The Hypocrisy of the Church, and Organized Religion

Hypocrisy is a word we like to throw around a lot in this country. Whether we're discussing athletes doping, celebrities who are full of it, or any other person who genuinely talks out of both ends of their mouth. But without question in my mind, the biggest hypocrites, in not only our country, but the world, are organized sects of religion, and the people who associate themselves with them. 

Now let me clear a few things up, because that was a paragraph fit to get a lot of people turned off without reading any further. I don't think religion is a bad thing, in fact I think following a value system and a set of morals in a world that seems fraught with ill contrived ideas and moral codes is if anything, a saving grace. I grew up in a religious household, I was baptised catholic (and when we got over the religious calisthenics) raised non-denomonational Christian. There were some churches I loved going to growing up, and others I despised, I have life long friends I met in Sunday school but also people I would never associate myself with. As I got older, I realized organized religion wasn't for me, if I wanted a relationship with God, I wanted it to be personal. I didn't feel I had to go to some big ornate building to be told I was a heathen, and then eat a cracker and some grape juice and all of a sudden be forgiven. 

When I go back home to Nashville (which has more churches per capita than anywhere in America), I LOVE going to church. I don't love the process of waking up early on a Sunday morning hungover and dressing up. I love going to church because the church I go to has one of the most progressive thought provoking ministers I've ever encountered. I've sat in the stands and watched as my pastor has made people cringe in their chairs as they're faced with coming to terms with their own morality. Nothing is out of bounds at this church, nothing is too taboo to discuss, because this man, this pastor, he knows that we can pretend all we want, but at the end of the day we are all human, and we all face the same temptations and contemplate the same internal dialouge. I've been going to this church on and off when I was in town for over a decade, and I've seen it grow from 30 people gathered together in a elementary school cafeteria, to a massive building of its own with a congregation numbering in the thousands. That was until about a week ago. I received a message from my father telling me that there were major changes happening and a great shift had taken place. You see Nashville is the "Church Capital of America", the "Buckle" on the Bible Belt if you will, but what my father told me finally made me realize that all my inhibitions about church and organized religion had been right all along. 

On Sunday, January 15th, my "Church" became one of the only Christian churches in the country, and as far as I know the only church in the south, to open their arms to homosexual brethren. Now we've never turned away gays, lesbians or any other of the like away, but now... it was official. This caused such an uproar among the congregation that approximately half of them decided this church was no longer the place they would come to worship the man who said:

JOHN 13: 34-35

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciple, if you have love for one another."

These people who in their own right are broken souls, coming here to find the light and ask forgiveness, couldn't be bothered to share this house of God with a bunch of FAGS! And that for me was the tipping point, I could no longer stand the hypocrisy, the outlandish ideals held by those who consider themselves to be holy and follow in the light of the lord. To those who stayed, I applaud them, but to the rest of you, good riddance, and in time hopefully you will see the shame in your ways, and ask for forgiveness.

And so I present to you... The 4 REASONS I LEFT ORGANIZED RELIGION BEHIND. 

1. Religion is a business... and Business is BOOMING.

Untaxed land, neverending leases, untaxed contributions and for those who follow the unofficial rules, 10% of every members' income (give or take). There's no wonder religion is the biggest non-for-profit business in our country and the rest of the world, but what do they do with all this money? Yes, a lot of it goes to work improvements on the physical church, a lot goes into funding various charitable programs, but where does the rest go? Who's in charge of making sure that all these billions of dollars of funds donated annually are all 100% allocated for properly? Who decides how much a good pastor or priest makes, say versus a subpar one? And most importantly who's in charge of keeping an eye on the people that are in charge of all those things? Whenever you're dealing in such large amounts of money, you need a system of checks and balances to hold people accountable. One thing that's always bothered me about the church is it seems as if the congregation always simply believes the church will use money to serve their best interest. Forgetting that these are men and women just like you and me, and even those who stand on the pulpit can grow weak for the green back snake, named "Benjamin". The truth is the majority of people involved with handling these funds are good honest people, but for every hundred "Pastor Daves" who just do an honest days work, there's one or two Jerry Fallwell's ready to take us for every penny under the guise of the lord.

2. People Don't Practice What They Preach.

You can't be a heathen all week, then eat a cracker on sunday and pretend everything is all right. One of the things that really bothered me when growing up in the church was Youth Groups. Now in theory it's a great idea, getting young people involved in a relationship with God by making religion fun, playing games, singing songs, and the like. However, in my experience all youth groups really did was show young people how to "Act Holy" without actually taking any of it to heart. I saw people leading prayer groups and playing songs about Jesus, who I knew for a fact were doing drugs and having sex, and all the other things we were trying to prevent at these groups. So all this experience really provided was practice, practice for those people who think it's important to have a veil, a religious "facade" if you will, to present to those around them. All these retreats were simply allowing these people to get better and better at faking it, till only those who truely knew them, knew what type of person they actually were. Now this doesn't mean if you're not perfect you shouldn't associate yourself with the church, religion is about forgiveness, but it's also about trying to improve, if you simply show up because people expect you to, you're not participating in the process. These people, these "Kumbaya" singing heathens, are the same type of people who walked out of my church back home, their true morals (or lack there of) couldn't compete with the facade they had created. 

3. A Relationship With God, Doesn't Need to Take Place in a Building... In Fact... It Shouldn't.

Considering how I am constantly hearing how the moral standards of our society are in the toilet, it baffles me how many churches are still around, and how many more are constantly being built. It's kind of like porn (stay with me for a second) no one will admit to watching it, but the numbers don't lie, the porn industry is right up there with Oil, Apple, and well... the Church, as some of the biggest money makers around. So if all these churches exist, and stay open, we must assume all these holy people are attending them, but if everyone is going to church, where is all this societal degradation coming from? It must be a conspiracy, it's probably the same one guy who's watching all that porn... by himself... definitely not me.

The point is you don't have to go to a building once a week for an hour in order to be a good christian, or Catholic, or Muslim, or whatever. We see all these people going, but what does it change? There's still war, still famine, still porn, the only thing it does is continue to put money in the church pockets as we trying to buy our way out of "moral debt". 

When I stopped going to church regularly I felt like for the first time, in a long time, I actually started to have a relationship with God again. He was no longer being jammed and force fed down my throat, I could actually come to him on my own terms, whenever I wanted, and I found myself doing it more often than I ever expected. I started reading about religion, not my religion, just religion in general, and it showed me that though there are obviously glaring differences between different holy books, the bottom line is all basicaly the same, "be a good person, and try and leave this world a little better than when you came." What really separates religion is the fanaticals, and the people who try to read in to deeper meanings that sometimes just aren't there. The people who truly have found happiness in their religion and their life, at least in my experience, are the ones who will never "casually" bring it up in conversation. If you define yourself by being a "Christian", or a "Muslim" or any other religion, you're putting yourself in a box, and making your life all about labels, instead of substance. When I die I don't want people to say "Logan was a great Christian", I want people to say, "Logan was a great person, and we're gonna miss him!"

