Comments on: High Points, Low Points, and the Perfect Trip

By: Cody McKibben

Cody McKibben — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:53:05 +0000

Well thanks for the quick response Chris, glad it’s not your intense hatred for my feedback! ;P But sad it got lost in translation. now I don’t even remember all I had to say.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:39:23 +0000

@Cody,

Not sure where it is – maybe eaten by the spam filter somehow? We have many of your other comments throughout the site, and no one would delete it.

By: Cody McKibben

Cody McKibben — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:39:22 +0000

Chris, I read this a while back and spent some good time writing some feedback because it struck a chord with me and I wanted to also share some of my viewpoints about what happened here in Thailand alongside Jodi & Sean. I was coming back to check for responses or more discussion… and now I don’t see it here. Disappointing if it was not approved because of the link(?), as I put it in my web url field and I thought it was pretty relevant to this discussion about high points & low points of travel…?

By: Haidn Foster

Haidn Foster — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:12:57 +0000

Absolutely true, Chris and @Erin. Highs and low are definitely both a part of life, and no adventure would be complete without them (then it wouldn’t be an adventure, would it–just paradise, and that’s not really as interesting).

Thanks for your work chronicling your awesome travels, Chris. I’m enjoying keeping up and look forward to doing the same someday.

All the best,
Haidn

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:41:58 +0000

This def just struck a chord with me. I was driving back from an incredible, random 9 day road trip out West on Sunday, and only one hour away from being “home” [at my friend's pad], we hit a deer. This unexpected and bummer of an event through an otherwise smooth-sailing adventure created an ending that was far from ideal. Needless to say, we were thankfully okay – unhurt – and had to roll with it. My adventures continued through trying to get home car-less to Kansas City, and now I can only shake my head and smile at it all.

It is all an adventure. It is about the journey. A lot of it is out of our control, but it is what we make of it, how we react, and let it affect us. Perfect is not even something worth striving for, because “perfect” is the helluva story that comes naturally out of our circumstances. That’s what I want at least.

Thanks for your posts! Highs and lows indeed. Aka LIFE.
All the best,
Erin

By: Mike Ziarko Musing

Mike Ziarko Musing — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:43:37 +0000

Learning to change the things your dissatisfied can be the hardest undertaking in life. The reason being, is that too often we accept the things are the way they are for a reason, and that change is beyond my control. Five months ago I left my job for good, it was a terrifying decision. I don’t ever want to be in that position again. Then again, I also don’t ever want to work for anyone again. I took a leap, suffered a little, adjusted, and forged on. Looking back, with the mindset I had, it was the only thing to do. I wouldn’t change a thing about my decision. Life life without regrets.

Great post Chris.

By: James Clark

James Clark — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:20:47 +0000

I was going to ask if you checked to see if you could use some milage points to pay for a hotel room, then I remembered who I was asking. The story will get better as pain in your hip pocket subsides.

By: Hamilton Shields

Hamilton Shields — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:08:43 +0000

Learning to live with (and find contentment) in the low-points is something I’ve come to love about hiking. Found this great quote preparing for my first long trek: “I like to make ‘statements of fact.’ When the weather is slapping me around, it helps to say out loud, ‘Damn, it’s hot!’ or ‘My toes are frozen!’ or ‘Rain three days in a row sucks!’ This is not complaining — I’m making statements of fact. Don’t laugh, it really does work. Saying it out loud releases all the frustration, and now I’m just living with what I’ve got.” Barbara Egbert

By: Brooke Ferguson

Brooke Ferguson — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:51:55 +0000

Wow. That is a CRAZY amount of money for a hotel room! Hope it had a great view and big bathtub or something!

I really liked this: “don’t try to have a perfect day, a perfect trip, a perfect life. Try to have a meaningful one instead”.

It’s easy to get discouraged when the lows hit, but I think if we keep reminding ourselves about the meaning, it helps us to get through. Also, you can’t get the good without the bad so why not see it as humor?

Every terrible situation I’ve been through has turned into a funny story later, so its almost as if are Lows are just our debt to humor. :0)

By: TERRI

TERRI — Sun, 30 May 2010 02:45:06 +0000

Chris – great post – I just read something on the communicatrix from the last week with a similar bent: ‘moving towards’, like ‘bias towards action…’, it makes perfect sense.
For me, a big high recently in starting out with a blog and writing and being out there, after months of thinking and planning. To be finally moving is very exciting and a kind of journey, like travel.
The lows are around feeling overwhelmed, balancing the day job and wondering where it’s all heading. But these lows are part of that moving forward, towards and taking action and like others who have commented, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks for the thoughts to help situate all this as I move forward.