48 - Checking In

Drew shares about recent adventures on multiple continents.

Visit www.andrewjassini.com to learn more about Drew.

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Hello and welcome to Soulful. Alright, and we're back. Hello again. Welcome back, or welcome to Soulful. My name is Drew, and it has been a little bit since I have been here sharing with y'all. And so apologies for my delayed absence and not providing a closing act for what has been, I guess, the unofficial second season of Soulful. But we're here now. We're doing it now. After a long wait, but you know, it is what it is. What are we gonna do? Yeah, I really wanted to record like a closing or final episode when I was in Mexico four shit, five months ago. Um, yeah, that was the vision. And then also I've almost been able to record this episode or a version of this episode, like three or four times as I was traveling through Europe and the Mediterranean and Africa over the last few months. But for whatever reason, it has not come to pass until now. So, again, my apologies for the delay, but we're here now, which is nice. And in this episode, which is part one of a two-part summer blast that will bring you some closure and also set up a little bit of a hiatus, and more on that in a moment. Yeah, in this episode, I'm gonna share about my recent adventures and travels, and then in the next episode, I'll share a little bit about the hiatus, the how and the why, and whatever else feels good there. So, yeah, long overdue, finally back, in for two. We're gonna do a little doubleheader and then uh yeah, and then go on a break. So that's the game plan, that's where we're at. This is also, yeah, totally unscripted. So I will have to sit with my perfectionist tendencies throughout this episode as I, you know, yeah, do whatever I do when I'm unpolished and unrehearsed. So yeah. And and I mean, yeah, well, I can get into that in the next episode. Because like my perfectionist tendency and some other things is also why the podcast, yeah, man, it's become like almost more of a chore than uh than like an opportunity to express. And so that's why I'm gonna let it go for a little bit, see what happens a little further down the road. But more on that in the next episode. For this one, though, we're gonna keep the focus on the adventures, yeah, and catch y'all up on the last few months. Because currently I am back in New Jersey doing some summer family time hanging out, which is always super cool. Yeah, to be home and enjoying the company of my wonderful family that I can mostly usually tolerate. Yeah, and I feel the same way, you know. I mean, I think that's just family in general, right? I was talking with my niece and nephews, and I introduced the idea that, you know, we always love each other, but we don't always like each other. You know, you can have both. The love is never challenged, but the liking comes and goes. And so, yeah, that's part of the reason why I love being home too, is especially now as my niece and nephews are getting older, they're like their own little people, you know, so it's cool to interact and ask them questions and hear how they put together the world. And yeah, my youngest nephew, who's nine, yeah, he just turned nine. He's all about fishing right now. And so they were talking about being out on a boat and and chumming. And I asked him, I'm like, what's chummin'? I'm like, what you know, what is that? And so, and he answers are so cool. He's like, Oh, you know, it's like if you have a party and you put out snacks so that people will, you know, will come. And I mean, it's a pretty good answer, you know, like chumin's throwing stuff in the water to attract the fish. Um, yeah, but it was so cool to watch his little brain like come up with this metaphor or simile or analogy. One of them things. I don't know. But yeah, it was really neat. So yeah, excited to be back, and it's been cool. Yeah, like the last month or so that I've been home getting to hang out with them again, and also, you know, spending time with my parents who are not getting any younger. So, yeah. Anywho, so back in Jersey, eating lots of pork roll, egg and cheese, and drinking soda, doing New Jersey things, cussing too much. And uh, yeah, and I'm actually getting ready for another adventure that me and my dad will be going on in a couple days here. And so, yeah, I'll bump that to the end. We'll do that. Alright, cool. So we'll do recent adventures first, and then I'll share a little bit with you about the upcoming adventure, which I'm super excited about. And uh yeah, and that feels like that'll be enough of a nugget here for one episode. And yeah. This is what happens when I don't sit down and script the episode. Apparently, I