Orlando & theme parks
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2010
1
78
135
Trip End
Feb 27, 2011
Where I stayed
Orlando, Florida
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
I have been conscious of this issue all along ... although most times I still fail in my goal of becoming egoless through this journey.
A great way to forget yourself though is to spend a few days at SeaWorld and Universal here in Orlando .. the rides and things to see and do transport you from being an adult to a child in short order ... and hence make you lose your sense of self.
The new Harry Potter ride was awesome, then best I have ever done.
It is kind of a 4D experience, you see a perfect 3D simulation, whilst you are moving on a rollercoaster sort of thing ... so it feels like you are flying on a broomstick ... like the movie ...
WOW what a thrill ... it is the closest I have come on a ride to the real experience of hang-gliding, as I used to do back in university days.
Diets, Nicky, Wesley and me had an awesome 2 days at the 2 parks, just taking it all in ... what a thrill.
Too much "I"
I have also just heard about the new movie Eat Pray Love that is coming out tomorrow ... about a woman's journey to Italy, India and Bali ... to re-discover herself through that process.
I have not seen the movie yet ... but I plan to as soon as possible ... but one of the reviews made some interesting comments about the book being self-absorbed / self-congratulatory ... I hate that!
I have already met a few people like that on my travels ... people that think they are so super-cool just because they are some kind of self-exploration journey or travel ... that somehow they are something special ... well you are not! ... as I am not!
There is too much self-indulgence in the world ... too many people think the "I" is the most important thing ... that "I" am awesome.
At some level this is absolutely true ... we are all awesome ... yes we must love ourselves ... be kind to ourselves ... etc ... to become a good person, to become someone who can be loved and can love.
But it is more important to get over "I" ... this is my next focus ... and has also led me to much more thinking about where to from here.
I am not sure that I still need to continue to travel in order to continue with my internal journey.
I am now at the point that I understand who I am and what makes me tick ... I am self-aware enough to be able to watch myself as if from afar ... to clearly see my bullshit for what it is ... and to try to deal with it.
So what now stops me from going back to New Zealand and re-establishing a life, re-connecting with my kids and good friends, and re-starting a work career, but something with greater meaning and purpose?
Well nothing really now ... my only reason to continue to travel now ... because I don't need the unique days any more ... is simply to see a whole bunch of more places and to meet a whole bunch of more people to get different views.
The great thing about this is the "I" is getting out of the equation ... the constant navel gazing, angst and questioning is going ... I can just enjoy being alive and being a happy healthy human being ... what a freedom.
I know that I will definitely continue my travels through to the end of this year at least, and probably through to about June 2011 ...
... but I will be back in NZ early January 2011 for a few weeks to catch up with my kids ... and then I will see where / what I want to do next.
I guess the point I am getting to is how much more traveling should I do alone ... I have acheived what I wanted to through that process ...
I really would like to travel with a partner now ... to share and enjoy the journey.
How can I achieve that though whilst I am on the move ... how will I find a partner whilst in this travel mode?
I probably cannot ... so I will have to re-settle ... re-establish ... connect ... develop ... and then, for a break, spend some time traveling with my partner in the future ... for completely different reasons ... i.e. purely for the joy of travel.
Comments
You in a good place Craig....good for you my friend