4. THE FACT THAT IT'S 2015 AND WE'RE STILL NOT ALREADY THERE?!

In the next few years, we will be sending a manned mission to MARS!??!!! to see if astronauts can colonize there, and in 2015 there are only 2 evangelical churches in the country that have opened their arms to the LGBT community. This fact boggles my mind, more than anything else. Churches are famous for sweeping social issues under the rug or simply ignoring them all together. Whether it's the Catholics dealing with pedophila, the Christians dealing with Evangelical money laundering, or the Muslims dealing with accusations of being a violent religion. But this is not an issue of something the churches have done wrong, it's an issue of something they haven't done at all. I can't imagine how my pastor must have felt when he finally announced those words of equality during his sermon. From what I've read and heard it was received with mixed reviews, thunderous applause from supporters, and open mouth gaping and quiet hands from detractors. But the more I think about it, the more angry it makes me, that it took this long to even make this change. This is America the home of religious, ethnic, and social equality, gay marriage is legal in over 50% of the states in our country now, but it is only finally being addressed in churches now, since civil-unions were first passed in Vermont in 2000. Is that the time it takes for religion to catch up? 15 FREAKING YEARS?! All this does is confirm in my mind that there either needs to be a fundamental shift in our religious understanding, and our religious leaders in this country, or organized religion as we know it will soon be a thing of the past. 

My Pastor, my friend, and one of my personal mentors, his name is Stan Mitchell. He is a great, compassionate, and truly caring human being, who just happens to be a Christian, and happens to make his living running a Mega-Evangelical church in Nashville, called Grace Point. He is the type of, not just Christian, but man, that gives me hope for those who truly believe in God and their religion and their church. Good, honest, hard-working people, who know they are flawed, but find guidance and wisdom through the church. The people who wake up on Sundays, not because they feel they need to redeem themselves for the week they just left behind, but go because they want to be a better person tomorrow, and the next day. These people, and these leaders, are the ones I feel sorry for, because they are having their religious livelihood jeopardized, by these phonies, these bigots, those using religion as a facade. 

Organized religion is not a bad thing, but it just wasn't right for me. For those of you that do believe, and do want whats best for your church and your congregation, I implore you to be the change you wish to see in the world. Petition your pastors, your priests, your youth leaders, for inclusion, and equality. Now is the defining moment of the young religious generation, and if you follow in the footsteps of men like Stan Mitchell, you might just have a chance to save that which matters most to you.  

5 Myths About Traveling That Keep People From Their Wanderlust

The perception is that we all have trust funds, or caught a lucky break, or are just simply irresponsible and don't care about the future. The truth is yes I was middle class (but my parents never gave me a dime to travel with), I worked my ass off for almost a year to buy my plane ticket (sacrificing my free time and sometimes my sanity), and while I can say it takes a little bit of irresponsibility to throw all your obligations to the side (in reality, it takes a lot of bravery to give up on security and step out of you comfort zone). I've been incredibly touched by the positive responses I received on my article about why you should quit your job and start traveling, but I've also felt sorry for some peoples' ignorant comments and it got me thinking. While there is always a bit of trolling, and "negative nancying" to be expected (this is the internet afterall), some people seem to legitimately believe that traveling is out of the realm of possibility for them. This is who I want to reach with this article, for the ones who want to travel but think that they never could afford it, and the ones who believe they have to be responsible and a sabatical is impossible. To the ones that have MASSIVE student loans, and the ones that are simply too afraid about the idea of moving to another country. To those of you who are simply negative, think traveling is stupid, or think people who are passionate about traveling are taking a personal shot at you living your life in simplicity. Your opinion is yours to have, and I respect everyones lifestyle choice, but you're just wasting your time if you read the rest of this. 

For the rest of you, for the skeptics, the critics, the ones burdened with monetary problems, here is your solution. These are the 5 main "Travel Myths" and the realities and problem solving solutions to all of them. 

MYTH #1: Traveling is SUPER expensive!

REALITY: Life is expensive, it's just a matter of where you want to spend your time and money.

It cracks me up when I hear from my friends who live in New York, or LA telling me how they wish they had the money to do what I did. I saved 5k working my butt off for 6 months to get over here and I'm still working while I'm here to continue to fund my adventure. Meanwhile my friend in New York is probably paying over $2,000 a month to RENT, not own but rent an apartment in the city. It's all about priorities and what you want to spend your money on. If you like living above your means, paycheck to paycheck, then traveling probably isn't too realistic. But if your desires are more about life experience and less about material things, you'll find it's very easy to save money and get your journey started. 

The reality is, the startup cost for traveling (i.e. flights) are usually the most expensive part. There's people who spend more on a two-week all inclusive vacation then I've spent in the six-months that I've been here. It's all about priorities and what's important to you. 

When you do begin your journey, here are a couple of easy resources everyone can use to save money whenever possible:

- Flights: Skyscanner is a great resource for comparing rates and finding the cheapest flights (helpful tip, if you're flying anywhere in Oceania, Jetstar will match any deal you find and beat it by at least 10%)

- Crashing for Free: Couch Surfing is a free app for Iphone and Android. Couch Surfing allows people from all over the world to find nice hospitable places to sleep for anywhere from a night, to a week, or longer. I've had great experiences with this app and I've yet to meet anyone who's had a bad experience.

- Crashing for Cheap: there's tons of apps and websites out there, personally I prefer hostelworld, but it's about preference. Hostels are a great way to start off in a new city, there's lots of like-minded fun people, but I wouldn't recommend staying more than a week.

- Cheap Trips: I'm a HUGE groupon fan, and everybodys favorite "I don't need it, but I can't afford not to buy it" app is available in quite a few countries now. If you're looking for a cheap excursion for a few days, this is a great place to start. 

This is just a few examples, but there's so many more apps and websites out there that can assist in making your bigger purchases a little more affordable. The point being if you want to make it happen, don't let cost be the thing that holds you back. Everything costs money, where do you want to spend yours?

MYTH #2: I have student loans (or any kind of debt really)

Reality: You can actually improve your credit score while traveling, and knock down your loan payments.

I'm extremely fortunate that I don't have any student debt, I have friends who feel like they are now crippled by the weight of something that seems insurmountable. The truth is, if you have loads of student loan debt or any other kind of debt, you're probably not gonna be paying it off in a year. So why not take a year off from it? When I was in college my girlfriend at the time couldn't seem to ever get out from her bills, yet she was always traveling abroad or across the country. At the time I was extremely conservative with my money and I thought she was insane to keep building and building on this debt. What she ended up teaching me in our time together was a lesson I still carry to this day, and is part of the reason I was inspired to travel in the first place. Essentially what it boiled down to was, "Logan, I'll be paying this off for the next ten years anyway, so what's the difference if it's ten years or 12 years. If I spend the next two years worrying about this debt, it's not gonna go away, I'll just have wasted two years worrying, but if I spend my time traveling and living my life, then I still have debt but at least I wasn't miserable over it. Nothing changes except my level of happiness, and I'll take happy and poor over miserable and poor, everytime."

What this wise little yoda-esque girl taught me was there is no time like the present, because if you only worry about the future, before you know it the present is gone. Besides being wise beyond her years she told me a few tips on how she managed this juggling act and I will share them with you. The truth is credit companies want to be paid, bottom line, paid. What she figured out was it doesn't always matter how much you pay them as long as it's something. So whenever she wanted to take a trip she had been trying to save for, she would simply call the creditors and tell them she couldn't make her payments (maybe she lost her job, family emergency, etc.). 90% of the time they were more than happy to work with her to lower her payment (by 50% sometimes more) to make sure they were still getting paid something, sometimes for up to six months at a time. That's more than enough time to have a nice little galavant around the world without worrying about making all your ridiculous payments.

