Taking you with me...

We´re currently in Berlin. Norway was fantastic, but pricey. Scandinavia was all around a really great place to visit, and experience, although Alex and I are both glad we´re not experiencing their winter climate: cold and dark, and more dark and more cold. For these two Texans, that just doesn´t sound like an adventure we´re ready to tackle.

The other day we woke up on a train, and spent the rest of the day on 4 other trains, including one surprise ferry. That was interesting. We´re on a train to Hamburg, assuming we can relax and mentally shutdown until 20:00, since we´re scheduled to arrive around 20:16. Except, around 17:40, we notice strange surroundings...

Alex: "Stephanie, I think we have to get off the train.."

Stephanie: "What? No, this isn´t our stop, and it´s too early." (I put my headphones back on, then remove them again.) "Wait, why do you say that?"

Alex: "Because we´re on a ferry."

Stephanie: "Excuse me?!"

We grab our stuff because the conductor is pushing us out the door while mumbling something in German, and sure enough, Ladies and gentlemen, please step off the train for 45 minutes, it´s mandatory ferry time, and this one´s for free!

(You see, folks, the rail pass only covers, well, the rails.) For the ferries we´ve had a discount, but still had to pay a bit of a fee.

Which is why Alex was thrilled to announce...

"Stephanie, we just rail-passed a ferry."

Nice.


Rule #4 when traveling: Pay very close attention when traveling on buses/trains/the metro/trams, etc, especially when the major language used is not one you speak. Even if the ticket/information you´ve received says your stop is the last stop, that´s not guaranteed. Even though you think something should be in a certain place, that doesn´t mean it´s there. And you may just find your train ride involves a ferry, the bus doesn´t actually go to your stop the bus driver assured you it went to, the bus driver may not understand your attempt to communicate the stop and therefore tell you it doesn´t exist, among a number of other travel scenario possibilities. Pay attention, and nap at your own risk. ;) The public transportation will take you wherever it´s going, not necessarily where you need to be, or where you think it should go. 

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien

Let´s reflect for a second. It´s Day 44. We´ve covered (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark), 13 countries. WOW. A little over a month left of the backpacking portion of this trip, and in that time we´ll tackle 6 more new countries, plus some other cities in a few more countries we missed the first time around. But more important than the countries we´ve visited and will visit are the experiences we´ve had, especially the people we´ve met.

We are meeting so many incredible people as we travel, literally, we´re averaging about 3 new friends a day. It´s completely exhilerating, even for an introvert like myself. I love to hear their stories, learn what they´re passionate about, and try to listen to and get a brief understanding into how they see the world.

But the bittersweet truth about the way we´re currently doing life is that we are forced to leave every single one of these people behind. Especially some we discover that instant and solid bond with, it´s not easy to say goodbye to them a day or two later, having no guarantee our paths will ever cross again in the future, other than what modern day technology makes possible via email/Facebook.

When you really think about it, there aren´t a whole lot of people we get to take with us in life, physically. We move, they move, careers change, paths diverge, and people part ways from being in each other´s daily lives. After all, this is why things like Facebook were invented, right? So that we might more easily bridge the gap that our divergent paths create between us and those we´ve come to know and love.

Why is life like that? Why are there so few people we really ever get to take with us? If you venture out from where you grew up, you leave people behind, and you meet new people. If you head off to a new place whether for school or job or another reason, you leave that place behind and its people as well, and their paths often call them to different places as well. These are the facts of life.

Maybe that´s why dreams are so appealing, but rarely acted upon: we can mentally explore great places and situations, but to act on them usually requires we leave loved ones behind, (not to mention a life of comfort and predictability, therefore security), sacrificing the blessing and privilege of getting to share in the little but meaningful day-to-day moments.

It requires tremendous amounts of courage to leave such comforts and preditability/security behind. It takes faith in something: that what you´re leaving for is worth leaving for. It requires a dedicated focus on one thing, one aim, one prioritized gain, in order to be able to sacrifice a countless number of other things that could easily keep one from moving/exploring at all. If you´re like me, you hope that when you leave people behind, that it´s not forever.

But courage is only possible where fear was first present, and to let fear have its way means we are sacrificing the possibiliy of dreams moving from 2D to 3D, and those dreams becoming our sweet and blessed existence. I´ve always been of the mindset that dreams are worth chasing, and the most worthwhile people are ok to leave behind sometimes, because the sweetest relationships stick with you, and the important ones leave an everlasting mark upon you. (Most of my closest and dearest friends I´ve been in long distance friendships with at least once in my life, often more than once, and often for decades. But these people continue to make a beautiful and lasting impact upon my life, and the Lord continues to work through and bless such precious relationships. And they don´t get replaced either.)

Bear this in mind, unless we chase after those dreams and go out into the world, on the paths we feel called/directed, we will never be able to make the change in the world that could potentially be made. Leaving and going and moving and meeting new people allows us to make new friends, brothers, sisters, and perhaps do more good in this world than we could have done had we let fear have its way and we stayed put. The ones with whom I have continued to share in fellowship and community across the distance continue to inspire me, and give me strength and wisdom with which to use in the places and contexts I currently reside. They continue to impact my life, despite not being in it on a daily basis.

Every person I meet changes me a little bit. Getting to know something about someone can inspire me in some way, make me reconsider things, challenge me, capitvate me, provide me with some much needed company in a time of need, teach me something about the world and the way they see it, or simply bring some much needed laughter or simply joy in a moment. I´ve picked up new entertaining slang, been challenged to grow and be more open, and been reminded of the type of person I want to be. I´ve been given hope by meeting someone that reminded me there are still incredible people in a world that can often look dark and discouraging, I´ve been taught it is better and good for the soul and the heart to live a generous life, always seeking out the sunshine in people and situations instead of getting caught up in the darkness. I´ve been introduced to new music, learned new skills, jokes, and had the pleasure of finding commonalities in people that were formally strangers, and the beauty in the differences with people from all walks of life. Needless to say, who I am does not go uninfluenced by the people I meet. Everyone has a story to tell, and we´re all looking to be loved. I believe the latter points us back to God and the unconditional (agape) love there, and I believe taking time to listen to the story can only soften the heart and make us into better human beings.

Because what would be the purpose of a journey like this if we didn´t come out the other end changed, hopefully for the better? It would be as if nothing happened, and the time didn´t pass. Hopefully even if we return to the places from whence we came, we do not return exactly to the people we were before we left. Experiences like this, each day, are meant to bring us into better versions of ourselves.

And so despite having to leave most of the people I know behind and rely on the blessing of email and Facebook and the occasional postcard to bridge the gap, I smile at the end of the day knowing I take each of you with me, you people that I love and who have made an impact upon my life.

"And if all else fails, 
you can look up at the sky, 
because it´s the same one 
that shines above you and I..."  
-Matchbook Romance

You know the impact we´ve had on one another connects us, in one way or another. You´ve left a mark on my soul and I on yours, hearts as well. Who we are is/can be shaped by those around us, and therefore we carry a piece of people with as as we continue on our journeys which often take divergent paths.

Life goes on, and may we realize, as we are forced to part ways, that it was the Lord that connected us in the first place, and He connects us still, through the bonds that have developed in our hearts.


"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." -Colossians 1:17

"Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” –Alan Keightlez