"Today I was steady busy all day long and I'm still going. If you were to ask me exactly what kept me so busy, I'ld have a hard time telling you. So many little things that just add up, I guess. It felt like a hundred things were checked off the "list". Maybe 100 more things will appear on that list tomorrow, but I feel good about the day.

It made me think about living in the moment. Its kind of a Zen/Budhist thing. Not thinking of the past or future, but focusing on the moment. Sometimes its forced apon us through business of activity. Because it takes all our resources to deal with the current situation, you don't have the luxury of considering the past or worrying about the future. Harnessing all your energy for the task at hand, whatever it is, can be quite satisfying.

When I look back at my history, I have been most happy when I have lived in the moment. All 5 senses are trained on what's going on presently. My brain isn't corrupting that information with other considerations. Things are intense and become almost instinctual.

I'll share a part of my history to illustrate my point. A year after college, I decided to meet up with my best friend from my semester abroad in Kenya. We decided to start in Kenya again with a certain amount of money and backpack/travel throughout Africa until our money ran out. It was great to begin our journey in Kenya because it was familiar to us and we were visiting our old friends and homestays around the country. Kenya is a very diverse geographic and cultural country with a lot to see and do.

After we had settled in, we first planned to go from East Africa to West Africa through the heart of darkness that is the Congo. But more importantly, we promised to wake up every day and re-evaluate what we wanted to do. It was this living in the moment that ultimately led to incredible adventures during our journeys. There was no timeline, no place to be. We only looked to spend as little as possible to prolong it. All adventures were on the table for consideration. The experiences were so intense and new to us. Our minds were really opened to the beauty and majesty of Africa and its people. It is like no other place on this earth, filled with incredible tragedy and uplifting elements I've never seen elsewhere.

I could write for days about that trip, it ended up lasting 9 months, 15 countries and costing me less than $10 a day for everything but my ticket to and from Africa. There were so many fascinating stories and adventures that will stay with me a lifetime. I've gone back 8 times since on shorter 3-4 week trips and can't say I fully grasp it yet. But for some reason I always felt incredibly alive and living in the moment when I was there. My senses were teeming as I tried to take it all in. I rarely thought of back home. I didn't consider my future, nor dwell on my past. I just lived, and for that I am thankful.

From time to time, I'll share some of my adventures throughout Africa in this blog. Some make incredible stories, others are humorous, some just very personal. Most are at the very least entertaining."