Lexi and I have always shared a serious interest in traveling, and the most significant mile markers on the road we’ve traversed together have been the trips we’ve taken or someday wish to take. During our years together in college, we made time to take trips across the U.S., including places from Texas to Illinois and Colorado to New York. Over this same period we’ve discovered a love for hiking and have taken on some treks of various difficulties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Colorado. Whether it’s a life-changing mint tea in New York’s Chinatown or pushing our exhausted bodies to the top of a "13er," we love to experience new things together.
Towards the end of our college careers, Lexi and I decided that taking an extended, jobless expedition overseas was our next big challenge to tackle. We’ve been slowly planning and saving for it ever since. That dream will finally be realized this summer when we begin a trip around the world, beginning in Southeast Asia and ending in Western Europe. While I have traveled to Canada and Mexico in the past with family and friends, Lexi has never been outside of the country. When we travel to Bangkok on July 6th, it will be the first time either of us has left the continent.
When I first started considering the idea of a long-term trek some ten years ago, escapism was the strongest propeller. It was a way to imagine running away from one stasis and towards another. The evidence of missions such as those being fulfilled by others exists in multitudes on the Internet now. Tales of stressed out worker bees leaving the hive are readily available. While I identify strongly with these stories, I also wish for an even deeper purpose for both of us. Stoic philosopher Seneca once wrote “Animum debes mutare, non caelum” or roughly “You must change disposition, not sky.” While I’ve personally experienced how changing skies can change disposition, it is important to know achieving that escape isn’t totally possible when you’re bringing yourself along. Actualization begins with the Self. This trip fulfills a lifelong urge to complete such an undertaking, but it also opens ourselves to continued change by isolating the parts of our dispositions that don’t change with the sky.
We’ve created this online memory box for the purpose of meaningful documentation and to share with friends and family. We’ve titled it the Latin translation for “by day” - an allusory phrase that reflects our plan to use each day as an opportunity to experience something new while learning and growing as individuals and together. If you choose to follow us along on this trip, I hope you gain something from it as well. Publishing this for the world to see may come off as a little aggrandizing in the age of social media, but we only intend to reach those who want to be reached. If you’re one of those, my hope is that you get inspired to make sacrifices or changes in your own life to achieve a grand vision you've had, hopefully providing you with your own sense of purpose and fulfillment.
-Zach