Traveling is not about the places you go, the people you meet, or even the things you do.  It’s about getting out of your comfort zone and pushing your own boundaries. The world back home can act like and tether on a boat on the open ocean.

It’s very hard to let things happen as they will, while keeping a journal for friends back home. From here on out, this log will have to be more a series of communicades from the other side – keeping track of everything is too much of an anchor for me right now.

Since landing in İstanbul two and a half weeks ago, I’ve swum in two seas and walked on two continents, traveled hundreds of miles by train, bus, scooter and boat, slept in a cave, a treehouse, and a yacht, broken the law at least three times (and gotten away with it), and only gotten mildly sunburnt once.