THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING A WANDERER….A Guide for the Perplexed ( with apologies to Maimonides) by Jonathon Lipsin on May 31, 2014 in Rambling Around the World Some people,actually most ,ask how long are you on vacation ? I have to answer ,”A long time” but i don’t .Most will never grasp the idea of Wandering around the world.Last year i bade farewell to friends and said see you in a month or so and improbably came back after more than 6 months having gone some 30,000 miles.Most will never be able to do this.I love this Wandering ,meeting people from all walks of life,different experiences ,experiences where anything can happen at any time.I feel awake and alive never dulled by my surroundings.I am ever so aware of the shortness of time .Once you are gone you are gone and i am determined to squeeze out of life a sweetness that is immediate.I love adventures and i love motion ,passionate motion glorifying life.Right now i am watching a little boy maybe 3 kicking a ball in the town plaza in the village of San Francisco here in Spain and marvel at his determination and joy.For the moment that is all i need to know.Someone is in their joy.For the moment that is enough. Travel is not without aim or meaning for me.I always have a purpose even when it is not evident to most.I always research where i am going and study history and art and stories and tales and food.I find a book from that country ,usually fiction and read voraciously every night licking my lips at descriptions of the local culture.Right now i am reading a book that takes place in Barcelona where i will be in a few weeks.I go to local markets and taste all the regional foods.I study the language and pick up basics.This all serves to heighten the senses.Traveling always serves to summon up every sense and the effects are long and wide.I will never be able to pass up a recipe that comes from a country i have visited and a book or poetry from that country will always pique my interest. Wandering if done right also creates an imprint in your soul of the exact moment of experience ,that aha moment where you stop in your tracks and just dwell with it whatever is happening .I did that just an hour ago as i walked the three miles to the village and stopped to stare at the pattern of the clouds in the blue sky ,a pattern i imprinted in my mind being one i had never seen before and i thought about the moment when it will be my last and all that is there is the moment.These are philosophies for those of us with time on our hands but it can happen anywhere this cessation of things which allow us to watch and appreciate. The past few years i have Wandered to Israel 4 times ,the first of those times flying 10,000 miles to meet someone on the chance of a great and absolute love.That did not ultimately work out but i don’t regret that i did that.It remains one of my greatest adventures.I have flown to Switzerland and traveled to a concentration camp in Germany and swam in a lake in Austria and rode a horse last year with a Navajo shaman for 2 days and nights in Canyon de Chelly ,the oldest continuously lived in place in North America and have driven 6 times i think across America and Canada seeing many things.Now as you know I am in Spain revisiting an island i was on 40 years ago.All in all i have racked up probably 100,000 miles and i am just beginning.I have many ideas.There are many adventures still waiting .In all this time i have constantly written stories ,managing to hone my skill until i am just starting to be satisfied. When Wandering it is important to have a base, a place to come back to where your friends, as in the case of mine, take care of my imaginary invisible dog and water my plastic plants.It is the intention that counts anyways.It is important to have a place that is light and airy and you can call people up when you arrive finally and they are eager to hear your tales.I have such a place in California and that gives me a sense of comfort.I am not spinning on my own wheels then .It doesn’t hurt to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth either. Wandering is an honorable occupation and as Tolkien put it so well,”Not all who wander are lost ” This is true for me .I do not feel lost ,instead i feel alive ,invigorated ,half my actual age and mischievous ,damn mischievous.I have seen too many of my contemporaries give up on adventures saying that is for younger people but i liken this to giving up on life.That is something i cannot do.I don’t care if i don’t fit into anyone’s idea of an acceptable dancing partner or dining companion or if i fit into anyones concept of what i should be.I am dangerous to them and i know that may be because they would like to do what i do and they feel they can’t and this gives way to thoughts best put aside.I know i don’t fit into most social groups and i prefer to be on my own and hold court with the ones who are brave enough to venture out their door and challenge what they prefer to believe as absolute truth and begin to see that there are many truths out there around the corner,down the road,across the lane ,through the meadow,past the bridge ,up the mountain towards the sun until you are perfectly and wondrously home again. When all is said and done Wandering is an unsettling ,a shaking up of the old order ,a disturbance but listen to me carefully and harken to my words.It is also ,if done carefully, a settling of scores in the soul,a coming together of passion and life,an odyssey ,an adventure ,a way of looking at things that are unique and edifying. One day when i will not be able to travel anymore i will have a twinkle in my eyes ,of that i promise you.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 15:00:29 +0000
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