels, a severe traffic jam, and some nice touristy attractions round out this handful of days. But that's not what really stands out to me. It's the quiet moments that I really remember, and it was one of those moments 2 nights ago that made me want to write this. I had just done a few laps in the pool, and laid on a chaise lounge to dry off before I went inside. There was one star out (or maybe it was a planet...) and I just kinda stared at it for a while, thinking back on everything I've seen. It really reminded me of a moment I had back in Las Vegas (which was... I don't know how many years ago) where I was swimming all by myself, and I can remember looking over at the strip and seeing the light from the Luxor Casino sending a beam into space. Thinking back on it now, it kind of depresses me. I'm not sure why, but it does. There was countless other memories going through my head, all of which I wanted to write down, all of which have now slipped from my mind.
I'm not sure of the direction I'm trying to take this post, but I just wanted to kind of nail home an idea to myself: the world is huge. No matter how much you see, there's always more out there. Whenever I'm with my family on vacation and I catch myself groaning at walking an extra half mile to go see another lookout, I say to myself in the back of my head "do it, 'cause you'll regret it if you don't." And then I usually find myself walking that extra distance, even though I know it's something I've already seen. However, whatever view I take in, I know I'll take that moment with me forever, even if I forget it over the next week or two. It's the little things that always count, and it's always the little things I try to capture. So, wherever you go, whenever you go, and with whomever go with, always go a little further, and delve a little deeper. Because it's those experiences that you'll remember the most. Trust me.
Today, I went to Rock City, Incline Railway, Point Park Battlefield and Ruby Falls, 3 of which are semi-cheesy local tourist attractions. Ruby Falls was an underground waterfall, surrounded by limestone caves, most of which are now destroyed because of tourists greedily running their hands along every surface they could touch. Every crystal clear pool was filled with pocket change and random little scraps of garbage, and just the sight of it made me sick. I've seen some amazing caves across the states (not going to get into naming them, but I've seen at least 10), and none of them came close to the disgrace I saw at Ruby. However, I took the experience with a reverence, because I knew being there was special, both to my mother and to me. It's hard to try to organize everybody to get together for two weeks and fly off to some state (minus my father. He stays home nowadays) and see whatever we can. And today, when we were all fighting, hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth, this waterfall in the middle of nowhere kind of silenced us, and we just stood there smiling at the sight of it. We walked around the back of it, and this intense wind just blew your hair back and the water from the falls created a mist around everything. I remember staring up at it, and saying to myself "damn." That was it. No other words really did it justice. And as everyone was getting ready to leave, I went back behind the falls, one more time, because I knew it would be special. When I was back there, the lights started to dim, and the group started to leave. I looked up one more time and took a picture, running to catch up and not be left behind. I took with me the one thing I always want to take when I go to other places. That one special memory, that I'll have for years to come. And it was totally worth it.
That's what everybody should do. Next time you're out, make yourself see that one extra thing, push farther, explore more. It's those things that will make you realize how big this planet is, and it's those experiences that will shape you into the person you'll be in the future. You can thank me later.
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