just make it up on the fly with you listening. All right, so let's do Yeah, let's hit the buttons, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, and go back in time and catch you up from yeah, the last time I did an episode was the end of March in Cancun. Or not Cancun, in Playa del Carmen, right, in Mexico. And so, yeah, I wanted to do the like season-ending episode before the adventure, but it just didn't happen. I think I was too excited, and so I couldn't really settle my energy to then be able to share like this, but uh, yeah, I was in Playa del Cuarmen for my birthday, and then about a week later, I flew from Cancun to Madrid, Spain, and that started a two, three-month tour of the European, Mediterranean, and then down into Africa too, which is super cool, and then back to the Mediterranean. Um yeah, and I knew this was gonna be like the Europe-Africa adventure, so I could check those off my list, and so now the only continent left is Antarctica, which I am looking at maybe for this coming winter. We'll see how things go. But yeah, Europe and Africa were the the things to check off the list, and so I flew into Madrid, I guess, yeah, like mid-April, and did a week in Madrid, or actually, I think it was a little less than Madrid. I mean a little less than a week, um, and then a week, a little more than a week in Barcelona or near Barcelona, and uh yeah. My first experience in Europe, first experience in Spain, super cool. Food was delicious, people were pretty awesome. Um, they eat super late, which was weird. Yeah, there were a couple days where I was ready for dinner and the restaurants were not open yet. Um, so yeah, that had me change up my schedule a little bit, but yeah, Madrid was cool, but I was only there for a couple days, so I don't feel like I can give it an honest review. Um, Barcelona, I like I took the train from Madrid to Barcelona, so I was in Barcelona for like a day, and then the place I was staying was about an hour north of Barcelona. Yeah, near this super cool monastery up on a mountain called Montserrat. And so I was staying just below that Monestral de Montserrat, I think was the name. It was this little village, super cool, like old school, super thin roads, which are really just like sidewalks, but fit a car. Um yeah, so just like old world small village, like hill village in Spain, about an hour north of Barcelona. And then I took a couple trips up to the monastery there, which is just yeah, super cool, super magical. I mean, like the basilica and the church itself is yeah, just so beautiful. But it's literally perched on top of a friggin' mountain. So, you know, like the ride up is is majestic and yeah, just a super magical place. And it's currently JC vibes or Christian vibes, but the history of the spot is like it's been sacred for multiple traditions. Um, so even before the JC crew, you know, made it a monastery like that, um, you know, it was revered, you know, the mountains were were considered holy and sacred. So yeah, super cool. Oh yeah, and then also when I was coming in and out of Barcelona, I went and checked checked out the uh what the hell is it called? Basilica Sagrada Familia. Yeah, it's something like that. But it's essentially this huge, huge church that they've been building for I think it's like 200 years, and they're still not done. Um, yeah, but it's like epic. And uh there's lots of pictures online stuff, but yeah, to see it in person was pretty cool. And yeah, and I think that's yeah, those are the highlights of Spain, and again, only two weeks, so I don't feel like I gave it a fair shake. And that would be the one thing about this trip is I feel like I moved too fast. So generally I like to travel slow. So spending maybe a month, six weeks, if I really like a place, you know, up to like three months. That's my preferred travel speed. But on this trip, yeah, I was moving a little faster than I wanted to. So that's the only kind of when I reflect back on it, I'm like, man, instead of like two, two and a half months, I wish it was like a five-month trip. You know, I wish I had taken my time more. But uh, but yeah, but I was also like working against the weather in a certain way, right? Because I got there mid-April, I did two weeks in Spain, and then I went from Barcelona to Cairo to Egypt to go see the pyramids. And the reason I was kind of in a rush is because I didn't want to do the pyramids when it was like a million degrees out, right? In like May, June, July, right? Like later in the summer. So, yeah. So I kind of jumped out of the Mediterranean or jumped in and then jumped out and made my way to Egypt to see the pyramids pretty quick because I wanted to do that while it was, yeah, like a weather that was somewhat