The other tool I've seen many people use is something I call "credit card balancing". Basically before you decide to leave for your destination you apply for a few different super low interest credit cards, and one or two flight rewards cards. The balancing part comes in when you start making payments back and forth between the cards to 1. keep your biggest balance on the lowest rate card and 2. to make sure all your more "major" purchases are using the flight rewards cards.  In doing this you're really just borrowing money, but instead of simply borrowing, your making that money work for you. If you're smart you can earn enough miles that you'll rarely have to pay for a flight, and at the same time your building your credit by balancing all these different accounts. The only caveat attached with this is you HAVE to keep on top of it, otherwise you can do a lot more harm than good. 

Debt sucks, but it won't go away simply because you stress over it, and I can think of no better stress reliever than lying on a beach in Thailand drinking ice cold Tiger beer. So when it comes to the prospect of traveling with debt really what you have to ask yourself is, how much effort are you willing to put in to make it work. If the answer is "as much as it takes" then get out there and make it happen. 

MYTH #3: You have to go somewhere "Exotic" to really travel.

REALITY: Traveling is what you make it. If that means moving to another continent, do it, if that simply means moving to a different state, that can be just as rewarding and fulfilling. 

Everyone seems to get caught up on the notion that in order to travel and experience the travel lifestyle you have to go to some far away distant place. This however, is most certainly not the case. There's so many backpackers I've met here in Australia that talk about wanting to go explore in the U.S. and it's made me realize what a great and multi-faceted country I come from. You can gain just as much by moving to a different state as you can by moving to another country, it's all about what you want to get out of your experience. Maybe you have no desire walk through a crowded night market, dodging people in the street so you don't spill your food everywhere. Maybe you simply have grown up in blistering cold winters in the midwest and you're dying to live by the beach. If that's what traveling means to you then pack everything up and drive down to Sarasota, FL and enjoy waking up everyday and walking to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

People seem to get caught up on thinking traveling has to mean living like a dirty hippy out of a backpack (though for some it does, including myself), but it doesn't have to. Traveling is not about the destination, it's about the journey. So kick aside your predispositions and simply do what makes you happy, that's what it's all about.

MYTH #4: All these people are traveling without working. 

REALITY: I work 40-50 hours a week, the difference is I can take off whenever I want, and when I do have free time I get to spend it in another awesome country, instead of say... Sioux Falls (not that there's anything wrong with Sioux Falls). 

In this age of social media we take all the best aspects of our lives and put them on display to create this sort of "augmented reality". The truth is I don't go kangaroo riding and koala hunting everyday of the week, but when I do have free time, that's how I spend it. So while girls back home take their "pool selfies" I can post pictures under a 100 meter waterfall. The reality is most of the people backpacking don't have enough money to simply travel all the time, we work just like everyone else. The thing that seperates us and made us what to pack up and go in the first place is not the fear of work, but rather the fear of the mundane, outside of work. If I hate what I'm doing, and I'm doing it in a city I don't like that much, simply to pay the bills, why waste my FUCKING time?! I work, and I work hard, but I'm in a place that has a massive turnover rate, where my owners know we're here to work to live, not live to work, and if I want time off, I get it. Back home I had to request off two months in advance to get a long weekend to go back home, here I give a days notice before the schedule gets finalized. They make it work because they have to, and because they recognize that, it works out better for everyones sanity (especially mine). So next time you see your friend who's overseas posting some crazy pictures to make everyone of their friends jealous, realize they probably worked damn hard so they could afford to go there, most of us don't have a trust fund to fall back on, that's why we got a work/travel visa.

MYTH #5: Travelers are just a different breed, I would never have the courage to up and leave

REALITY: Many people here had nothing to leave behind, but just as many took a huge leap of faith and left good careers, and security back home. Getting here is the scary part, but once you've taken that step it changes your life 

People seem to think that everyone who is out traveling the world is either a recent college graduate or just someone who was going nowhere in life to begin with. Back home I was managing two multi-million dollar bar concepts making great money with a bright future in the business ahead of me. One of my best friends here from Italy was a practicing attorney back home on his way to applying to become the Italian equivalent of a district attorney. An english gent I worked at a surf camp with was working as a fire inspector in London (a very lucrative and hard to break into field). The point is we all have a story, and most of them don't start with, "I wasn't doing anything with my life so I just packed a bag and left". What we do all have in common was a desire to see the world and explore (more than our obligatory two-weeks vacation a year). When you travel you meet people from all walks of life and almost every story begins with how nervous people were to go. We all knew we wanted to travel and go somewhere new and try to "find ourselves" but like everyone else there was always something else holding us back. Maybe it wasn't enough money saved, or being away from our family and friends, financial obligations, etc. The point is you don't have to be extremely brave to go off and take an adventure, what you need is just a few simple things. A destination, a time frame to make it happen, and most importantly, a ticket. 

I remember I had quit my job and moved back home with my family to save for the six months leading up to my expected departure date. As I sat in my kitchen one night staring at my computer screen looking at flights on Kayak I kept thinking of all the reasons why I was crazy for doing this. I could have gone back to my job and been received with open arms, why was I leaving what would surely be a lucrative career to "find myself". I was bombarding myself with self doubt and second guessing, but finally using all the courage I could muster, I gulped back the rest of my wine and took the biggest leap of faith in my adult life. I clicked "book trip", and just like that it wasn't a hypothetical anymore, it was matter of fact. Whether I was going to stay for a week or two years I didn't know but I had finally crossed the biggest hurdle we face when starting to travel, making the commitment. Now my time frame was set in stone and there was no going back "one-way flight to SYD International, August 8th, 2014". For those of you who doubt you have what it takes to make that leap this is the best advice I can give you, make a monetary commitment. Once you've done that, you stop thinking about it and are forced to start planning it. It's no longer "I might be traveling to" now it has become "I'm moving to", trust yourself and believe in what you know in your heart is right, and with any luck we'll cross paths for a drink someday soon. 

I can only hope that I addressed some of the issues people face when contemplating travel. Obviously this is not a fully comprehensive list, but I think it's a great place to start. If you're considering traveling I implore you to do some research, read tons of travel blogs, and once you decide where you want to go, lock it in. There will never be a perfect time to leave, there's only the time you decide to make it happen. The world is out there for you to explore, you just have to take that leap of faith. Talk to people who you know who've done it, if you want message me personally and I will do my best to get back to you. If you're inspired to make it happen, you'll figure out a way to make it work. Best of luck, and happy travels. 

If You Ain't Cheating... You Ain't Trying

It's been a decade, and two heartbreaking losses, to the same team, on the sports biggest stage, but the New England Patriots are World Champions... again. Few teams in sports are quite as polarizing as this rag-tag bunch from Massachusetts. In his infinite "hoody" wisdom Bill Bellichek has managed to create contenders year after year, with no name super stars, and one Thomas Brady. There's no two ways about it, as with most things Boston sports, people either LOVE the Patriots, or LOATH  them. Now I don't want to downplay the high level of dedication and continued success that Tom and Bill have had in their tenure together, but the fact of the matter is the Patriots might be the worst thing to have happened to the NFL in this generation (not being dramatic or anything right?!). 

