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» Prepare & Be Aware
September 23rd, 2006
A good friend of the family e-mailed me the other day with an interesting line of questioning: "What do you do to avoid strange parasites that may think you are a prime candidate for what they view as a 'symbiotic relationship'? Do they have mosquitoes there that carry Nicaraguan Jungle Rot Fever? What happens if you are on a isolated trail and you accidentally upset some sleeping viper with a very short temper and long fangs? Who do you even communicate with if you have emergency? Does the local shaman have a cell phone?" Strip away the wit and humor that he's known for and it sounds like my concerned friend would like to know if I'm prepared to deal with dangerous situations in Nicaragua. He brings up an interesting point. Is it possible to be completely prepared for a trip? Can one know all the dangers one might encounter? The short answer? No. Here is the long answer. Believe it or not, one of the main reasons why I enjoy traveling to foreign locales so much is because I find myself in situations I couldn't possibly prepare for. Does one know how to do anything before first trying it? There were many predicaments I have found myself in on my travels that I couldn't even imagine planning for prior to leaving home. Ironically, these same scenarios would never happen if I didn't take that leap of faith and travel. The act of exploring the world places me into situations that I have never encountered before; situations that let me feel, taste, smell, hear and see that I am alive and living on a spectacular planet. There are risks involved in all activities. The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor, as the saying goes. Another proverb says that danger and delight grow on one stalk. Here's a quick experiment for you the next time you're out driving. Did you know that more people die in car accidents in the US than soldiers at war during the same time period? Will that fact keep you from driving your car tomorrow? For most of us, it will not... but it might make us a little more aware of our surroundings while we're behind the wheel. Awareness can help in avoiding dangerous situations. As my last entry pointed out, knowing is indeed half the battle. The other half involves pushing the fear of personal injury out of the way. Robert Young Pelton, one of the most die-hard travel writers of our time and author of The World's Most Dangerous Places, writes that we should brush away the fear and the barriers that keep us from traveling. Don't let risks disable you from what you want to do. His 1,088-page book certainly will help you become more aware of the dangers involved in visiting some places in the world (Nicaragua is not in his book, by the way). So that's why I read so much before I travel. I want to be aware of the possible dangers and risks. I want to know what problems travelers have run into recently in areas I plan on visiting. I read and re-read all of the "horror stories" because I would NOT like to start a relationship with a strange parasite, I would hate to experience Nicaraguan Jungle Rot Fever (if it existed, which it doesn't), and I would be pretty unhappy to find myself feeling the fangs of an angry viper the hard way. I am not an adrenaline junkie looking to get a fix by doing outrageously crazy activities. And you won't find me base jumping from a tall building in Nicaragua, or any country for that matter, anytime soon. But I do try to get into a process what travel writer Tim Cahill calls Flowbee. In the most recent issue of National Geographic Adventure (Oct 2006), he writes about a state of "mental and physical absorption" he has experienced on many adventures. During the event, he found himself "lost in the execution, the performance, the seemingly unconscious and intuitive understanding of what was at stake and how, most precisely, to survive. It was a state free of consciousness, brooding, or even thinking in the ordinary sense." Pretty deep thoughts from a man who has written best-selling books with titles such as "A Wolverine is Eating My Leg." I have experienced this Flowbee on my travels. I'm sure you have as well. Studies have shown that people can reach this mental state in everyday activities such as studying for a test, concentrating at swinging a golf club at a ball, or even reading thought-provoking and entertaining blog entries from witty travelers. (know of any?) But what makes travel special to me is how this mental state can be felt so strongly and so frequently in a foreign land. So you can all rest easy when I head off to Nicaragua. Don't worry! Be happy for me that I will be traveling as best prepared as one can be, aware of the risks involved, but feeling the rush of Flowbee, living life to the fullest. Of course, if something happens, I can always try to give the local shaman a call on his cell phone. Happy Travels, |
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