On the plane I thought about my quest: What was I trying to prove? Is this a smart decision? I came close to a point of regret but I've come too far to regret anything. I was at the point of no return. Where would I return to? That life of stress I'm trying to escape from? Hell no.
A light came on overhead followed by a flight attendant saying, "Please buckle your seat beats as we prepare to touch down in Santa Cruz, Argentina Airport". The next thing I knew I was collecting my only bag and stepping out of the airport into a new life. I didn't know where to start. I didn't have a map, a phone, a GPS, iPod. Only things I had were the things in my bag. I wanted to pack light so it wouldn't be too much work to walk around (because that's what I would be doing most of the time) so I only packed 3 outfits (Along with the outfit I already have on makes 4), A sleeping bag, a handy-dandy Swiss army knife, a few hundred dollars, and a watch my dad gave me a while back to give me the time. I wanted to ask one of the many buzzing bodies zipping passed me, left and right, for directions but what good would that do? I was a person that spoke English, stranded in a Spanish speaking country. So I said, "To hell with this!" and walked in any direction I please.
There were a few destinations that I wanted to go to while I was in the south but my main goal was to walk from the bottom of South America to the top of South America, visit as many places and meet as many different people as I can, and just be stress-free.
I walked and walked and walked. I walked with a thumb up to every car that drove passed me. Surprisingly enough, I got a ride from almost half the people that passed me. People down here are way more generous than then the people "up there". Even though they couldn't take me far, I still appreciated the ride and the conversation. Even though we didn't understand each other's language, we still knew what each other was talking about. Crazy, huh? I asked most of the people how to get to Rio de Janeiro and it was like we had to play charades to try and understand what each other was trying to say; it was a fun experience. Eventually, I got the directions and I was on my way.
Weeks later I got to my dream city, Rio de Janeiro. The sun was shining, a slight breeze was blowing, the people were buzzing, and the birds were singing. Rio was the place to be. Beautiful women. Beautiful Food. Beautiful beaches. I didn't know where to start. Maybe I'll start at the Corcovado Mountain & Christ The Redeemer Statue. I climbed the hill up to the statue and basked in it's glory and beauty. To my left, I saw a couple kneeling down, say prays to the statue. To my right, I saw 2 little boys kicking around a little beat up ball. On the ledge, I saw a man playing a guitar and singing. He was not playing for money. He was playing simply just to play. In Rio, I noticed the simplicity of life; how not everything had to be apart of a bigger scheme.
Rio became my second home but after staying there a couple months, it was time to move on. I went up north to Venezuela. There's a mountain over there by the name of Angel falls and I've heard it was beautiful.
I've also heard it was the highest waterfall in the world. I wanted to go to try and climb it without any gear. I walked and hitched hiked all the way to the way to the waterfall. When I got there, I was a bit stunned of how high it actually was. The mountain towered over me and seemed liked it was stretching passed the ozone layer. The roar of the falls echoed for yards and the sound of the insects and birds mixed with the falls roar to create the most beautiful song of nature.
I circled the mountains. Looking for a place to approach it and begin my ascension. When i found the easiest way up, I began immediately at the next day's sunrise.
After hours of climbing I finally reached the top and I went over to the edge to see how far I've come.
Good thing I was wasn't afraid of heights.
I sat on top of the falls for hours thinking: I wonder what life would be like back at home? Does anybody miss me? How hard would it be to go back? Do I really want to go back to that hellish and stressful life? I walked to the ledge and looked down. "Is there anything left for me to do in this life?" I leaned forward, over the cliff. The hours it took to ascend took only seconds to descend but it felt like hours. on the way down I thought: what was I trying to prove? Is this a smart decision? I came close to a point of regret but I've come too far to regret anything. I was passed the point of no return. Right before impact with the ground below, I closed my eyes and took in a final breath and at that moment, My soul departed and I went to a better place.
Back at the top of Angel's Fall, there was a note that I left on a piece of wood that had words carved out by a knife. the note read: "Life is complete".
No comments:
Post a Comment