Well, there's a lot to say, so naturally I found myself sitting dumbly, one and a half hours into a flight to Tokyo by way of Tashkent, a thousand thoughts swimming through my mind, unwilling to be pegged to paper for posterity. As a person who has always, in a rather affected way, considered himself to have the 'soul' of a writer, my opus is so impressively small as to almost entirely escape detection. You might say if my opus were a sim card it would be a nano sim card [Note to draft: replace with better example before posting].
Essentially, the last time I wrote a meaningful amount with any degree of consistency was when travelling India and Nepal back in 2012. A number of people have requested that I keep them in the loop this time around and once again this seems to be the best way to do so, as well as constituting a method of prompting myself to take a step back and look at the trip/life itself with a more editorial eye.
A little background: The most significant travelling I've done to date is the aforementioned India/Nepal trip of 2012 and a two and a half month trip to Australia (with a week in Hong Kong) in 2014. Since shortly after returning from the latter, I worked as a corporate lawyer back in Tel Aviv, specifically in the field of high tech (venture capital investments and such). I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and professional experience and worked with some fantastic people. Nevertheless, I was unable to shake the feeling that I was living life according to a course charted when I was 18-20 years old, and in many ways an entirely different person with accordingly divergent priorities and goals. I witnessed just how rapidly time can pass while cruising on autopilot and began to feel restless, eager to live life at a more intentional pace and in a more self-directed manner. I found my mind perpetually returning to one of those memories that seem to serve as an anchor for broad concepts and emotions, the recollection of sitting on a plane from Istanbul bound to Delhi, about two hours prior to landing. I had just woken up and my eyes rested on the flight map softly illuminating the darkened cabin. I was overwhelmed by this incredible sense of freedom, opportunity and no small amount of anxiety as I contemplated the next 6 weeks alone on the subcontinent. As I found myself mentally returning to this junction with the corresponding flow of associations from that period, I resolved to once again embark on a trip and encounter another region of this world.
There were many places that inspired interest but ultimately, as they say, "you can't dance at every wedding" (#ashkenazi) and I decided to visit some of East Asia and Southeast Asia, with the plan being to start in Japan, move on to South Korea and subsequently Thailand and certain of the other countries in that region.
What I'm looking to get out of this trip: In a word - nothing. To elaborate somewhat, the idea is that this is an opportunity to try and live life as an ends and not a means (within the natural limitations of human nature). That is to say, yes I have an ego and that leads me to want to see the 'must see' sites and attractions of the places I'll visit and get the coveted forced perspective Mt Fuji photograph etc. Equally there will always be an eye on the story, how it all fits into the narrative of 'David Adler'. Nonetheless, I'd like to think that as time goes on I've gained a better understanding of the primacy of the present moment and the illusory nature of past and future, in a 'two steps forward one step back' kind of way, even if the application of such knowledge is probably the most difficult task of all and perhaps the most elevated goal in life itself.
Whew, that got intense. I promise that future posts will be lighter on existential navel gazing and heavier on photos, anecdotes and culturally insensitive jokes.
After a somewhat stressful connection in Tashkent Airport (which is EXACTLY how you imagine Tashkent Airport to be, only moreso) I landed in Tokyo on Tuesday morning and by the time I've managed to post this I'm most likely already feeling utterly confused and overwhelmed but in a good way. I'll try to post first impressions soon.
Much love,
David
Essentially, the last time I wrote a meaningful amount with any degree of consistency was when travelling India and Nepal back in 2012. A number of people have requested that I keep them in the loop this time around and once again this seems to be the best way to do so, as well as constituting a method of prompting myself to take a step back and look at the trip/life itself with a more editorial eye.
A little background: The most significant travelling I've done to date is the aforementioned India/Nepal trip of 2012 and a two and a half month trip to Australia (with a week in Hong Kong) in 2014. Since shortly after returning from the latter, I worked as a corporate lawyer back in Tel Aviv, specifically in the field of high tech (venture capital investments and such). I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and professional experience and worked with some fantastic people. Nevertheless, I was unable to shake the feeling that I was living life according to a course charted when I was 18-20 years old, and in many ways an entirely different person with accordingly divergent priorities and goals. I witnessed just how rapidly time can pass while cruising on autopilot and began to feel restless, eager to live life at a more intentional pace and in a more self-directed manner. I found my mind perpetually returning to one of those memories that seem to serve as an anchor for broad concepts and emotions, the recollection of sitting on a plane from Istanbul bound to Delhi, about two hours prior to landing. I had just woken up and my eyes rested on the flight map softly illuminating the darkened cabin. I was overwhelmed by this incredible sense of freedom, opportunity and no small amount of anxiety as I contemplated the next 6 weeks alone on the subcontinent. As I found myself mentally returning to this junction with the corresponding flow of associations from that period, I resolved to once again embark on a trip and encounter another region of this world.
There were many places that inspired interest but ultimately, as they say, "you can't dance at every wedding" (#ashkenazi) and I decided to visit some of East Asia and Southeast Asia, with the plan being to start in Japan, move on to South Korea and subsequently Thailand and certain of the other countries in that region.
What I'm looking to get out of this trip: In a word - nothing. To elaborate somewhat, the idea is that this is an opportunity to try and live life as an ends and not a means (within the natural limitations of human nature). That is to say, yes I have an ego and that leads me to want to see the 'must see' sites and attractions of the places I'll visit and get the coveted forced perspective Mt Fuji photograph etc. Equally there will always be an eye on the story, how it all fits into the narrative of 'David Adler'. Nonetheless, I'd like to think that as time goes on I've gained a better understanding of the primacy of the present moment and the illusory nature of past and future, in a 'two steps forward one step back' kind of way, even if the application of such knowledge is probably the most difficult task of all and perhaps the most elevated goal in life itself.
Whew, that got intense. I promise that future posts will be lighter on existential navel gazing and heavier on photos, anecdotes and culturally insensitive jokes.
After a somewhat stressful connection in Tashkent Airport (which is EXACTLY how you imagine Tashkent Airport to be, only moreso) I landed in Tokyo on Tuesday morning and by the time I've managed to post this I'm most likely already feeling utterly confused and overwhelmed but in a good way. I'll try to post first impressions soon.
Much love,
David
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