Thank you

This episode of the EKO Worldtour is officially over. I am sitting in my good friend Trace's apartment in downtown Chicago, disoriented from lack of sleep induced by a combination of jetlag and this blowout weekend with old college friends.

This trip was great. We rode on or in planes, taxis, pick-up trucks, buses, vans, bullet trains, skytrains, commuter trains, subways, trams, an elephant, a bamboo raft, bumboats, tuk tuks, motos, and bicycles. We visited castles, shrines, temples, ruins, statues, mosques, markets, memorials, parks, museums, and gardens. We ate everything, from the Keiseki to the yakitori, from five-star restaurant to zero-star street vendor, and from early-morning sushi to stir-fried chicken cartilage. We got lost, especially in Japanese train stations. We goofed around in a ryokan. We got weird in an onsen. We brought the peanut-butter-jelly dance far and wide. We challenged and sometimes dominated locals in Street Fighter 2 and Connect 4. We had san beeru. We found epic city views. We saw strange modern art. We went to birthday parties. We played bizarre video games. We karaoked. We stayed up all night with the cool kids in Tokyo. We went to a tech-house dance party in Kyoto. We hung out with domesticated deer. We crushed the best stew ever. We considered the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Park in Hiroshima. We saw sumo and Japanese baseball. We hunted and finished Ron Mexico’s bottles. We tried to learn the synchronized hand dances of the club kids in Singapore. We bartered. We played a lot of pool. We found the beach. We drank too many of the best coconut shakes in the world. We had clothes tailored. We learned how to cook Thai food. We hung out late with models. We lost dance-offs in Kuala Lumpur. And in Kuala Lumpur I finally found mangosteen.

Does that all sound good to you? Me too! In short, we had a lot of fun.

For everything I am greatly indebted to my companions in my travels. Kennon was a great partner in crime for the entire trip. He somehow managed to be a true student of our travel books while also occasionally opening himself to venturing away from the recommendations found in those pages. I knew from our time in Louisiana together that he would bring humorous perspectives and exciting curiosity to the trip, and he did not prove me wrong. I was fortunate, again, to have such a good friend along for the fun. As I said in an earlier post, Schreiner was a great addition to the trip, as well. Finally, our hosts in Tokyo and Singapore showed us unique parts of those cities, and generally made our times there manageable, interesting, and exciting. The trip really would not have been the same without the help, guidance, and friendship of Chris Jones, Miwa, Saya, Minami, Chris Brennan, Berger, Jen, and Samar.

There is something to be said for decontextualizing oneself, being in a place unfamiliar and strange, even if for only a short time. For me, it makes me notice more about the world because heightened consciousness is necessary just to operate in such an environment. I have to examine every detail, and consider what would otherwise be taken for granted. When traveling I search for understanding of other places and cultures, but in this way somehow I learn most about myself. And there is so much to see. These are some of the reasons I recognize my extreme privilege that I may go on these trips.

Tonight I fly to New York City, where I will make my new permanent home and begin my new work. Thank you, again.