Relection Time

I am killing a little bit of time before going on an overnight bus. I have got a lot of travel updates and stories to tell but will hold off for a little while on those as it might take a little longer to tell and I don´t have the ability to load pictures at the moment. It has been a really busy few weeks and a lot has happened. Today was a rainy day on the coast of Ecuador and while wasting away at the beach and at a restaurant to stay dry I got a bit reflective on the life I have chosen. It has been little over a year ago I quit my job and a pretty promising to see the world. I have no regrets at all. As I continue to travel and meet new people and hear each of their stories it reafirms my decisions to leave. There is so much to learn and and every day I feel like I am growing as a person. It may not be a huge change from day to day but I really believe each day I have had experiences that have shaped a part of me, that I am becoming more knowledgeable in areas of traveling, friendship, other cultures, and learning about other travelers and what motivates them and through that have learned a lot about what peoples passions are. I really enjoy meeting new people every day or every few days and haering a new story, a new perspective, and a new reason why they happen to be there at that moment. I am fortunate to be in a place where I can continue to travel and continue to take this path of enlightenment I am currently on.
At some point though the traveling will be at an end. The money will run out or I may just be tired and look to settle back down. For a little while I was thinking I never wanted to return to a real life. To me a real life meant going back to a 9 to 5 job or worse and living the same day and the same week over and over again. I have done only a little bit of thinking about what I will do at the end of my travels. At times I have thought of going into teaching, or applying for a job as a tour guide somewhere in the states, or even going to Antarctica for the next decade. I am not sure I ever have to really return to the 9 to 5 job but I will have to have a real goal and a destination in mind. Some of the people I have met recently on the trip have been extermely impressive people. They work as volunteers and travel and while not completely decided on the next steps in life they definitely have a strong and solid direction. I am still undecided on what the next phase of life will be for me. Traveling for the next two or three years and living in Antarctica just won´t be enough. I realize that I do want to have a home base for most of the year, will want the right woman to spend my time with, do want to have a family, will spend as much time with my friends as possible even if I have to sacrifice my own personal time (which is something that has been hard for me to do in the past), want to do something where I can work with others and make some type of difference on this world. As I continue to travel I feel I´ll be more and more thinking about a true goal and true purpose. Much more than I have this past year. I am excited about the possibilities out there. So much so that I am looking forward to every moment and every experience in the days, months, and years to come.