Travel Unwrapped: So long Shanghai

I dedicate this post to my aunt and uncle, Vicki and Jim. Without their support and encouragement, Asia could have remained a mysterious and distant world. Now and for the rest of my life Asia is a land rich with the memory of experience. Good and bad, monumental and trivial, shared and solitary, these experiences have shaped me and have changed me.

This little planet harbors great wonders. Like unexpected, well-wrapped gifts, these mysteries are everywhere, waiting to be unraveled. I share the sentiment of many great travelers I have met over the past seven months. Traveling, we agree, often increases one's awareness or openness to the little magic in life. For example, as I sat in a Kunming hostel reading the book "China Wakes," the comment "Hey, that's a great book," led to dinner with two travelers from America. Four days later, I was in the company of five great people (the first two included) standing in quiet awe as the morning sun painted gold across the face of 6000 meter (nearly 20,000 feet) Himalayan peaks. This "choose your own adventure" lifestyle is the most rewarding way to live. The doors to discovery are open, but only if one's mind is open as well.

While exotic surroundings awaken the senses, travel also offers a fresh perspective on home. The journey doesn't end at home, it comes full circle and enters a new phase. I am excited to get home, to view Oregon with the same eyes that have watched glacial avalanches from across a Himalayan valley, that have stared up at the dizzying heights of the Shanghai World Financial Center (holding distinction as one of the world's tallest structures at 1,600 feet), that have seen abject poverty, joyful children, unbridled urban growth, giant beetles with comic antennae, and unspoiled natural beauty. I am eager to hear the sounds of Oregon with ears that have listened to stories of generations from across the globe, deafening cicadas, hair raising traffic chaos, music made by the blind, and raging thunderstorms. America is no less amazing and I am eager to turn my senses back to its wonders...and it's troubles. It can be challenging, I know, to maintain the travel mentality when settling into a place called home. I have been in Shanghai now for six days, living with an Oregonian friend who is very much settled into a local life. Stagnation happens in even the most dynamic settings. To avert one's eyes from the unknown is to become dormant, sedantary. The horizon holds many new wonders and I intend to keep discovering them.

Tonight I fly to Osaka, Japan. Being the budget traveler, I was going to spend 44 hours on a boat. Thankfully, my friend and host told me I was crazy and there are (relatively) dirt cheap flights across the East China Sea. So I'm saving $60 and 42 hours AND I get to ride the Maglev Train to the super modern airport. That train reaches 268 mph under normal operation! All for seven bucks. Wild.

I realize I've let slack the line of this blog. I still have a number of things to say about Vietnam and certainly need to provide a more detailed rundown of my experiences in China. Returning home, I'll have a project of rounding out this blog as I post albums of my favorite photos.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who has been in support of this trip. Mom and Dad, thanks for the encouraging talks on the phone and e-mails from the home front. Grandma, I hope you've enjoyed reading. Anyone else who brushes past this blog, thanks for reading. I'm happy to expand on stories and looking forward to the company of family and good friends.

Until next time,

Tom