Life by Choice

Broken Things - 11.05.10

The longest leg of my trip so far has been from New Orleans, Louisiana to San Antonio, Texas. I started out in the early hours of May 4th (Tuesday) and didn’t arrive until the 7th (Friday). Looking back, three days seems extremely short in comparison to the amount of stuff that happened to me, especially considering the impact they left. One of the greater lessons being how to handle the rough times.

Being the overconfident and inexperienced hitchhiker, I figured I’d make it by nightfall of the same day; a hitch or two on my way to Houston, then another few hitches to San Antonio. Heck, the distance was only 9 hours time-wise, also seeing as they’re very large hub cities and there’s not too much in between them, where could I go wrong?

32 hours later: I had lost my knife, sprained my ankle, and night was fast approaching while I was STILL in Louisiana. There I was, a foolish teenager hopping around on his left leg and 40+ pounds of weight. There was a singular moment where I was fully exasperated and just at a complete lost, after enduring an hour waiting for help, or even just a ride. It was out of that desperation that I just frantically pointed toward my injured, bleeding ankle.

Immediately, in an almost religious fashion, someone pulled over and my bleak night was saved.

All my bad luck on that day could have been avoided though. The ankle, the man who asked for a “sexual favor”, the sunburn, and all the other miscellaneous issues large and small. I should have put on sunblock, I should have made a better judgement, and I shouldn’t have been practicing Bōjutsu without shoes on. But you know, I didn’t have to go on this trip in the first place. Though there’s no way to know the obstacles that stand in the way of your future, the successful peeps know how to roll with the punches and strive.

There was a time when I mentioned to a friend offhand that teleporting would be an awesome power to have, even in limited capacity. Wisely, she countered that it would greatly diminish the importance of my journey. Lizzie even went on to say that my trip is all about inconvenience. Well, I’ve sure had my fair share of inconvenience and that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, hope as I may.

The benefits though, they sure far outweigh the issues that have come up AND all the potential risks in the future. My knife is actually in the hands of a southern brother met on the road, my ankle is all but fully healed (and not infected!), and now it’s all chillaxing here in Texas.

On a sidenote, I’ve actually gained various gear of great value.
The generosity of people continues to astound me everywhere I go.

Don’t keep on, keepin’ on guys. Time to shake things up!