 When Russel Wilson threw that quick slant and was picked off, it was deflating to so many people for all the right reasons. Cheaters shouldn't win, and in the last decade nothing has made Patriots detractors happier than watching them get so close, and then losing it all. 

A miraculous catch (arguably would've been the most memorable in Super Bowl history), a tenacious runner, and all it would have taken was one more push, one last skittle powered run, to prove that just because you would've beat the Colts anyways, doesn't mean cheaters get to come out on top. But we all know what happened, we all saw the audible, that "wasn't" an audible. And  we all felt deflated as that pass was just a little too late, and fell abruptly into the hands of another Patriots diamond in the rough. 

Bill Bellichek is a genius, Tom Brady is a top-five "All-Time" quarterback, these things are not debatable. What will be shrouded in debate, and drive sports fans wild for generations to come, is how much of this dynasties success is real, and how much was just a little (some would argue a lot) tainted. What troubles me as a sports fan the most is the fact that nothing of any real consequence will come to pass with this team. Take away their first round drafts picks (they do their best work on the second day of the draft), fine them (Robert Kraft isn't worried about his pocket book), but nothing real, nothing that will really hurt them at their core. 

Barry Bonds is permanantly associated with steroid use, yet was never actually found guilty. He will almost certainly never be elected to the hall of fame, even though he is without a doubt one of the top 20 players in the games long history. We have no problem throwing his whole career, all his accomplishments under the bus, because of what we all assume (and most likely is true), but has never been proven. Yet, Bill Bellichek and Tom Brady will both be 1st Ballot Hall of Famers, and they have both admittedly cheated, and been caught.

Now we probably can't blame Tom, he's just guilty by association, but there's something about the Patriots as a whole that just drives myself, and a lot of other people crazy. I'm not a Seattle fan (though I do love me some beast mode), but this last Sunday I was the 12th man in every sense of the word. There's something about that team, the quarterback who was passed over, the defense that won't quit, that made them the perfect team to go for the 3-peat of Patriot anguish. They represent all that is right about sport, a team that really seems to care and rely on each other. Where there's always something about Bill and the Patriots that make it seem to him like everyone on his team isn't actually a person, but a strategically situated pawn, to be used as he sees fit. That is except for Tom, the Golden Boy, the only piece of the puzzle that had stayed the same, and which makes him complacent in this whole shady experiment. 

It's probably ridiculous to think this whole thing is bigger than a couple of incidences, but something about Bill Bellichek makes any Patriots hating conspiracy seem possible. The ultimate puppet-master pulling all the strings, or at least one can hope. For now I can only hope the Seahawks get healthy, get better, and most importantly, get even. Because nothing makes a Patriots-hater happier than seeing that look of complete and utter despair on Tom Brady's perfectly sculpted jaw line, and hearing that no comment post-game speech from a downtrodden Bellichek. It's a "fine-able" offense when Marshawn Lynch does it, but when it happens the Bill... it's everything that's right in the world of sports. One can only hope that Brady doesn't walk off into the sunset with his head held high, that maybe, just maybe, we can to see those sad, sad tears, one last time. Or maybe I just need a girlfriend and I should stop putting so much energy into hating the Patriots... only time will tell. 

21 Reasons I don't/can't party like I'm 21 anymore...

None of us wanted to believe it. We all said it might have been true for them, but that was them, and we are us, and we are fucking invincible! In college we would drink till 5 a.m. wake up for class the next day at 8 a.m. go to the gym to get on a pump at noon, and be back at the bar in time for happy hour, to do it all over again. Hangovers, those were only something that happened when you mixed too many liquors, and/or drugs together. On the rare occasion we had one, it was nothing a few tylenol and a cold beer couldn't erase. 

Then it started to happen, slowly at first, but every once in a while after about 24, those hangovers would just, stick around. Not all day, and not long enough to do any real damage, but more than before, this was different, this was almost, human. Now at almost 27 years old, a "bad" hangover for me is just when I wakeup from drinking period, but a terrible hangover, that can put me out of commission for a few days time. I experienced one such hangover after a night of drunken debauchery on the eve of 2015, and finally I had to stop denying it to myself, I am no longer immortal. I have found my kryptonite, and it is the same thing that used to be my super power... so these are the 21 reasons I don't/can't drink like I'm 21 anymore.

21. Cost

When you're in college everything is 2-4-1, or $10 all-you-can-drink. When you grow up into reality and decide you can't spend all your time on sticky floors anymore, you realize drinks in the real world add up. For $10 on wednesday nights in college I could get bombed like Hiroshima, to do that in a nice bar/club as an "adult", I would need a second mortgage. 

20. Less Friends

Though we all will have those friends who will party like they're 18 forever, as you grow older it becomes a lot harder to find someone who will start drinking margaritas with you at 3pm on a Tuesday. Now your friends have things like "a mortgage" and "a job" and "three kids", "whatever happened to Taco Tuesday Bro?"

19. Deja Vu

If you are like me, then you know when you go out with your typical drinking buddies, it's usually a fairly similar pattern. While being a regular is great when your in your early 20's and usually leads to awesome perks, like free shots, better service, etc. At some point you realize, "Oh shit, I don't just drink here, I'm a Regular here". Well that might not be such a bad thing when your 65 and retired, for me it's a little to early to start playing Norm from Cheers. (Where everybody knows your name...)

18. One Night Stands

In college pretty much everyone was on the same page. We got drunk, things happened, let's not make a big deal out of this. The most awkward thing about a one night stand back then was the walk across campus and maybe running into that person in biology class. Now we're older we drink with our friends and our co-workers and a one night stand could turn into the worst office weirdness ever, or worse, one of those "relationships" I keep hearing about. 

17. Everyone Looks So Young

At this point in my life, especially while traveling, I have no idea how old girls are when I meet them at a bar. In college it didn't matter, because everyone was with in four years of eachother. Now as I'm about to turn 27 I realize I'm a decade older than some of these girls. While that may seem awesome, in reality 18-year olds are pretty worthless people when it comes to anything else but drinking and looking good. 

16. Drunk Facebook Pics

In college it was a badge of honor to have a great night out and later have to look back. We would anxiously wait until someone posted photos to piece the night together, "Oh ya I remeber that guy in the full bear costume!". Now for a lot of my friends however, Facebook can be a nightmare in the professional world. Employers are using companies to search people's history and find out anything ill-suiting about them. It's one thing if they have to dig back 6 years in your archive, it's another if they find photos of you doing bong rips and shotgunning from last week. 

15. Picking Up Chicks

You'll never know the awesome conversation starting power of, "What's your major?" until you're no longer in college anymore. It was the ultimate "in" move, so many directions to take, so many laughs to be had, so many chances to get some Freshman home. Now I'm forced to ask things like, "Oh how do you like the gas mileage on your Prius?", and "Do you prefer Whole Foods or Trader Joes?". I'm about this close to going back and getting my Masters Degree just so I can have a good opener again. 

14. Grownups Go To Jail

In College and your early 20's it seems like you're pretty invincible, even when it comes to the police. I remember I got a few citations in school, drunk in public, fake ID, etc. but none of these ever lead to any "real" consequences. At worst, just a ticket you'd have to work a few extra shifts at Subway to pay off. But as I've grown older I've realized, I can't really get away with that shit anymore. No longer will cops try not to "ruin" your future and give you a break. You're in the future now bro, and if you get caught peeing on the side of a building, congrats you're a sex offender now.

