That Mythic Spot

My parents brought me so many places in my childhood that I just adopted the idea that I'm a traveler. So I kept up the idea every chance I got, and I definitely bit when I had the opportunity to head anywher I could. In Brazil my high school friends and I trained for soccer, and Europe was basically one big aggro inline skate tour with my friend Jason Nomura. My mom had a huge traveling bug, I think I caught this itch from her. Before I could remember she took me to Argentina, and we moved to Japan when I was in fourth grade. Okinawa was like a base of operations for my mom's traveling, and I got to tag along. From Oki we hit the Koreas, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. My favorite was Phuket, Thailand. I can't tell you how much my little sister and I bonded over catchy Thai themes like 'Banana Chips' and laughing at things only kids would. Somewhere along the line we made it out to Panama to visit my friend Chuck Yeager, my longest-lasting childhood friend. My earliest memories I have are with that guy, and then randomly I have some chasing mean raccoon-like monkeys called kurumungas out of trash cans. Every special occasion that my parents get to celebrate is spent in vacation spots, almost always out-of-country. They both got remarried in the last couple years, and my mom chose a cruise, my dad chose Hawaii. On my mom's family moon cruise I still learned more about other cultures, and got a shock when I saw Haiti and even Jamaica. I had a great time, but those countries are poorer than Bali was when we went there as kids. Sometimes you don't have to leave the country to have an amazing time though, as I learned how great the west coast is this summer. On the return from Oki we drove from Seattle down to San Fransisco, and camped in the redwoods. The massive size of those trees blew my mind, and the people I met gave me different views on hundreds of topics that I don't even normally think about. Some of them had never left California, (which makes sense, the state is gorgeous and has a mentality unmatched in the entire world) but while there I learned that the important thing isn't where you are. It's how you are. Traveling is important, it gives you scope on how the world is; however, if you can find a place that has love, don't forget that place. Okinawa is one those places, so is Hawaii, and so is New Orleans. I read an article in Men's Health that put New Orleans as one of the least healthy places to live. I say bump that. If the people are loving, and the crawfish are boiling, there isn't a reason to hate. Simple truth in local food: from zenzai in Oki to poi in Oahu, food influences the way people are; they say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That goes for anyone. Share food with someone today. Try it out. I think at this point I'm philosiphizin' and I'll quit rambling. But if you read all this, take some knowledge of my big dumb blog: share food and love, travel enough to understand more than one culture, and eventually visit either New Orleans, Okinawa, Oahu or all three.