What I (Justin) Learned: South America In Review

If I could do it again, I would. If I could do it differently, I would too. Just like life, there are a lot of things I would change. But after all that happened, looking back and seriously considering how miraculously blessed we were with safety, local experiences and meeting genuinely real people, I feel an overwhelming gratefulness for a healthy body that allowed me to accomplish something that will be remembered as an amazing chapter in my life. Whether interpreted in a spiritual or scientific sense, our bodies allow us to do amazing things, we should all be grateful to whomever we believe is responsible for our blessing of this short time on earth.

We learned that the body carried Incan runners across days of terrain to deliver messages to priests. Tribes at Lake Titicaca build their own islands from plants that also serve as there homes and transportation. Columbians built an entire cathedral in the earth, a huge mine that made it (technically) the largest in the Catholic church, displaying an example of man's abilities and gifts available to God's children. Brazilians were given one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and instead of building massive mansions on its mountains looking down at the city, they built a monument to our Savior, hoping to build celestial mansions in their own way.

I would love to understand everything. It would take multiple lifetimes to grasp some of the worlds most basic constructions and designs. However, over the last month and a half I have discovered there will be an eternal lifetime to understand more fully the why's and how's of this life and the next. With the short moments we have been given on this earth, we should constantly search for purpose and although we may not find "The Answer", the journey will bring more joy than settling and accepting mediocracy ever would.

The funny thing is, I am making it sound like traveling gave me purpose, or that I met people that found the most beautiful way of life in adaptation and a constantly changing surrounding environment.
That's not what I found. I discovered one of the most amazing experiences of my 23 years, but purpose I almost feel I had left the second my plane took off from the Salt Lake Airport. Let me explain...

As I stated earlier, we are in a constant search for purpose, it's the reason we are here and the reason to continually strive to progress. My destination is not this earth, neither was it Ecuador or Bolivia or even our last country, Brazil, they were lovely countries with wonderful people with their own dreams and endeavors, but wandering South America put me no where closer to my purpose.

Backtracking a bit, I want to explain something to the few but close friends and families that have followed our experiences. How often do we look for something and have no idea where to begin or even a plan for how to find it? That is the beauty of what I believe is my purpose and the purpose of every human being here searching with me, we have a plan. There is a roadmap for all of us. My experience in South America reminded to never, if possible, get lost on the way. We had a map, and a plan, and we stuck to it. Sometimes we realized our original ideas would be slow or costly, so we changed them and were blessed with extra time in the places we wanted and more resources to do more things. People helped us on the way, we avoided those that would hinder our progress and seeked out those that knew the terrain and could offer us direction. I realized our trip was a wonderful reflection of a more celestial journey that we experience here on earth.

The locals on those tiny plant islands seemed much happier with the little they had and families they were raising then some of the travelers that had been away from their homes for years and years completely alone. Some backpackers I could tell made it a part of their purpose, but traveling was never a search of meaning for us, it was simply an amazing experience in a blessed time in my life where my circumstances permitted me to leave behind responsibility for a short time and to see the world.

I may do it again and I implore everyone reading this to travel as much as possible. I see myself visiting foreign countries and living abroad rather than owning a bigger home or having a ton of nice cars. The memories we made will be ours forever, and everything else seems so much more valuable than a new new car or a huge HDTV. But, while you're traveling, don't go looking for purpose and meaning. Those things can be found much closer than a 26 hour plane ride away.

The blessing of being back with my family and able to do the things that make me feel happy and strong seem magnified when I compare it to the backpackers lifestyle. I have everything I need right here!

Travel, discover, explore, these things are a part of life. Just remember, there is a roadmap, God gives us moments to unearth some of the worlds most beautiful truths, but in those moments of revelation, don't let them distract you from your spiritual path. Only let them remind you where you want to end up and what it takes to eventually get there.

Nate was on a little senior trip, I still love him, but this was the fam picking me up at the airport.  

This is kind of my signing off from what began two months ago, a little trip of college friends who aren't yet supporting families and found time to take a break, only to be reminded why they're here. We are making a documentary so stay tuned, but I want to say thanks so much to all my loved ones, I am so lucky to know about this plan and to be on the path with so many of you. You'll be seeing other review post's from the other guys and I hope their experiences were very different from mine. Just remember what we called this blog from the very beginning, "there is a world beyond." My only hope now is that our experiences in this journal can not only remind me but also others of all the adventures to be had on the way to the "world beyond."


-Justin