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mattbellI've given my friend plenty of advice about the specifics of how to get around, what to bring etc, but for her going-away ceremony I wanted to give her the gift of high level experiential and spiritual advice. Here's what I said:
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1. Be a scientist investigating your soul. Peel off your exoself -- all that stuff that's wrapped around you. Possessions, routines, people etc. Then drop your core into lots of radically different environments and see what happens. Mix with different cultures. Mix with different paces of life and structures for each day. Mix with different outlooks. Mix with different companions. Sit back. Observe the results. Share with your fellow scientists. (that's a fancy metaphor for blogging). Experiment anew. The word "experiment" is actually just a fancy word for playing so that scientists can feel like adults. But playing is how we learn. Be a kid again and play.
2. Feed your creative brain. Some random ancient monument will not necessarily be directly relevant to your life goals, but it will lay down a web of neural pathways linked to art, beauty, design, inspiration, experience, and psychology, among other things. As these pathways become denser, you'll be creating a new mind for yourself, a new way of seeing the world, that will emerge in totally unexpected ways when you come back and face the familiar.
3. Get yourself some transport. Take a long walk or get your hands on a bike, scooter, ATV, or car. Get outside of the self-reinforcing ego-serving tourist bubble from time to time and find some strangers.
4. Play sociocultural bingo. You have to cover all the combinations of rich, middle class, poor, ancient, traditional, modern, urban, rural, serious, and playful, to win.
5. Inspire other women in areas where women fill culturally restricted roles. If this is done carefully and respectfully, your independence and adventurous spirit will open their minds to a new way of living.
6. Don't log onto Facebook. Share your experiences in longer posts. Your experiences deserve it.
7. Keep your pack light. It's no fun to be a pack animal. Aside from weird esoteric things, they do sell stuff just about everywhere else in the world. You can live off the local supply chain, and then you'll weigh less.
8. Don't buy souvenirs unless they are incredibly special... otherwise you're just weighing yourself down. (Well... unless you have a friend visiting for a week, in which case you should do things like give them a chunk of the Dead Sea to take home for you.)
9. Take photos. Photos are little hooks that will, years later, let you pull out piles of associated memories you thought you'd lost. Don't get obsessed with taking the perfect photo of some person or event; chances are there's something even better you'll see in half an hour. Also, if there's a "no photography" sign, bribe the guards to take a photo of you next to it.
10. Watch your stuff and back up your data. Given all that time you spent assembling your travel kit, it wouldn't be fair for some thief to have it instead of you.
11. Eat weird food. Look for the place that's popular with the locals, and try it.
12. Be a sponge and soak in the adventures. This time of your life will always be special, and its memories will always be with you.
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1. Be a scientist investigating your soul. Peel off your exoself -- all that stuff that's wrapped around you. Possessions, routines, people etc. Then drop your core into lots of radically different environments and see what happens. Mix with different cultures. Mix with different paces of life and structures for each day. Mix with different outlooks. Mix with different companions. Sit back. Observe the results. Share with your fellow scientists. (that's a fancy metaphor for blogging). Experiment anew. The word "experiment" is actually just a fancy word for playing so that scientists can feel like adults. But playing is how we learn. Be a kid again and play.
2. Feed your creative brain. Some random ancient monument will not necessarily be directly relevant to your life goals, but it will lay down a web of neural pathways linked to art, beauty, design, inspiration, experience, and psychology, among other things. As these pathways become denser, you'll be creating a new mind for yourself, a new way of seeing the world, that will emerge in totally unexpected ways when you come back and face the familiar.
3. Get yourself some transport. Take a long walk or get your hands on a bike, scooter, ATV, or car. Get outside of the self-reinforcing ego-serving tourist bubble from time to time and find some strangers.
4. Play sociocultural bingo. You have to cover all the combinations of rich, middle class, poor, ancient, traditional, modern, urban, rural, serious, and playful, to win.
5. Inspire other women in areas where women fill culturally restricted roles. If this is done carefully and respectfully, your independence and adventurous spirit will open their minds to a new way of living.
6. Don't log onto Facebook. Share your experiences in longer posts. Your experiences deserve it.
7. Keep your pack light. It's no fun to be a pack animal. Aside from weird esoteric things, they do sell stuff just about everywhere else in the world. You can live off the local supply chain, and then you'll weigh less.
8. Don't buy souvenirs unless they are incredibly special... otherwise you're just weighing yourself down. (Well... unless you have a friend visiting for a week, in which case you should do things like give them a chunk of the Dead Sea to take home for you.)
9. Take photos. Photos are little hooks that will, years later, let you pull out piles of associated memories you thought you'd lost. Don't get obsessed with taking the perfect photo of some person or event; chances are there's something even better you'll see in half an hour. Also, if there's a "no photography" sign, bribe the guards to take a photo of you next to it.
10. Watch your stuff and back up your data. Given all that time you spent assembling your travel kit, it wouldn't be fair for some thief to have it instead of you.
11. Eat weird food. Look for the place that's popular with the locals, and try it.
12. Be a sponge and soak in the adventures. This time of your life will always be special, and its memories will always be with you.
