Today is Memorial Day, May 26, 2008 and it is raining in Boulder. On Saturday I will leave for Istanbul and the beginning of something loose or wild. It's funny, right now writing for the public eye for the first time, I feel painfully self-conscious. I'm a young writer with two works to my name but in this new electric world of globalization and instant communication, there is no editing, there is no censorship. I suppose it's what I've always believed in: life in the public eye, without privacy or excuses, every action is seen, every action exemplifies an individual's character. But now, suddenly, my heart is beating harder at the utterly public nature of the world of the blog.
With a little luck, this blog will evolve as I grow and change myself. It will relax into an easy style of prose and poetry, narratives, facts, recalled stories, cultural discoveries, political polemics, musings, and complaints. As I travel this summer for three months through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and possibly other countries, depending on my pace, I will transform lived experience of the road and the lives of other people into a continuous story of growing up, learning the rules of the game, and hopefully contributing something, even if incredibly small, to a global movement towards free communication, reconciliation of hatred and prejudice. And I imagine, for good or for bad, the story I'm about to tell will be one ripe for reading.

About the trip:
The Route-
I fly into Istanbul on June 1, 2008 and from there I will be moving via thumb, bus, train, or taxi across Turkey and Syria to ultimately end up in Beirut for 6 weeks, where I am enrolled in an Arabic language immersion program through the Lebanese American University. After that, I will spend the next month continuing onward through Arabic speaking countries: back to Syria, Jordan, and Egypt if my pace allows it. My flight home is on August 28th off the island of Cyprus and I still do not know exactly how I will get there.

The Gear-
I just bought a pair of sockless traveling shoes to cut down on weight. Above that, I have a single pair of flowing saffron pants, two shirts, two pairs of boxers (so I can wear one and wash the other), a hat, and a bag (a small sling bag, colorful, perhaps from Nepal, with a zipper). In the bag I shall carry a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, deodorant, a pen and a small collection of books (which ones, I have not yet decided). I will use the books themselves as a journal and write my thoughts and notes in the margins as I move. Perhaps I will also carry a harmonica. Underneath my clothes, I will carry a pouch for passport, moneycards, and cash)
All in all, I want to feel as if i have no baggage at all. If the weight of a man's backpack is a metaphor for the weight of his world, I want to feel as close to free as possible. I will travel in a way resembling a monk so as to travel either as inconspicuously as possible or as inoffensively as possible.

Lodging-
Last summer, I hitchhiked with my friend Kate Ray from Finland to Bosnia and used www.couchsurfing.com for lodging and it was the best experience of my life. We met only wonderful, interesting, and accomodating people, we saw towns and cities from the locals' perspectives, and spent almost no money. A few times, we met strangers on the streets (or once in the forest), and those nights of course ended up even more wonderful than the pre-arranged couchsurfing nights. I plan to continue hitchhiking and couchsurfing this summer, with the hope that I will open up enough to succeed in meeting more locals in their towns and beginning friendships in the most organic way possible. I also want to focus more on staying in the monasteries of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and all other denominations that I can find. This is both an aesthetic dream and an academic fascination. I'm particularly drawn to mystics and ascetics and want to spend as much time with them as I can.
In Beirut, I will live in LAU housing.

Other People-
Finally, I hope to mostly devote this blog to the stories of the other people I meet along the way. How they live, what they think of the world, their homes, life, the universe, and everything. If I meet travel companions along the way, I'm open to them. If my route shifts dramatically, I'm open to it.

This entry has been painfully stiff and formal. That's how it always begins. For here, we'll see what happens.

All the best to the world abound,

tcm