13. Uber Receipts 

Give me a second to explain this one. Responsibility is awesome, and I, like most of my friends in college got away with a lot of times we shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a car. Now I'm older and wiser and I know drunk driving is a huge no-no! That being said, there's something kind of depressing about seeing 10 different Uber receipts on your bank statement every monday morning after a long weekend. Though lets be honest, who's taking a gross taxi? Not this guy!

12. Making Conversation

There's something magical about being in a loud college bar and throughout the night eventually ending up taking another co-ed home. The magical part is, within the typical college bar you can't actually hear a god-damn thing. So basically you have to communicate through yelling, and hand signals, and lots of shouting of, "Shots?". This doesn't really work as you get older. If I go out with my friends now we try to intentionally find a place where the music isn't too loud, so we can converse and enjoy eachothers company. This is great for catching up with friends but not so great for picking up chicks when you have no material (see number 15).

11. Being a Grandpa

Before I left for my trip I went to a tailgate at my Alma mater. It was great seeing old friends and supporting my beloved Knights but I immediately noticed something different. When we were pregamming to go to the actual tailgate we stopped by one of our old stomping grounds. At this point I had only been out of school for three years but it might as well have been three decades! Everyone was a baby, and I found myself concerned for young girls and their attire, "what would her father think?". Point being you wanna feel real old, real fast, get some of your old college buddies and go back to your favorite college bar, it will age you.  

10. Appreciation of Booze

When I was 18 I couldn't tell you the difference between Mr. Boston and 15-year old Balvenie. But as you get older you start to appreciate things about good booze that were never of importance before. I now know the difference between a good beer and a shit beer, and the same with liquor. And though sometimes it seems to be to my detriment, I know that spirits are meant to be enjoyed, not dropped into Redbull. 

9. I Hate Dancing

Let's be honest I was never a good dancer to begin with, but when I was going to school it was pretty simple. Wait till a rap song came on, grab a cute girl by the waist (if she turns around and gives you the nod, you're in), and then basically stand there sweating and moving your hips back and forth until it's time to get a drink. Grinding may have been most associated with hip-hop but it was DEFINITELY invented by a white guy. That being the extent of my "dance experience" I'm pretty ill-equipped to hit the dance floor these days. 

8. "Come at Me Brah!"

I've always been more of a lover than a fighter, but after 8 Jaeger bombs and a few dozen cheap beers, we all had our moments of "bro-ing" out back in our prime. Back then it didn't matter, a few bruises and a ripped shirt was usually the worst thing you had to worry about. Now the idea of fighting scares me for two reasons. Number one, if I were to get in a fight and beat someones ass, I would most likely be on the wrong end of an assault suite within a month. Number two, and more importantly, I really, really don't like being punched, and odds are now I would be the one receiving the majority of the blows. 

7. Drunk-Texting

If you ask my exes you would get a pretty good consensus that I am a notorious drunk texter. 

Me- "I miss you baby"

Her- "We haven't talked in 6 months dumbass..."

Me- "I've been thinking about you"

Her #2- "I haven't..."

I think two examples is enough. That's all well and good when you're 19 and you can laugh it off the next day. But in this world of constant updates and, marriages, and babies, and more babies, you have to be careful which ex your texting. She might not only be taken, but married with a bun in the oven, and she definitely doesn't want to come over and "snuggle".

6. Getting up for things

When you're a "grown-up" and I'm using that term very loosely here, you finally start to come to the reality that spending all day in bed drinking gatorade and watching Netflix, is no longer "acceptable". I've been in hospitality for a LONG time so it's not exactly like I have a load of responsibilities to consider but at some point waking up past noon every day starts to take its toll on your mental state. "This was ok when I was 20 and missing a film class, but shit my best friend has kids now, and I'm pushing 30." The occasional all day recovery is fine, but at some point we all wanna start to grow up a little and there's no way to do that when you sleep till 3.

5. I don't have "Connections" anymore

When I was 18-22 I didn't wait in line for ANYTHING. I knew someone everywhere, whether they were a brother in my fraternity, or someone I worked with, or even some chick I hooked up with every once in a while. Now, I stand in line. Occasionally I'll know someone somewhere, but now we're older so that person is a manager, and probably won't text me back when I'm at the door, and is probably too busy to get me in anyway. I now live the life of paying covers and waiting 30 minutes for a drink, just like the rest of you. Times have change and the only way to get some attention is with money, because money talks, unfortunately my wallet is a deaf, mute at the moment. 

4. Gym Time

I went to UCF in Orlando, FL. There's a reason our student body got voted one of the sexiest every single year. Aside from living in a state that has year round sun shine and the perfect excuse for women to wear bikinis everywhere, when I was at school we had "The Gym". Now I know some schools have great Rec/Wellness centers, but UCF's was next level (and it got even better after I left). Something like 60,000 sq/ft of pure iron pumping, cardio pounding madness. The perfect place to burn off a long night out, and in school I could easily spend 2-3 hours a day there. Now, it's a hassle to get to the gym, it's expensive, and the facilities aren't nearly as nice, let alone the scenery. But where before it was a kind of escape, now it's a necessity. The first thing you start noticing about your friends after college is who lets themselves go. I may not be the most successful, I may not have the most money, but I for damn sure am not showing up to my 10 year college reunion with a beer gut, unfortunately what that means, is less beer. 

3. I NEED Sleep

When you're young sleep is for old people, and something you do after cramming for exams for three days straight on a redbull and adderall fueled bender. Drinking heavily however, tends to let's say, "affect" my sleep patterns as I've gotten older. When I was in school it was nothing to stay up till 5 am sleep a few hours and then get right back up for class that morning. Now if I don't get my 8 hours I'm basically just a walking zombie. I never understood how important a great nights sleep was until I finally got one. After years of sleeping on futons and air mattresses (that's not a joke I spent the majority of college on an air mattress) I finally understand what a real mattress is. I've learned it doesn't matter how good the mattress is, going on a bender seems to throw a wrench in my sheep counting. 

2. Chugs not Drugs

Maybe it's just me being surrounded by teenage backpackers like I am, being overseas at the moment. Maybe I just wasn't into the scene when I was in my early 20's anyway, but it seems like not many people just drink and get smashed anymore. It seems like everyone I meet now is on something. I have no problem with recreational drug use, and I think it's totally fine if these guys partake wisely, however, it definitely creates a different kind of "party". For one, if you don't like jumping around listening to shit EDM till 8 am, you will find yourself in a very awkward position when you're at some of the clubs these, "crazy kids" are going to. Maybe it's just how my friends and I partied in school but I don't think anyone should party past 3 am. The way we did it was start at ten, drink aggressively for 4-5 hours, go home and try again. Call me old fashioned, but you can keep your MDMA, and your nose candy, I'll take shots and long necks every time. 

