Brock { Abroad }

As I reflect on my experience, I recognize that while Spain first taught me to enjoy life, it has now also reinforced in me the need for balance in order to live a truly fulfilling life. It’s no surprise this lesson comes from a country that clocks in some of the highest hours of labor in all of Europe, yet still makes time for a daily siesta! I’ve stopped hiking, but I am still “on the trail.” I believe that the pilgrimage never really ends as I look at the trail ahead; a path of self-growth on all levels with an opportunity to plant some seeds for the future. Here’s my process of beginning my path as a progressive pilgrim. Give it a try with me, if you want.

When I was first here in Rotterdam, some questions began springing up inside of me. You see, it all started reading about these things called goals. I’d had some long term ones written in the back of my notebook, but had never given it much thought beyond that. So, I decided I’d write another list of goals for my travels. I realized I’d never actually given a tremendous amount of thought as to what I wanted out of this journey. I then realized that a lot of people don’t really take the time to plan what they really want to get out of life. Read the rest of this entry »

Writing
- Write 1,000 words a day, post almost every day.
- Write as a Glimpse Foundation Foreign Correspondent.
- Write 30 people projects
- Publish six pieces of writing, four personal pieces Read the rest of this entry »

…taken from the back of my notebook from the last year of secondary school:

-See every country in the world
- Bicycle the Pacific Coast Highway
- Become a certified SCUBA instructor
- SCUBA the Great Barrier Reef
- Climb one of the seven summits
- See Carnaval in Rio, Love Parade in Germany, and Kumbh Mela in India
- Go heli-skiing, spelunking, and skydiving
- Take a bush plane ride into Africa
- Sail around the world
- Become fluent in Arabic and French
- Bathe in the Seine/Ganges (rivers)
- Go to an Olympic event
- Meet Rolf Potts
- Stand at both the North and South Pole
- Go to the World Cup
- Have a freshly-rolled cigar in Cuba
- Meet a head of state
- Live and work in France
- Finish the last Harry Potter

So, my website has undergone a bit of a make-over. I have a new banner photo, a new photo format, and have cleaned up the long post into more condensed previews. Finally, I changed my About page (colors may be off, sorry, so read below) to something I recently wrote as my statement of purpose for the National Geographic Youth Correspondents Program I think it fits me a bit better, and over time, will be the backbone to creating a business from this website…
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Today is Monday.
The first of the week, and also the first day of my newest lifestyle design experiment.
For you, it’s Tuesday, but I am writing this a day early.
Timing my postings will be one the many exciting changes you’ll see in the next few months in my blog. The most exciting part is that all my experiences that make up this website start to form my message of being a lifestyle design artist? In my belief that we are entering a new age in thinking and living, I have re-designed my lifestyle to serve as the ultimate experiment and will be producing the results, both failures and successes, here on this blog. There’s more to come, but be patient. To give you an idea of how I have determined this experiment, I followed these three rules:

1) I do only what I want to do.
2) I do it the best that I can
2) I do not allow any obstacle to stand in my way.

Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said:
“Everything has been figured out, except how to live.”
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Perhaps the best way to describe this city is like Amsterdam’s bitchier sister who is just as hot, but more in the “I can kick your ass” kind of way. As a matter of fact, this city has chewed me up and spit me out, but left me coming back for more. With gusts of salty wind, huge skyscrapers, and an impossible grind of cars, trams, and bicycles, she doesn’t give you the the time to think. People aren’t strolling canals in circles, but crossing bridges with a direct destination in mind. In Rotterdam, you work hard and you play hard. Any questions? If so, catch the nearest train back to Amsterdam; maybe someone up there will give you the time of day.

It’s not surprising, then, that I reached the first obstacle of my trip here. Head spinning, my body lies like a rag on the sofa, my brain is fuzzy, and the television plays movie after movie, as if on repeat. Maybe it is on repeat. I’m not sure. The flu medicine is kicking in…
A foghorn drifts through the window; a bicycle bell jingles; People scamper by,
bicycle chains crank along screeching brakes as a stoplight turns red. A tram groans along its creaking tracks, crunching corners. A horn honks, a bridge erupts, some people (finally) stop. A ship churns along splashing water,
a boy ambles for his ball, a crane cranks overhead. The bridge snaps tight again, it’s rusted rotting chains back in place. The road begins to whip with wet tires.
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