enjoyable. And it turned out, yeah, it was beautiful. Like my day on the plateau in Giza was I actually had to wear like an extra undershirt because it was a little chilly, which was totally fine by me because yeah, I've heard horror stories about how hot it gets up there, and yeah. So two weeks in Spain and then to Cairo and specifically to Giza to see the pyramids, which yeah, I mean they're they're epic in scale. Again, something really huge and big. Energetically, though, they weren't how do I say this? It wasn't like my favorite, like sacred spot. Yeah, we'll say it like that. Um, yeah, I mean, for me, I feel like energetically I am much more attracted to and aligned with the pyramids in Mexico, right? Chichinitza, Teotihuan. Um, these pyramids were super cool, right? And it was really amazing to be there and to like see them, you know, with my own eyeballs and to see the Sphinx, which was you know really cool. But I remember standing next to one of the pyramids and looking at it, and I just got like a I don't know if it was a soul memory or a download or whatever, but the vibe was it it didn't feel good because it was very clear that a lot of forced labor was involved. Right? Like I could feel from the pyramids that there were a lot of people who helped build that that didn't really want to be building that, you know, and uh, you know, and that lines up with history too, as far as you know, the the slave labor that was used to build the pyramids, potentially, allegedly, you know, or you know, maybe it was aliens or maybe it was like alien slaves, I don't know, whatever. I mean, there's definitely some mystical magical energy there. Um, but uh yeah, it just felt like the people who made those monuments, those like giant tombs or you know, whatever they are, giant tuning forks or whatever, um didn't want to be doing that. And so the energy was different. Whereas like like Chichen Itsa, you know, yeah, maybe they're sacrificing people and stuff, and you know, and that's not like great, but the whole civilization was kind of on board with it, so I feel like yeah, it was built in alignment with the culture and the people, whereas this pyramid in Egypt, yeah, it was clearly built by folks that didn't want to be building it, or that was the the hit I got or the download I got. So, anywho, yeah, pyramids in Giza were amazing, um, yeah, to be present with. I didn't love Cairo as a city, though. It was very chaotic, very busy. Um, you know, it reminded me of like Delhi or or New York. And so I was gonna stay like a month, or I was playing with staying a month, but then I decided to call it after a week. Yeah, because it just didn't, I don't know. It wasn't my jam, you know. So to each their own. I mean, no judgment on the Egyptian people, they were really cool. There were some really cool interactions I had. A couple dudes said they thought I was Egyptian. One guy started talking to me in Egyptian and then realized that I wasn't. Um, and he's like, Oh, your beard. You look Egyptian with your beard. So I took that as a compliment. But uh, yeah, again, you know, the people are beautiful. Food was pretty good. I had some uh oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. The place I was staying at, which was amazing, because the uh like the view outside the balcony was the the plateau, right? It was the pyramids. So, you know, I woke up and went to sleep to that every night, which was really cool. And then the the guy who was running that apartment, um, yeah, he would just drop me off like desserts and treats and stuff. So I got to eat like three or four different Egyptian desserts or sweets or whatever they were, but they were really good. I've I have no idea what they were called, but each one each one of them was like really good. One of them had some like pumpkin stuff to it, another one was more just like plain vanilla cinnamon kind of flavor, but yeah, yeah. So that's how I remember. It was the pyramids and the sweets that was Egypt. And then yeah, and then once I knew I wanted to leave Egypt early, the next spot on the agenda was to head down to Ethiopia, and so then I went and hung out. What did I do? I originally booked for two weeks and then I extended another week because I really dug uh Ethiopia. Yeah, and I was staying in the capital, Addis Ababa, and uh yeah, and again, really beautiful people, some really beautiful women, like yeah. I don't know, we ain't got that kind of beautiful Ethiopian uh women beauty in the in New Jersey too often. Yeah. And the yeah, and the vibes were great, people were super friendly. I actually was in the one coffee shop almost every morning. I like turned the one back table into my office, and so the folks that were working there were really