1. Hangovers... dear sweet merciful Jesus... HANGOVERS!!

We all have them, we all hate them, they are the "Ya, I don't really get hangovers" friend. If you had distaste for them when you were younger, you now loathe them from the core of your being. Because if you are like me, once upon a time you were bullet-proof, and now your target practice. When you first start to notice your hangovers are getting worse you can try to play it off like nothing is wrong, "you probably just drank too many house whiskeys last night". But then they start to creep in no matter what you drink, and soon it's not a matter of "if" you'll have a hangover, but simply how bad will it be. I had my come to Jesus with the hangover gods on the 1st of January 2015. It was eye opening, mostly because I could barely open my eyes. I had apparently run a drunk marathon the night before and every muscle is my body was spasming and wretched (seriously I physically was running all over town). It was then, finally, I learned that no longer am I the Super Man I once fancied myself to be, but rather more like the human counter part Clark Kent. I have found my kryptonite in the bottom of a bottle, and now I realize, I am invincible no more. So now I will be a grown up, have two drinks with dinner, and no shots, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. "Except tonight, tonight my friends in town, and I have the day off tomorrow, I mean it is Friday so it's happy hour, if we go to our bar we'll get free shots, two shots won't hurt, I'll just drink a lot of water... SHOTS!!!!!"

We may not be invincible anymore, but the one thing I know for sure is you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I maybe 50 one day with two kids of my own, and a grandson on the way (that means I'd have to start like tomorrow though), but when I see my old buddies, all bets are off. I think the main thing I've learned, as I've come to terms with becoming human, is you've just got to save your big ones for special occasions (weddings, birthdays, divorces, etc.). There's nothing wrong with being wounded for a few days, as long as it's not an every day thing anymore. From now on as I journey into my late-20's, practically ready for retirement, I will live by the Tobey Keith motto, "May not be good as I once was, but I'm as good once, as I ever was." Preach brother Tobey, preach!

If you liked this article and want to hear more about my travels, adventures, and dealing with "adulthood", follow my blog (http://kangaroontang.blogspot.com.au), add me on twitter (@logansdownunder), and keep up with my instagram (@logandownunder). 

Leave That, Take This

It's finally here, the day you've been waiting for. Your stuff is all there, ready to go, it's been checked, and double checked, and unpacked and repacked 100 times in the last month, trying not to forget anything. You're about to leave but your your backpack wont shut, somethings wrong, shoot it just closed yesterday, you've got to leave something, but what?! Well you've got to bring your laptop, that's obvious, and your boom box, 7 pairs of shoes, duh. What about the comb, I could always get a new comb right? Ya leave the comb, take the shoes it'll all  be good, now if I could just find some place for this acoustic guitar...

When you're getting ready to travel, one of the biggest obstacles to figure out is, "Exactly what the f$%# am I gonna need?" You may be only leaving for a few months, or maybe even a few years, but the struggle is always the same, unless you travel like the Kardashians you come to the conclusion that you need to carry everything you own, in one backpack. So how do you do it? Can it even be done? Obviously theres no right, perfect way to pack, it's different for each person based on their needs and how long they're going for, but there's definitely a WRONG way to pack. So heres my little list from experience of what is absolutely essential, and what you should just throw back in storage. 

Don't Bring: A Computer

Before I left for Australia I was considering bringing my brand new Macbook Air with me, though I miss the large spacious keyboard and the sexy sleekness, it would have been a terrible mistake. Though most of the people you meet while traveling are friendly and inviting, there's always bound to be some rotten eggs, and nothing gets scum bags frothing like that little white apple. It's also a matter of convenience, ya it's great to have your computer, but when your constantly moving around and staying in different places all the time it's just one more thing to keep track of, and one that you definitely wouldn't want to lose. When it comes to electronics and travel my rule is if losing it would make me cry, probably don't bring it. 

Do Bring: A Tablet

The irony of this is of course now that I'm blogging for Elite Daily it would be 1000 times easier for word processing purposes if I had my laptop, but assuming your just traveling and blogging for fun, tablet is the way to go. I purchased my refurbished Ipad Mini for about $200 and bought a bluetooth keyboard on groupon for another $25. That being said I would still be pissed if I lost it, but not to the extent of heartbreak with my Macbook Air. Tablets are super cheap and affordable these days, and with wifi compatibility, its all you need to skype family and friends back home. Plus they are small and pretty durable depending on the brand, I carry mine with me in my day bag and it barely takes up any space at all. For some great places to get a cheap tablet check out the groupon app, or visit (www.overstock.com), they always have great deals on tech. 

Don't Bring: Your electric toothbrush

I made this mistake of originally bringing my $150 cybersonic, gum disease controling, 1000 rpm, tooth whitening system, with a total of about... one replacement head. My thought process was, "I'm going to a first world country, it'll be super easy to find replacements and charging will be a breeze." There's a few problems with that:

1. You never know where you'll be staying, I lived in a small beach town for two months where the closest grocery store was 30 minutes away.

2. Depending on where you stay you never know if you'll even have access to an outlet to charge that bad boy, and even if you do you'd probably risk infection by leaving it out in the open.

3. The rest of the world seemingly doesn't give a damn about dental hygiene. This is not a stereotype if it's true, yes the UK has the bad reputation but pretty much all of Europe needs to learn what floss is. So even if you do happen upon a bigger pharmacy or store, odds are they might not have your brand of 3000 watt replacement brush heads anyway.

Do Bring: Floss, mouthwash, etc. 

I didn't realize how important dental hygiene really was until I started traveling. This has nothing to do with the awesome people you meet and how great of human beings they may be, but for some reason the rest of the world doesn't seem to care about having pearly whites. Say what you will about Americans, we may be fat, dumb and lazy, but we paid $8000 for braces and another $2000 to get those SOB's bleached whiter than Michael Jackson! But in all honestly seeing the lack of care people give to their teeth that I've met, I'd implore you to stick with the basics but make sure you use all of them. Everyday I brush, floss, and use whitening mouthwash, and trust me, it makes a difference, and those throw away toothbrushes are cheap.

Don't Bring: A whole mess load of clothes

On the day I was leaving for my trip I felt pretty darn proud of myself. I had narrowed down my entire wardrobe for the next year (or more) to just under two dozen clothing items (between mostly shirts, jeans, shorts, jackets, etc.). I had read a lot of blogs about how to back, what to bring and what not to bring before hand and I thought I was pretty spot on. Five months later I've almost doubled my wardrobe, but I've been living in the same house so I haven't had to worry about stuffing it all back in my bag (it's not all gonna fit incase your wondering). The bottom line is no matter how little you bring, it's almost always too much if your bag is full when you walk out the door. It's super easy to find cheap clothes and cool tshirts in markets that you might have to turn down otherwise because you know you won't be able to fit them. My advice take half of what you think you need, wait a couple days then half that again. 

Do Bring: A whole bunch of undies (and socks)

The complete opposite of this holds true for underwear and socks. Not that it's impossible to find underwear and socks overseas, but I'm very particular about my underwear and socks, and just like back home they have a strange knack for going missing. Also, you'd be amazed how much wear and tear you can put on some undies and how many holes you'll get in your socks when you don't have a few dozen to "share the load" if you will. On a personal note I love atheltic briefs, they give you some breathing room, they're super comfy, and they dry extremely quick (something you take for granted until you have to use a clothes line.)

