A Travel Commitment

Shaun and I have done it. We have made the symbolic commitment. It may not make much sense to some people, but for travelers, they understand. The big travel commitment.

Shaun and I bought our South America road map and Lonely Planet’s South America on a shoestring.

It is amazing how something as “small” as purchasing a map is almost as good as hopping on the plane tomorrow. Its a symbol. Its your travel commitment. Hell, you’re for the most part asking South America’s hand in marriage and she just said, “I do.” And we’re doing it.

Once we got home from the bookstore, not only did we immediately unfold the map, but I dove head first into reading about Argentina.

Right now the South America map is pinned to the wall in our room – our daily reminder of the trip that is yet to come and the insane amount of planning I’m about to jump into. I know its a bit cliche but I feel like an explorer of the days of old. There is the thought of South America, but when its laid out in front of you it somehow becomes more tangible. The countries exist. Machu Picchu is not just a pretty picture.

We’re Indiana Jones and are about to go on an adventure of a lifetime.

I cannot even tell you how much Shaun and I were into Indiana Jones as children. Being born in the early 80s the concept and culture of Dr. Jones was always around. He was our hero and was always discovering something astronomically fantastic. Shaun read all the Young Indiana Jones books and had an iguana named Indy. I pretended my jump ropes were whips as I screamed out “DUN DUN DUN DUN! DUNDUNDUN!” This is where our hearts learned to be wild, inquisitive, and full of wonder. If he could go to all these places and learn all these things… why couldn’t we?

And while Shaun and I are so terribly excited about our trip, I forget that not everyone is as “into” our backpacking adventure as we are.

One person we know is currently in the military and was a bit bewildered that we even considered going.

“There are bad, bad people down there. I used to do Special Ops missions and you wouldn’t believe how cold-hearted some people are. They have guerrillas and bandits and they WILL kidnap and torture people like you. Don’t make me charter a plane and come rescue you if anything happens.”

Another person made sure that I knew about the people:

“Be careful. The people in South America are very unfriendly.”

And we wonder why so many Americans refuse to travel. When we live in a world of fear mongering, the only place that people think is safe is home. No humanity exists outside the border of the United States and everyone is trying to get you. I would honestly rather live a full, exciting life on the edge than live in a safe, sterile environment for the rest of my life.

If I had to work in a cubicle forever I would surely shrivel up and die.

What do you think is a trip commitment? What do you do that makes it official?