Have You No Backbone

The aptly named title for this post comes from the name of Maryland's highest location, which actually straddles Maryland and West Virginia. At 3000, 662 ft, it manages to pass the next highest stand-alone Peak in Maryland by about 70 feet. In all honesty, a lot of State high-points I've looked at or much like that, being very close to the next smallest integer but not quite there. By the way around, when I took an adventure to West Virginia, the next part of the trip to get home was to stop here. This little hill in the middle of an intense solar farm; who would have ever guessed?

This time, when we departed from our car, we realized that the tables had turned since West Virginia. Instead of driving up the mountain, we actually had to make and model on track to get to the top of the high point, it was a straight away shot, but about 90% switchbacks the whole time.

But yet, we made it.

After walking through the forest to get to this state High Point, we came to a rather noteworthy finding: no High Point bench, but instead, a sign and a guest book inside a mailbox. On top of the mailbox post was a small stone tower that somebody it started, so I added they headed to the silhouette there was building. I've been for the sign the guestbook to say that I made it to the highest point of Maryland, and also saying it was my third High Point at the time. Surprisingly enough though, there was a fair amount of individuals that let this be there 19th or 20th High Point.

With some fairly okay-ish views, compared to the others.

At this point in the game, I was still novice when I came to constructing plans for tackling problems and getting Solutions. But so, I did have to learn it quick. After planning this trip with my friend Travis, I then went and planned a couple of trips on my own, and used what I've learned to improve my planning abilities for the future. This concluded my overnight trip through West Virginia and Maryland, and I really learned a lot about humility in the way people live their lives. This is specially came when we drove 7 miles through private property because there was no maintenance Road that we could have otherwise taken to get from one state Highpoint to the other. We saw broken down Shacks that people had been presumably living in for a long time. And, for the first time being outside of Maryland and Pennsylvania, we saw wine being sold in a gas station, just before our home States finally changed their liquor laws. And, we also learned that we needed to hike on treadmills a whole lot more before we were to tackle bigger high points such as Ranier, Katahdin, Marcy, and eventually, Denali.

Why I (Might) Have Wanderlust

Wanderlust is marked by an intense curiosity for the world around you. While some may see it as a setback to being an average human being, others to see it as a blessing. I am amongst those who consider it to be a blessing. In this post, I'm going to try and nail down why I, as well as some of you, maybe having these feelings.

1) Genetics.

The DRD4-7R gene that is present in some of us is associated with curiosity and restlessness, so there could very well be a genetic component to my curiosity about the world around me. I've always known myself to be a curious individual as well, so nothing has changed in that regard. If anything, the desires to explore and understand this world have grown stronger.

2) Boredom.

Chances are, like me, you also came from a small town. In that small town, there was probably very little to do besides hang out with the same three people and play video games. It probably got tiring after a while, seeing the same sites over and over again, seeing the same people and places over and over again, sleeping in the same bed and relaxing on the same couch day in and day out. You realize that there's much more to this world, and so you want to go out and see it. The nine-to-five Daily Grind is a very unappealing subject to you, and you want to go out and see if there's other ways to make ends meet.

3) Humans are nomadic creatures.

Assessing the human race from a historical and anthropological perspective, our genus started out largely as nomadic people, moving to where the shelter and food were. Overtime, it's also turned into leisure, and seeing new sights. It is in our nature to yearn for more, as we are social creatures by Nature, and Travelers by nurture.

4) An end to Samsara.

This is a Sanskrit term used to denote a worldly wandering caused by suffering and the weariness of life's issues that are ultimately unimportant, such as greed and violence. The more I travel, the freer I feel, and the closer to myself I become. by looking at another's suffering, it makes me rationalize my own, take a step back, and assess the world around me from a different lens.

5) Life is short, and nothing is permanent.

people attempt to give their life permanence and directive by purchasing material goods and possessions, focusing more on what they have accrued rather than the places they have seen and things they have done. I fall more into the latter category, as I spend my money on places to go and things to see and things to experience, much more so than a new car or a new jacket or a new video game console. Those will be here for when I return home one day, or for when I find new home. But one thing is for sure, since we don't keep anything of ours after we expire, I much rather spend the money on a memory than an item.

6) Escapism is essential to survival.

when we leave home for a trip, we acknowledge the fact that we are leaving home and we are leaving our comfort zone. Yeah, we are taking our baggage, or complications, our problems, with us. Everybody has suffering, and escaping one location and embracing another is one way to reassess the suffering from a different perspective. We travel because we hope our external environment and change our internal environment. we are always looking for a reason to get up and go.

And so, these are just a few detailed reasons as to why I refuse to sit still for too long. This is why I whenever somebody I know from Facebook talks to me and says boy have you been traveling a lot, I can't help but grin and say yes, but not enough. I am proud of my travels, as they set me apart from the status quo. But I am not proud of myself, because there's so much more that I can be doing to travel, and I'm just waiting for those days to happen upon me.

I tell myself I want to settle by the time I'm 30 and start a family, but at the same time, who knows? Maybe that will just be another decade of my life and which I will be pulled in another direction to see more and do more things. Truly, time will tell.

The Lake Laid Blue...

In Germany, in the black forest,  there is a Scenic Lake where are all of the locals go to hang out. It is called Lake Titisee. Beside this lake, which is actually a small amusement park and Museum, there was an old dugout-style cart coaster that took us down the Mountainside. It was here that we also got to try the Black Forest Cherry Cake for the first time, one of the local favorite desserts. This chocolate torte is made with cherries, Cherry schnapps, and lots of love. My buddy Adrian ordered a slice in German, and I followed suit in English. Between this and the food stalls in the Open Air Market, it was easily some of the best food I've ever had.

Photo Credits go to Black Forest Travel.

After going down the roller coaster a couple times, brakes completely off and all, we went to another Open Air Museum. It was here that they found out that Germans grow pot in the countryside, as they had a small exhibit to show this. They also grew hibiscus, salvia, barley, corn, and a few other crops that I can't remember the names of at this moment in time. Naturally, one of my stoner friends picked off a couple of leaves from the pot plant and started munching on them. Although they would come to have no effect, it was very gutsy.

In this open air and open our Museum, we saw exhibits of blacksmith forges, traditional German houses and lifestyle, and most importantly, a teacup. This was no ordinary teacup, is it was big enough to fit 4 people into it, and sitting on the ground stationary. In the center was a wheel, which you and your friends could use to make the teacup spin around and around. We ended up getting the cup going at least 60 miles per hour, and all of us lead our heads out and it times to make it go faster. This just resulted in us screaming our lungs off and getting dizzy, and our captain almost throwing up everywhere. Regardless, it was hilarious.

Aerial view of the museum. (Credits go to Their Website.

Before getting ready to leave the countryside of Germany, we spent a little bit of time sightseeing in a small town, interacting with the locals and whatever broken languages we could speak, and enjoyed an all you can eat schnitzel noodle Buffet. This was also where our bus driver parallel parked a bus between a tight squeeze of two cars, perfectly, and in one attempt. This is where I finally got to speak with him and tell him how incredible he was. All he said was this; "you guys perform the good music for me, I'll take you wherever you need to go". Oh Jan, you're the true MVP!

Our time in Germany finally came to an end, and we laid our eyes to rest on the nunnery for the last time. We're going to be getting up early tomorrow for a long stretch of traveling - Six hours of it.