Don't Bring: Fancy hair, face and body products

Now I can't speak fully on this topic because currently I look like a hippie-jesus, cave man, but there was a time when I put a lot of thought and effort into my appearance. If you're only traveling for a few weeks or a few months, you can probably mostly ignore this advice, because you can probably scrape by using a little less makeup, or hair gel here and there. But for those of you going for the long haul I would advise that with the unpredictability of traveling, the desire to be perfectly quaffed and groomed, usually starts to fade away pretty quickly when you're on the road. This is not to say don't stick to the essentials (i.e. deodorant, maybe some foundation for the ladies) but realize in the grand scheme of things nobody really cares but you that you haven't washed your hair for a week. 

Do Bring: Sunscreen, bug spray, and first aid kit

If you are planning on traveling to Australia especially this first one is a MUST! They have a freaking hole in the ozone here (like a real one not an Al Gore one), and they charge $16 a bottle for sunscreen because they can. I was outside riding my bike one day for about an hour in a tank top, and I couldn't fully move my lobster arms for about 3 days. The other ones are just convenient because it's not something you ever think about until you need it. You never agree to take a weekend camping trip and your first thought is, "Oh I better pick up some OFF!". No, you get out to the bush and if no one has any to spare you become a human buffett.

Don't Bring: Thick Winter Gear

Now obviously Australia doesn't have a "Winter", like we know back home (I grew up in Chicago), but it still gets pretty damn cold, cold enough you want more than a hoodie. The thing is coats take up a lot of space in a bag and even if you do show up in the middle of winter they are only of use to you for a couple of weeks. The better thing to do is start familiarizing yourself with online community trading sites (kind of like craigslist, but less creepy). In Australia there are a few but the main one in Gumtree. Basically when you start to travel you realize there are a lot of other people out there just like you, who are willing to sell you slightly used goods for a fair price simply to break even. None of us are here to make money but I make a couple extra bucks for my travels to asia, and you get a sweet discount on a coat to go snowboarding with, easy. There's no reason to lug that stuff around with you for a whole year, when odds are you'll only need it for a small portion of your trip. 

Do Bring: Layers

When I originally flew into Sydney it was cold and disgusting out, I didn't have a proper jacket, but what I did have was a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, and a windbreaker. Each individually not all that warm, but together their powers combined to be a perfect "make-shift" jacket for whenever the cold got a little out of hand. The  key here is trying to find stuff that's really all weather, so instead of one huge down jacket I could only use in 40 degrees or less, I had a big fluffy hoodie and an all weather wind breaker. Combined they basically turned into a full down coat but take up only half as much space. If you want other travel light ideas like this I'm a huge fan of REI stores (www.REI.com). They got me setup with a lot of travel gear and the staff is extremely helpful if you give them a general idea of where your going.   

For this last one I don't really have a don't bring to go along with it. But having bounced around from some hostels and share houses while traveling I can tell you this is one that no one ever mentioned when I was reading travel blogs and is highly underrated. 

Do Bring: A set of travel plates/utensils

Before I left I was in that same store (REI) in the camping department and I saw this really cool whole set of collapsable utensils, plates, bowls etc. that you could easily fit in your bag. I thought it looked great but was a little impractical, unless you were well... camping. This is the one thing I most regret not buying before I left!!! If you're traveling for a short time you'll be staying in hostels and silverware and plates are like gold! If you're traveling for a long time at some point you will probably have roommates who are disgusting and dont wash their damn dishes and having your own set would be priceless! Again this seems like something you might never need but I assure you anyone who's traveled long enough has probably had to eat a steak with a spoon, and it's not until you do that do you realize how nice it would be to have some cutlery of your own.

The point is there's no right way to pack for long term travel, but there can certainly be a wrong way. To anyone who's already on the road, or planning on going back soon I hope maybe you picked up a pointer or two you hadn't yet considered. For anyone thinking about traveling for the first time, consider this a starting point, keep reading and discovering more, and remember no matter how much you plan at some point in your trip you will say the magic words, "Why the F%$& did I bring THIS?!". But  that's more than alright, that's exactly how it should be. Safe travels everyone and if you liked this and want to read more follow me on my blog (http://kangaroongtang.blogspot.com.au). If you want to help boost my twitter rank (@logansdownunder), do that too, also there's instagram (@logandownunder), facebook (Logan Emmett), etc. Bon Voyage!!!!

6 reasons to quit your job and start traveling... now!

When I told people I was leaving the country to work and travel abroad in Australia for a year (maybe longer), most people were very encouraging. A few thought I was crazy, but the majority simply said something to the effect of, "that's so awesome, I wish I could do something like that". Well after 6 months of being on my own down under, I'm here to tell you, YOU CAN and YOU SHOULD! The only thing holding any of us back from globe trotting, and following our wanderlusting hearts is ourselves. So I present to you: "The 6 reasons to quit your job, and start traveling... now". 

1. Time is Our Only Real Asset:

I know a lot of people I went to school with have been fed the same garbage I was, since I was a small child (not by my parents but by society as a whole). "You can be whatever you want to be... until you realize that you can't and now you need to get a real job and start making a living for yourself". While obviously it's true that most of us will not be movie stars, and astronauts, and at some point we have to accept this inevitability; it doesn't mean we can't lead lives outside 9-5, 401k, and social security. As we start to grow older and come to the conclusion that maybe our childhood fantasies aren't realistic it seems a lot of us unfortunately settle. We don't realize that we can adjust our dreams, we don't have to give up on them all together. Now this is not to say my lifestyle is glamorous, and I have a lot more I want to do and accomplish, but the first step was breaking away from where I was. That doesn't mean you have to move to another continent, but move somewhere. If you've been with the same company for ten years and you see another 30 in your future and that scares the shit out of you... quit. Money isn't everything and saving a bunch of it won't make you happier. You can buy almost everything you want with enough money, but you can't by back your youth. You can't take back the time you spent in the office instead of on the beach, or in the mountains, or kayaking down the river. The key is having enough faith in yourself and your skill set that you are confident you can get work elsewhere. You may have always wanted to live in Colorado in the mountains, but you've got seniority at your office. I implore you take the pay cut and take a chance to go somewhere new. That way when you do get to spend your free time, you're doing it somewhere you love (and weed is legal there so, bonus!). 

2. Traveling Helps You Learn About Yourself:

"You think you know, but you have no idea." Anyone from my generation knows this iconic line from the Real World, but nothing makes life more real than venturing out to find yourself. You think you love chain restaurants and comfortalbe seating, until you've pushed your way through a eclectic night market shoving food into your mouth off a paper plate trying not to get knocked over. You think you know your coffee of choice, until you come to a place where coffee is an art form. A place where no one drinks "drip", and you are quickly educated on the subtle yet vital differences (and not everything is fucking pumpkin flavored). Most importantly, you think you know who you are and have some idea of your boundaries. That is until you start to say yes to things, and end up on a back alley adventure, or stumble into a random bar to see ten trannys walking around in Christmas attire, with one lip synching Maria Carey's "I don't want a lot for Christmas". You think you know, but you have no idea...

3. Traveling Opens the Boundary of Your Comfort Zone:

Believe it or not I'm not much of a risk taker and I happen to like my little safety bubble like the rest of us. But when you travel you meet people who will change your perspective on life and how it is meant to be lead. You realize there are things more important than money, and security, like adventure and experience. These people are the 20-somethings, who lead a life of invincibility, to them there is no tomorrow, no bad decisions in the past, only the present. I still struggle to live my life in the moment as much as some people I've met, but you can be sure I'm doing a lot better than I was before. 

