Yesterday I was snowboarding with a group of 7 other friends at a place called Fellhorn/Kanzelwand in Oberstdorf. It sits on the border of Austria and Germany, so after some point during that day I was afforded the opportunity to say I either snowboarded into Austria or made it there by chairlift.
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| Just one photo from yesterday. Here's half of us! |
The writing and reading consist of one in the same process. I am drafting my Tour du Mont Blanc story, which is essentially just a recapitulation of the journey for myself to have in writing. I plan for there to be 10 chapters, which represent the 10 days that I walked the trail. So far, I have written down 6 of these days. Today I spent time re-reading the first 5, and then writing the 6th. Once I have it completed, I plan to post a segment on this blog day-by-day for an extended story. I have also been working on my new website: InTentsAdventure , which I think is pretty cool, check it out if you haven't yet!
The walking just happened without any set plan, I simply left the house with a camera, an apple, and the proper clothes on. The rest simply manifested as I was walking, which is the beautiful thing about walking without a destination: you can pursue any path you want, you can take any road and that road will never be a detour, for you have no destination! It reminds me of something I wrote down during my time hiking around Mont Blanc:
"A true explorer can never be lost for a true explorer has no place that the head must be when the eyes close at night."
First, I walked up a nearby hill which I walk up most days Monday through Friday as I make my way to the Center for Integrative Neuroscience (where I do research). It is a cool little hill, it doesn't take so long to get up, but it a nice walk to get to work.
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| Later I actually found what this tree was by happening to stumble upon an Arboretum (which was unfortunately closed) |
After the initial hill, I saw the small forest that I walk through still on the way to work. The great thing about this is that neither the hill or the forest is out of the way, and in fact, going through both of them comprises of the shortest "A to B way" to arrive!
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| You can even see my building back in the distance! |
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| A little farther up the road (my building is on the left) |
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| My house is tucked behind the trees on the right |
Now I am walking through the campus of my last laboratory rotation.
This led me to the Botanical Garden, which should have been open, but for some reason was locked for the day. I walked along the perimeter and also found an Arboretum a bit farther along the road (which was also locked). I managed to take a few photographs from the outskirts.
This led me to a small meadow where some sheep were grazing, and also to one of the funniest signs I've ever seen. I have no idea what this means... does anyone?
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| Yield to frogs? |
A little farther down the road I came across a cool little wooden cabin, that is likely a storage shed, but perhaps not. I was taking some photographs of it when an older couple walked toward me...
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| Two lovely people |
They approached me and I turned around to see their mouths moving, but I had my headphones in and was in my own zone at the time. I pulled out my headphones and said "Entschuldigung?" (excuse me?) ... Little did I know that would be the first word to a 20 minute conversation in German. She repeated that she asked her husband what I could possibly be taking a photograph of, and he replied that he thinks I must have gotten a new camera and everything becomes something to take a photo of when you get a new camera. I laughed as he repeated eagerly, so you got a new camera right?! I said that I've had this camera for maybe 3 or 4 years, but everything becomes something to take a photo of when you look through it from new eyes. She said, a new perspective? I said, yes exactly. We then went through the motions of where I am from and what I am doing here in Tübingen. It turns out that he is actually born and raised in Tübingen, and was born in the center and lived there, and he remembers making horseshoes right in the middle! How cool is that? She jokingly added that he shouldn't give away his age so much. They have 4 kids, 3 of whom are in the USA and 1 in France. They told me they are worried about the USA, about Trump possibly becoming president. They said Europe worries about this. I shared in their worry and we spoke more about a changing world. He told me that today time flies by, 30 years feels like 10, and we have so many new gadgets and things to play with that we are missing out on the greater message of life, of society, of community. He said that the car was a great invention and has truly revolutionized the world, but the things of today are being more used for evil than for good. She told me a story about how after church one time they saw a black man standing alone looking cold, they went up to him and offered him to come eat dinner with them, thinking that he may be a refugee or a homeless man. It turns out that he has a PhD and is working toward his professorship here! They laughed when they reminisced about their dinner together and how a new perspective and friendship formed just like that. Similarly, I think they compared this to meeting me, unsure of what to expect but in the end realizing a greater good in humanity than initially meets the eye. Something that shakes their expectations up a little. I relished in this conversation and multiple times we started to say goodbye but then started down a new vein. Finally, we parted, and I watched them take their path as I took mine.
My path led me down into a forest I have never been in before, and being so close to my house, I was completely and happily surprised at finding such a place! What a great adventure this has already proven to be. I followed the steps down for a while, and then found a new path through the woods themselves.
And then there it was...
The middle-point of Baden-Württemberg
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| What a cool thing to stumble upon! Baden-Württemberg is the German state that I live in. |
I stayed here for a few minutes, and a few minutes later two more people came to this very point. It appeared as though they were a mother and a son. The son took a photograph of the mother standing at this point, and I tried to say in German "Would you like me to take a photograph of you (both)?". He said ok and walked over to me. He put his phone in his pocket and put his hands out ready to accept my camera. I chuckled and tried again, "no no, I meant do you want me to take a photo of you". He also laughed and said ok, I took a photograph for them and this launched us into a conversation. He studies renewable energy and has just made his Masters here in Tübingen. They said they live nearby and come to this place often, and I said it was my first time stumbling upon it and I thought it was really cool. They continued to inquire about where I am from and again what I am doing here (as I think is normal protocol when meeting a foreigner). We had some laughs and they told me I spoke good German. I laughed and said thank you. Some more conversation was had and eventually we decided to part ways because it was becoming dark and they wanted to arrive before they could not see any longer! (Sorry, no photo of them from my camera)
I began up another new route, up through the trees and ended up walking around a part of a neighborhood I've never seen before, but soon recognized from my surroundings in the distance how I would be able to get back onto a path I walked my very first day in Tübingen, ironically, on my way to the place I now live.
I began up another new route, up through the trees and ended up walking around a part of a neighborhood I've never seen before, but soon recognized from my surroundings in the distance how I would be able to get back onto a path I walked my very first day in Tübingen, ironically, on my way to the place I now live.
In the end, I don't know what the future holds, or where my path may lead me. But I know that adventure is out there, that lessons are out there, that there are people to talk to and things to behold. Though the future may be unwritten, or blurry, we should not be afraid but walk through each moment with clear eyes and an open heart. When you leave your expectations behind, when you leave your routine behind, when you leave your comfort zone; you will enter a new world, with new possibilities and new opportunities. So I learned to go, go and explore; fly through windows, open doors, and walk through gates! Because the best part is simple: you never really know what adventure will be waiting for you on the other side.