nice. And uh yeah, and surprisingly, maybe for some folks, a little bit for me, definitely, Addisababa is like super modern, or it's moving in that direction and is also already super modern. So, yeah, I mean huge skyscrapers that are all like brand new construction and you know, and I mean also some older stuff, and but yeah, like my mom when I was talking to her about it, you know, she has her own conceptions or preconceptions, um, as like a white person who's never really left the states or has never gone to continents where you know it's not white people in charge. Um yeah, she had certain ideas about Ethiopia, and it was like, no, man, like it's you know super, super modern where I was staying. But again, I was staying in the capital near the airport, which is a business area. There were a couple dudes that tried to get me to go out into the country for adventures, but one of them was a little shady, and then the other offer came like two days before I was gonna leave, so I took a pass. But yeah, I mean lots of beautiful country there, but I didn't go hang out in the greens or the nature too much. Um yeah, I saved my nature for the next stop. All right, so three weeks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oh man, I'm trying to remember some of the stuff I learned. I learned some of the language, but yeah, it's not available currently. Anywho, so yeah, so Ethiopia, and then from there I went to Cape Town, South Africa, which again, really cool, super cool. Was I there a month? I was there another three weeks, yeah. And again, like, yeah, sitting here reflecting on the whole experience, like I should have stayed places longer, but it is what it is. I mean, being on the road and traveling like that, you know, takes a certain toll. So yeah. Anywho, so from Ethiopia to South Africa, to Cape Town specifically, for three weeks. Now it was super cool. I stayed in a place up on the hill that looked out over the whole city and uh and had a really cool view of Table Mountain and the Lions had, which are like sacred mountain kind of kind of stuff there. And Table Mountain is you know a big tourist spot now, too. I think it's a like a UNESCO or some organization fancy wonder of the world kind of thing. And I got a chance to go up the the tram to the top and hang out on Table Mountain the one day. Yeah, just really cool. And South Africa was a trip, man. Like, yeah, I I went downtown to uh to Cloof Street a lot. Like that's where the grocery store I would go to was. And also there were some meetings, some 12-step meetings right around the corner. So that was like my yeah, that was my spot when I went downtown. And and the one day I walked, yeah, like maybe a half hour down Cloof Street. And like you can feel in Cape Town where like it goes from European to African, right? Or African to European. Like there's literally one street where when I crossed over it, I'm like, oh, okay. Like this is where the white people are. Oh. Yeah. And the accents, well, I mean, the accents in general in South Africa were a trip, but then you also have a lot of people speaking Afrikaans, which apparently I looked like someone who would speak Afrikaans. Because on more than one occasion, people came up to me and just started spitting gibberish at me, and I had no idea what they were saying until they realized that I didn't speak Afrikaans. Yeah. But uh, yeah. So, like, definitely just a cool experience as far as there being like separate energies, but also the the mix of it, you know. Because I mean, yeah, Cape Town, South Africa, that's probably the most where the most of the white folks are in Africa. But it's still Africa, right? So, anywho. Yeah. What oh, yeah, and I had milk tarts, which is a South African thing. That was really good. Another dessert. Apparently, when I travel, I travel for spiritual spots and sweet spots or sweet tooth. Yeah. For my for my soul and my sweet tooth. That's uh that's how I travel. But yeah, South Africa is really cool, people are really nice. Um yeah, I could have stayed there like longer term, I think. But it was cold, right? Because it was at that point it was June. Yeah, maybe June. And uh, you know, and on the bottom of the world, the the seasons are flipped from you know what I'm used to in Jersey. So being there in June was also like the beginning of winter, so it was cold. I had to go to the store and get some extra layers and yeah. If I had gotten there in the spring, I could have seen like staying for a while. And really, I mean, the the weather and the climate and even the nature reminded me a lot of the Pacific Northwest. And uh and also Tasmania, too. Yeah, it was very similar, which I mean makes sense because there's that's closer to the poles on either