4. You Never Know What Opportunities May Present Themselves:

When you make a decision to stop leading your "normal life" and start traveling you open yourself up to a world you never knew existed before. If you are usually not so great in social situations you can start to push the boundaries of the norm. Any kid who's ever moved as a child knows, that it's kind of nice to be able to push the reset button on who you are. You can reinvent yourself into the type of person you've always wanted to be. Well take that, and multiply it by a 1000 when it comes to traveling. Not every person who sets out to see the world is an adventurer, but when you talk to people on the road you see who they really are, not who they've been trained to be by habit and circumstance. And by opening yourself up and communicating and meeting as many new people as possible you never know what could happen. I've met so many people from around the world out here I have places to stay all over Europe should I ever chose to backpack my way out there. I've also met people who've gotten jobs, started exciting new relationships, and made tons of new life long friendships, it's all out there you just have to be open to it. 

5. Worst Case Your Job Will Be There When You Get Back:

Obviously this isn't always the case, but for most of us in our early to mid-20's right now is the time where if you do have an office job you will be starting to work your way up, which basically means you're at the bottom. And while experience is good, don't take for granted the fact that some employers value life experience just as much as work experience. Best case scenario, you have a year or two sabitcal and come back to your old job where your boss loves the fact that you've seen the world and wants you to lead his/her new division. Worst case, you get a job doing the same thing you were doing before you left, but now you have some life experience under your belt. You have a better understanding of people and the way the world really is. You can then use all this new found practical knowledge, and you make your way up through the ranks faster than if you had stayed put in the first place, and you got to see the world. 

6. The Future is Uncertain: 

Every day there is another engagement or baby popping up on my Facebook feed. Everyday someone has passed the Bar Exam, or gotten their real estate license, or got that promotion. From what I've come to realize the two biggest things that hold us back from packing up and going, are fear of the unknown, and complacency/success. Fear of the unknown obviously being, what will happen if I leave all this security behind, I have a good job, making decent money and potentially a bright future. Complacency and success aren't usually used together, but this would quantify a number of things from promotions, to engagements, to babies, whatever comes along in our life that makes us feel as if we need to be complacent where we are. 

"Well I can't leave now I'm up for that promotion." 

"We've been dating for three years, it's probably time to get engaged, but I can't travel and be worried about a wedding."

"O shit, we're pregnant."

Now where the last reason may be a valid reason to stay put (or in some cases to get the next plane out of town), there's a number of reasons we rationalize why we have to stay in our current situation. But the future is uncertain, your company could fold, your significant other could leave you, and maybe that baby doesn't look very much like you. The point is if you keep making excuses about what could happen you will miss opportunities to make things happen yourself. 

So get out there! If you've always wanted to hike K-2 go for it, if Australia is your dream destination, meet me here and we'll go for a drink. If you have no idea where you want to go, spin a globe put your finger down, and book the next flight out of dodge. The longer you wait the more things you will accumulate that will be harder to leave behind. It's easy to break a lease, it's a lot harder when you have a mortgage. Just take a risk, fly by the seat of your pants, and know that everything you leave behind will still be there, if/when you choose to come back. The world is out there for you to explore, you just have to go... now!

Tolerance

I don't know if I should write anything about this, actually I definitely shouldn't. I'm a white middle-class American, I may not have ever won the Powerball but I definitely won the genetic and origin lottery. When you grow up in a white middle-class suburb it's almost impossible to imagine people aren't privileged in the same way you are. Alll of your friends are from a similar upbringing, all of their parents live little cookie cutter lives, and it's easy to get lost in the safety and simplicity of suburbia. That being said once you've moved or experienced something outside this existence it's easy to see that you are in fact in the great minority. 

Now I truly believe America is the land of opportunity and no matter where you are born or what circumstances you are born into you can make it out and be a success. It's just a lot, LOT harder for some people than others. We've come along way in the last 50-60 years and we like to think of ourselves as extremely tolerant and understanding now, but the truth is not too many generations ago the world was a very different place. And while technology and inter connectivity have expanded our lives and our understanding and appreciation of different cultures and people, it's impossible for people to change over night. We still live in a world filled with racial intolerance, and hatred towards those we may deem immoral in their practices, and this goes both ways. Black people can have just as many prejudices as whites, who can have just as many as latinos, but we're starting to move away from it. The key with evolution is passing along traits, birds didn't evolve into flight from one ancestor to another, it took years and generation upon generation of mutations passed down. That's what we need to continue to do with our youth and continue to instill in ourselves and maybe someday we can truly live in a world without preconceived notions and ideals. (hopefully the world will not be destroyed of all natural resources by then). 

I read something interesting today, and it's basically what spawned this desire to write something outside of my normal travel blog. Chris Rock recently did an interview in which he stated that Black People aren't now accomplishing more, White people are simply nicer now. It's a pretty dramatic statement but not to far from the truth. Basically what he was getting at was in our society, in White American Society, whites have held all the cards and controlled the playing field for, while, forever. He was saying that many who see having a Black President as a huge step forward for Black Americans are missing the point. He's saying we`re finally letting them have a President. There were plenty of qualified Black political leaders in the last 100 years (Colin Powells almost campaign comes to mind), but from Rock's perspective it wasn't that they weren't qualified to hold the position, it's that those who were, and are in control, wouldn't let them. It's a double edged sword, it's not exactly a total shot at White Americans but it's definitely not a compliment. But in this interview I can see the silver lining, and I think because I was born with the priviledge, and skin color that Mr. Rock was not, I think I can say certain things he might not be able to get away with. Basically we are on the cusp of crossing a momumental boundary. There was a lot of things wrong with the baby boomers, and Gen-X, and by no means are we "Millenials" any better, but what we are, is progressive. Some people take that as a negative stereotype, "those kids don't care about anything", but really it means we've become open to more. We didn't live the hard knock life of the depressions, and World Wars, and Vietnam, and we've had time to dwell on things that aren't a focus when life is in turmoil, and society is challenged. 

That's why our generation is worried about Global Warming, and animal cruelty, and probably even part of the reason we like terrible, crappy, CRAPPY music. But overall it's a good thing, it's given us time to care about those less fortunate than us, to believe in something other than religion, and patriotism (cornerstones of a country in war, or economic distress), it's given us time to care about people. More and more of my friends have slowly moved away from organized religion and pre-selected notions we were taught as children, not because the pride comes before the fall, but rather because without troubles in our lives to worry us we've had time to puzzle other deeper questions. We've examined what is inherently right and wrong, and we've come to the conclusion that people, shouldn't be judged because they're different, because they're gay, or poor, or black, or brown, or purple. This age of technological freedom has opened the doors for discussions that in the past would be pushed behind closed doors. You  can now reach the world with the click of an "Enter" key, and for all the negatives placed upon my generation, the one thing they can't argue with is we've created a voice. I just hope we continue to use it for the good and betterment of the world we live in, as we have children of our own, and pass down our beliefs and ideals we will see the departure of the previous generations. Those who were close-minded who came before us, and created this world that Mr. Rock was referring too, soon enough they will be gone. It will be up to us to continue to carry that torch in the right direction, so someday it won't be an issue of "white people being nicer now", that will simply be the way society is. Or not, we could definitely fuck this whole thing up to... but here's hoping, fingers crossed!