Sweetness...

Hey gang,
So I am hoping that this is going to be one of my longer blog posts as a ton of stuff has been going on in my life and I would like to share it with you all. This trip is turing out to be something that I never thought it would and it seems to open my eyes to so many things every day. I feel like people are still going to feel that I am the same Marcus when I get back (well at least I hope so) but somethings are going to change for sure. Lets go through some of the things that have happened thus far and how I feel that they have changed my life. After that I will dive into some of the stuff I have been doing and then after this blog gets posted I am going to update some photos onto my new photo page so make sure to check them out. I can't tell you guys how great it makes me feel to know that people check this blog and see my photos. I love the comments on both pages.

So, traveling so far from home for such a long period of time has really made me realize how strong the friendships that I have back home are. Everyday I have e-mails or facebook messages that are asking me what is going on in my travels. I often run from the computer leaving my AIM up and running and when I get back the desktop is covered in IM's from friends and family wishing me the best in all I do and one close friend sent me a wonderful IM that said something like thus "Marcus, get off the computer and go do something amazing... your in EUROPE!" It gave me a great chuckle. Again all of your guys love and support has been great and your friendships are valued. This trip has really shown me that no matter where I go or what I end up doing after college that you guys will stick with me. That means a ton.

I think the next thing that I have really learned about myself that this trip has put into focus is that I worry to much about things that are out of my control. This really hit hard yesterday. I went to the park for a while and set up my hammock just to get away from all the Shakespeare and I found that I just couldn't relax. I was thinking about things that have been going on with friends back home, what could go wrong on my travels once I head off into new countries by myself, and what I need to start to figure out as next year will be my last year in undergrad. As many of you know I have a ton of ideas of stuff that I want to do (camping store being the biggest dream) but what I am going to have to do to make a living has been a huge weight on my shoulders. Then it kind of hit me... I can't really do anything about these problems. Sure I can give friends advise. Sure I can pre-plan my trips and be safe with my money and documents. Sure, I can even go see some kind of job expert to see what I am really made to do, but in the end none of that shit really matters and me stressing about it doesn't matter. Life works in its own way and in the end very little can be done to change it. I know this might sound a little odd and an easy conclusion to come to but I think putting it into effect into my life will make everything just run smother.

Last big change, I got a girl over here pregnant so I guess that means I'm a dad now. No I'm just pulling your chain. I bet that your heart skipped a beat though. That was kinda mean. No the last big thing is that this trip has really made me realize what I value in life and what I wasn't in my own life when I get older. I realized that while money might make some aspects of life really simple it doesn't have to be flowing out of your pockets for you to be happy. I have traveled to a number of places in the last 35 days and the locations have changed from huge cities like Rome to small communities like Glastonbury. The theme that I have really caught on to is that people in the local communities always seem to be way more happy. I always told myself that I never would want to live in a place like Saline (my home town) because I thought it felt small and that you never get to meet new people. Being over here I realize that small isn't a bad thing. In fact I think the a nice medium size town has a sense of community if people come at it with the right mind set. Also, I think that the people that you surround yourself with and tolerate play a big role in how one feels to life. I think that people feel like the have to like this person because you have a mutual connection to them via a real friend or that its rude to not spend time with someone who you are forced / asked to be around. In the end though I have come to realize that just because you don't like someone doesn't mean that they are a bad person it means that you want different things out of life and thus are being counterproductive to one another. Thus Ill sum it up into three points titled...
Marcus' Things To Make A Happy Life
1) Keep an eye on your money but don't let it run your life. If you need to spend a few extra dollars on something that you are going to enjoy then do it. More money will come your way. Yet, don't buy stuff just because it will make you look / make you have things that you think other people will care about.
2) Live in a community not in area. While I tend to like small, tech savvy, and nature aware communities that doesn't mean that my idea of a good community is for everybody. A community can be a group of people in a large city that share a passion and meet often to talk about such and live by one another. It could also be a group of farmers who don't like city folk and meet at the same pub to figure out how they can help one another with current projects. Communities make for a better life.
3) Getting along with everybody is impossible. In America, we feel that everybody needs to like everybody else because it makes things easy. This is wrong. What it does do is make it so people are going place with people who they feel interrupt the flow of things. Surround yourself with people you like and if someone you don't is going to be involved opt to stay home and read a book or work on something that you personally enjoy. You will find that it will be a better time and you will get something great out of it rather then going out and finding that you want to smash your head through a window because the guy across the table from you sounds like a moron.

Wow that was a lot of typing. I think I'll keep this next part short and add more tomorrow so that you guys can go out and do other things.

I went on a number of trips these past few days and the photos I add should point some of them out. I was going to go back to Glastonburry today but I need to catch up on some reading and relax as I don't want to burn myself out. Like I said I'll blog more on the locations later. I also dropped some letters in the mail today.

~Marcus