side, but uh yeah, South Africa was super cool, Cape Town was super awesome. Um oh yeah, I also took a little uh day trip down to Boulders Beach, which is uh a place where the penguins land and do penguin things to make more penguins, and so there were just little penguins everywhere all over the beach. Um, you know, like the older ones that look like penguins and then the younger ones that look like little fluff balls. So that was pretty cool. And uh yeah, and there's a section where like they're protected, and you gotta you can only walk on a deck and take pictures, but then there's another section where you can go down literally on the beach, and so I did that and uh and got to like watch a penguin just literally waddle right by me. It was a trip. They look like little drunken toddlers, yeah. But uh yeah, so that was cool. Boulders Beach. Yeah, and then from South Africa, I played with Dew and the Safari, but it was gonna be a lot of money for like three days, so you know. At this point, I was already kind of being a little more money conscious because also at that this time the shenanigans started in Iran and or a little bit before that, but we started to feel the impact on um yeah, the price of stuff, or at least I felt it on the airline tickets that all started to go up like a hundred or two hundred dollars a piece, so yeah. So I skipped the opportunity to do safari, and I headed to this lovely little island in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa called Mauritius. And so, and if you're you know looking at Africa or you have it in your mind, Madagascar is the like the big island off the east, southern east coast, and then this island Mauritius is actually further east of Madagascar, and uh yeah, it was really cool, and I have like no real idea why I went to that island, you know, or I mean I know why I went because it lines up with some of my astro cartography, which uh yeah, if you're not familiar with astro cartography, it's kind of a mix of your astrology stuff with the earth latitudes, longitudes. Yeah, for whatever reason I find it super fascinating. And uh, yeah, the way that my astrology maps onto the earth's latitudes and longitudes has informed my travels for years now. And so Mauritius was an island that uh was like right on one of my lines. So I'm like, all right, let's go check it out. Yeah, it was super cool, man. I mean, island life is is pretty sweet. It's in the middle of nowhere, and I didn't realize how beautiful that was for my own energy until I went to Athens next, all right, which is in the middle of everything and with people everywhere. Um But yeah, I spent I think like another three weeks. Two weeks maybe, yeah. I think it was two weeks in Mauritius, um, on the west coast. And uh yeah, I mean like beautiful tropical sunsets and you know, like delicious fish. Yeah. And then also the dude that picked me up from the airport that was connected to the place I was staying, turned out to be yeah, really awesome dude who was celebrating 20 years sober that week that I was there, which was super cool, and so I gave him my 20-year coin. Yeah, and he got all emotional. I got emotional, it was it was really cool. Um, but yeah, Mauritius was beautiful. I actually put the finish and touches on the American Evolution book there. There was a little coffee shop around the corner that I turned into my office and made friends with all the people working there. Yeah, because I was there every morning for like two or three hours writing. And uh, yeah, yeah, Mauritius was cool. Again, like super peaceful where I could just disappear there, but then also a part of me, you know, that craves the the busy and the doing and the chaos, you know, was uh was not satisfied. So and also again like money started to impact my thinking at this point, so I could have stayed longer there, but uh yeah, but I wanted to get back to the Mediterranean area because that was where at that point in time I was gonna meet my dad for an adventure, but uh yeah, but plans changed anywho. So Mauritius, what else is cool about Mauritius? Oh, yeah, there was a super cool chick at the coffee shop who was French but spoke Spanish, right? And so uh she didn't speak English, I didn't speak French, but we could hang out and and chat in Spanish together, so that was pretty cool. And uh yeah, and I knew a couple phrases in Afrikaans from being in South Africa, so I would use them occasionally, and uh, and that got cool reactions out of people because it turns out that this this island Mauritius, which is a little bit south of the Seychelles, which seems to be a more popular like uh vacation destination. Um yeah, the Seychelles and Mauritius are like common vacation destinations for South Africa and