Often, a place may not be quite like you had imagined prior to visiting. Most of the time, you’re way off and it exceeds expectations in unconventional ways. But a place can also be quite dull in comparison to what you may have anticipated. Every place in the world is beautiful and wonderful in its own way. When I visited Dublin, Ireland, I was a bit let down to be honest. I’m not entirely sure if the Irish stigma of merry little pubs and all-night drinking is shared throughout the world, like it is in America, but Dublin didn’t quite fit the bill for me. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that that was how it is in Ireland all of the time, but I was expecting a bit more of the natural Irish heritage and culture to be apparent in Dublin.

However, Dublin is a modern city and it shares many of the same likenesses of that of other modern cities. In most cities, you have the mass transportation, the corporate convenience stores, and the tourist shops. But typically you can search down back alleys or in rural local neighborhoods and find more authentic culture. In Dublin, I searched, found a bit, but mostly I struck out. I was searching for the authentic friendly experience that I had heard about, with little pubs in little towns, surrounded by farms and sheep, and of course, the brilliant beauty of the Emerald Isle, all of which are much harder to come by in a modern city like Dublin.

So I made the best of Dublin for a few days and then set off. Sometimes you just have to escape and get lost by driving, hiking, or whatever, to find the true spirit of a destination. I rented a car and drove south out of Dublin, and within minutes of the last city building, I began to find the lush beauty that I craved from Ireland. Yellow flora against rolling green hills, and loads of sheep that littered the streets around various sharp turns upon skinny haphazard country roads.

     Life's purpose for humanity wasn't to be bound by the soul-crushing shackles of the corporate world and the 9 to 5 circus of continual dead-end jobs. The vast majority of the population simply chooses to embrace mediocrity, and I can’t seem to fathom why. From my viewpoint, they seem to be engulfed in fear, too frightened to make the alterations to their life that would lead to true contentment and adventure. Either that, or they're too comfortable or complacent to venture off the often-traveled, asphalt-paved highway to the commercially-sponsored dream (AKA the “American Dream”) and to take the time to create their own path.
     Over the past seven years I have managed a high-end portrait photography studio, which while blessed and thriving, was also coincidentally absorbing every inch of my vitality. Following my first few years at the studio, I began feeling aged well beyond my years, though I was still young. My happiness evaporated and my feelings began to continuously spiral downward. I felt like I was strapped into a roller-coaster with constant stomach wrenching free-falls. I descended to emotional lows that mirrored my insides - parched, disheveled and screaming to be quenched. I yearned for refreshment; for excitement. At one point, I felt only numbness. To a barren desert without any sign of an oasis, I was 'one;' a desolate land accepting defeat. I locked into an internal war, feeling as though I was dying; withering away, being violently lashed in a North Korean cell, near Death’s embrace. Okay, perhaps that’s a little dramatic, but I'm sure you catch my drift.
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     It’s sad, but most travelers have the wrong outlook on travel, which tends to make their experiences suffer. It seems to be a popular consensus nowadays, that travel is all about “how many countries and sites you can visit, as fast as you can.” This is not what travel is really about and traveling at lightning speed certainly doesn’t count towards having rich, memorable, life-altering experiences. I often talk about how true travel is a powerful, life-changing force and slow travel is the best way to experience it! It can be easy (especially for short-term travelers) to lose track of the reason for travel and to get caught up in a site-seeing frenzy.
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     Daily, I am reminded of just how far our world and the richness of culture has fallen. We are surrounded by advertisements that promote inadequacy, where it’s sole purpose is to drive people towards greed and materialism. You can’t turn on the television without some sort of brain-numbing filth consuming you. Humankind as a whole has become domesticated and has lost sight of most of the natural instincts that once defined our race. Things like the drive for discovery and exploration have been lost, as well as the quest for honor and the respect of morals was apparently been thrown out of the window ages ago. 
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     We’re in a state of economic crisis that this world has never quite experienced before, which means it has never been more important to spend safely and to focus spending habits toward those who need it the most. The world is nearly split, black and white, between the ridiculously rich and those living in extreme poverty. All of the countries in the world are affected by the ‘global economic crisis,’ with the worst being that of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Brazil, among countless others. I run a travel blog and I don’t have much of an economical voice, however I do understand how focusing where my money goes can have a tremendously positive effect on those who are suffering.
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URGENT MEDICAL NOTICE: Find out if you are showing symptoms of Pruritic Peragritis... Additionally, if you’re reading this, you may have suddenly come down with Ideopathic Pruritic Peragrophrenitis!


Pruritic Peragritis or Ideopathic Pruritic Peragrophrenitis -

1. The mental disability of one feeling displaced, even disappointed in current surroundings.
2. A longing for travel, adventure or change.
   

• Symptoms include daydreaming, elementary paracusia, depression, wanderlust induced tachycardia, obsessive escapism, and in extreme cases, the Tetris effect.
  
• Treatments include planning future trips, reading travel literature, living vicariously through travel bloggers, taking local trips, writing about past travel experiences, completing a photo album of past travels, and occasionally a heavy night of drinking.

IMPORTANT: If you have one or more of the aforementioned symptoms, seek help immediately by contacting Brandon’s travel planning services.

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I’d like to take a moment to thank all of my readers...
Thank you so very much!
     For without your amazing support, I would still be lost, wandering around in the dark and may never have found continued passion and fulfillment in what I do. Additionally, I’d like to apologize for not expressing my appreciation more often. Once a year isn’t quite often enough to say your thank you’s and to show your appreciation for the important things in life.
     Thanksgiving’s original purpose - like most holidays - has lost a lot of its original meaning. Instead of offer a year-long lingering feeling of gratefulness and connection with all those you love, it’s been replaced with shiny, pretty little things to distract us from the good. Football, turkey and stuffing is not how Thanksgiving started, nor what it was meant to become. Thanksgiving isn't about black friday or the competition of who can buy the most junk for the absolute cheapest price. It's about spending time with those you love and giving back to all others that need it most, and to be thankful for everything that you have.
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     When traveling, it’s important to keep an open mind. Especially when your destination is culturally different than anything you’ve ever experienced before. For me personally, I experienced a large cultural change once I arrived in Italy, as it was the first time I had been outside of the States. Attempting to navigate the chaos of Rome’s back alleys and Venice’s canals while being surrounded by locals and Italian only signs was a bit of a shock. If you keep control of your expectations and prior judgements, you can avoid having a negative experience while traveling.
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-Discover enlightenment
      I do not necessarily mean religious enlightenment, moreover the enlightenment of self discovery. If you let yourself surrender and become lost in the place you’re visiting and shed all of your preconceived biases, judgements and worries; you then become vulnerable. This vulnerability is a huge step in the right direction - without it you are a tourist, going sight to sight and never changing and never growing - taking nothing from the experience. There is a very strong feeling of freedom, knowledge and understanding once you fully release yourself and connect with your travels - within this feeling you actually begin to find who you really are and whom you wish to become. This is why many (myself included) tend to preach about letting travel change you. If you reach enlightenment through travel, you are never quite the same again - it’s a wondrous experience!  (Photo from EverestUncensored.org)
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     Lounging on my porch, overlooking the lake is a favorite past time of mine. A relaxing, soft drizzle permeates the air in a blissful mist - the center fountain echoes of apathetic rain. My feelings are light and my mind is at ease as I focus on the chirp chirp from the birds in the trees of the woods.
     I’ve spent the last few days writing in the comforts of home - time away from the inner city is blissful and necessary sometimes. Although, I’ve been dormant for too long. Today, it’s time to venture out along my old favorite path.
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