also for Europe. Um what else? Yeah, no. Mauritius was just like island life, man. It was just super chill, it was warm, yeah, beautiful sunsets, good fish. Yeah, yeah, I feel my body relax even thinking about it, talking about it. And then yeah, and then I went to Greece from there. And I say it like that because yeah, I went from the middle of nowhere in like peace and calm to then uh yeah, to Athens, Greece, which is pretty busy, lots of people. And and also an interesting like uh opposites here. So Mauritius is an island that apparently like nobody lived on, or at least this is the story I was told. Nobody lived on Mauritius until the colonial folks were out and about. And so I think the French touched down at one point, and the British were there, and somebody else was there, I forget, maybe the the Turks or the Ottomans. Um yeah, but you have Mauritius, which doesn't have a super long history, right? Like maybe just within the last thousand years, people showed up there. So that's where I was in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the ocean, and then I went to Athens, which is like ancient, right? Like thousands of years worth of people doing stuff, and uh, and also a lot of people everywhere, and so it was a pretty big energetic shift, and also the place I was staying at, it turned out, was like an active construction site, so yeah. So I only spent like a week in Athens. I was gonna stay for a month, but uh, but I got in and it was just yeah, noisy and hectic. And so I did my, you know, hit my sights, saw the places, saw the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and yeah. Which it's such a trip to be in a modern city that has like super ancient stuff in it. You know, we don't really have that in the states. You know, because yeah, there just weren't people here for thousands of years building ancient things that were really big. You know, like Native North Americans just live differently. But anywho, but so you know, in in Athens, yeah, you have this like super modern stretch of like restaurants and buildings, and then you have this thing that's like 5,000 years old or 3,000 years old, um, overlooking it. Yeah. So like a really, really cool to essentially be living in real time with history. Yeah, almost like the history of the city is uh is just as alive as like the tree or or whatever else. Yeah. And yeah, and so the taxi guy that picked me up from the airport in Greece was from Crete, and he was saying how cool Crete was, and yeah, he told me to get in and out of Athens because it was the summertime, and uh and the islands of Greece are the most beautiful in the summertime, and so it turned out that was what was gonna happen. So after a week in Athens, I called him up and said, Hey, we're going to Crete. He was excited, so he took me to the airport and told me a couple uh couple cool stories about yeah, like ancient Greek writers and the uh you know the Greek tragedies and yeah, it was cool to hear it from a like a native Grecian, right? Because I mean I grew up in the States and in our literature classes, like we read the Odyssey and you know, we read stuff that was just literature from another culture, but then to be there in that culture and hear from someone who like it's part of their lineage, it's part of you know family they can trace back to certain places or certain people. It's cool, man. It just brings it to life in a different way. So, yeah, so off to Creede I went, and uh, and I don't think I would have gone to Crete on my own, but there was a buddy that I met in Mexico hanging out in the sauna, and uh and he had already like set it up, you know, a Greek guy, he was going to his roots, you know, he you know, really cool dude that you know I connected with. And so we had like kicked around the idea of like, hey, maybe if we're both in the Mediterranean in the summer, you know, we would connect. And so, yeah, he had been in Crete for about two weeks, and I was in Athens, and I'm like, all right, I'm I'm over Athens, let's uh let's see what Crete's got. And so I went and spent two weeks on Crete, and uh, yeah, again, like island life is super cool. Crete is old as shit. Like, Crete has an energy that is like ancient but also timeless to it. Um, and I mean I was staying in a place where I walked a minute to like just pristine, beautiful beaches, and uh, you know, and then the restaurants are literally like a minute walk from there. Yeah, just a really cool setup. Crete is super cool. Like if I was from Europe, I could totally see doing summers, right? Like vacationing in Crete all the time. Yeah, really nice. And it's European vibe, so it's a little more laid back, it's a little more relaxed. Um, you know, it doesn't have the uh the manic anxiety of trips to the Jersey shore. And then, yeah, the food was delicious. Yeah, I mean, eating fresh fish and just the whole Mediterranean vibe and diet there. Yeah, again, Crete was somewhere I could have hung out for a while. But at this point, the the monies were in the danger zone. So after two weeks in Crete, I decided to come back to Jersey and hang out for a little bit. Yeah, just because I mean it's cool to be back with family, it's also cool to like not have to worry about rent for a month or two. Um yeah, and then there's a there's a certain comfort to the familiarness, which you know is kind of it's a pro and a con. Yeah. When I'm back here in Jersey, there's certain patterns and certain ways that I show up in my experience that are very familiar, so they're comfortable, but they're not necessarily like my highest vibration. Um but you know, it's also cool to give ourselves a break sometimes and just let ourselves be what we are, you know. Which has kind of been my practice for the last month or so. Yeah. It's like rather than coming back to Jersey and judging it and judging myself and judging patterns and dynamics, it's like, can I just let it be what it is? And uh yeah, not have to change myself, not have to change other people. So yeah, it's been a cool cool new chapter of like coming home and practicing being present. Yeah. But back back to Crete for a minute. Um Yeah, there was one one day we went to this cool monastery that was also like this hike to some ancient ruins. Yeah. Cause there's all kinds of stories about Crete and there being caves where like Zeus was born or you know, whatever. And uh Yeah, and I still have to see the Odyssey, which I'm excited to see now that I've actually, you know, like hung out in Greece for a little while. Um Yeah, because I know they shot parts of the Odyssey on Crete. I mean I wasn't there for it, but yeah. Yeah, and so that was the the last stop on the European, Mediterranean, African adventure that took me from Spain, Madrid and Barcelona and Montserrat to the pyramids in Giza and Egypt, and then to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and then Cape Town, South Africa, the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, and then to Greece. Yeah. Pretty cool trip, man. Like I said, the only thing that I would have changed is I would have gone slower. I would have spent more time in each spot, I think. And it's easy to say that now, right? Like hindsight, reflecting back, but you know, like I didn't love the energy of Cairo. The spot I was in in Athens was kind of nuts. So yeah. And also when you're traveling for an extended period of time, or I noticed this for myself, I it's easy for me to get sped up a little bit, you know, because like coming into a new place, a new environment, a new culture, a new language, the nervous system is a little activated or a lot activated, and so then life happens fast. And what I've noticed is it usually takes me like at least two weeks to kind of come down and like exhale and settle. Um, and so in some of these spots though, I never had a chance to like really settle, you know. Like Spain, I was kind of in and out and moving, Cairo in and out and moving, and then I was in friggin' Ethiopia before I knew what was up. So, yeah, yeah. Traveling slow is much more my speed. And I was originally supposed to meet my pops, or he was gonna come over to Italy, and I was gonna meet him there in September, yeah, next month. But yeah, I I didn't make it, I ran out of funds. Um, so you know, so now I'm back in Jersey, but what's cool is that me and my dad cooked up this little adventure. We're gonna fly out to the west coast and do a run up the coast from like Vancouver down to San Francisco, and so we're gonna do like a two-week like road trip adventure kind of thing, which I'm super excited for. Um, yeah, but that even that's like traveling a little faster than I want to personally, but I also realized that like my pops, who just retired, he hasn't done any like extended traveling at all. And so my original vision for when we were gonna meet in Italy was like, come over, we'll hang out for a month and just do nothing and wander Italy, which would have been amazing, and uh, you know, it still could happen. But now as I'm here, I'm realizing, oh, you know what? Like he probably needs like I'm in the deep end, you know, like not everybody is just going and living in a different country for a month at a time because why not? Um, you know, my dad's coming from a life of schedule and work obligations. So two weeks just driving up and down the coast and seeing cool shit, I think will be uh yeah, that'll be a good intro to traveling for him. And so then maybe by next year I can talk him into doing a month in Italy again. Yeah. Alright. So yeah, I mean, that's the long and also short version of the travels. You know, there's a lot of other stories in there that I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to share at different times. Um yeah, because I mean part of traveling is is seeing cool places and and eating different delicious desserts, sure. But it's also like the small moments and lessons and yeah, the connections that happen that uh, you know, leave an imprint on on who we are and how we understand the world. And uh, yeah, and there were definitely a handful of those on this past adventure. So yeah, super grateful to be able to do it, to have this opportunity and take advantage of it. And uh, yeah, if any of y'all are contemplating doing a maybe a little adventure or a little getaway here before the fall kicks in or before school starts, I would say definitely do it. Or maybe you're contemplating a slightly larger adventure, and I would say definitely do it. Yeah, because travel is really like its own unique educational experience. Yeah, like being in different places with different cultures and languages, and yeah, it just it's so eye-opening as far as the the human experience, you know, because like those of us that live in the states, like we only have one experience of life, you know, and really if you've only left like you know your own area a few times, then all you have is your own pocket of the U.S. And I can tell you personally, like the Northeast is way different than the Southeast, is way different than the Pacific Northwest, right? And so having an opportunity to be in different places with different speeds of life, different perspectives, different cultural values, yeah, man, it's just it's such a broadening experience for understanding ourselves and what it is to be human and alive. Yeah, so really fortunate to get to go on adventures like I do. Alright. Is that it? Might be. Yeah, I talked about the the big adventure and then also the coming adventure. Yeah, I'm super excited. Like I said, me and my pops are gonna we're gonna catch a concert at Red Rocks in Denver, which is you know like a bucket list kind of thing. So I'm excited for that. And then yeah, and then we're gonna head to Seattle, drive up to British Columbia and hit Squamish, which is a spot I I love. I've been to a couple times, and then cruise back down the coast to San Francisco, and uh, yeah, and then fly back. So a little two-week run of adventures, which I think will get his toes dipped in the travel waters, and hopefully set him up for yeah, to be suggestible for for future adventures. And uh yeah, and all I got left now is Antarctica, and I've hit all the continents, which is pretty cool. And I'm already eyeing up Antarctica for this winter. We'll see how it goes. But yeah, there's a couple spots in South America that I could stay on the way down there or the way back, either way. Yeah, hang out in Chile or Argentina in the Andes, you know, in Patagonia is you know, yeah, looks amazing. The pictures remind me of the Pacific Northwest, and I know how I feel, you know, when I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so I'd love to go hang out in Patagonia and absorb that. So yeah, maybe that's next. We'll see. I also, yeah, still feel like roots are coming at some point, maybe. I mean, really, all the travel has given me the contrast to appreciate roots more, you know, like growing up, living a more like modern community-rooted kind of experience. That's all I had, you know, and so being able to travel and wander for years now, it's been really nice to have, you know, for for the experiences it provides, but also for the contrast and perspective. And so I think when I do finally settle and root, it'll be a different kind of presence and a different kind of rooting than uh than in the past. Yeah. With with an appreciation for what it is to yeah, like be in a routine and a structure that you created out of a desire to live a particular way, which is different than just being born into it, you know, like here you are, welcome and keep up. All right, yeah, that feels good. All right, so that's the check-in adventures, back in Jersey, yada yada yada, yeah. And then stay tuned. I'm gonna do uh another episode here, which I'll call checking out, where uh yeah, I'll share a little bit about the coming hiatus, some of the hows and whys of that. So stay tuned if you're interested. As always, really appreciate the support and the love, all y'all that listen and uh occasionally message me with responses or reactions or your own shares. And uh, all right, that's it. Love y'all, and I'll see you. Well, maybe further down the road, or maybe very shortly in the next episode.