I wanted to travel through Europe for many reasons, but one of them was to work on you in a new way.
If given the opportunity, one should never refuse the chance to experience new perspectives and personal lives lived out before their very eyes. Fortunately, I have not only been given the chance to visit other countries, lean on age old architecture, and taste the differences between them all, I’ve also been able to experience some of the most direct avenues to expanding you- I’ve been adopted by hosts, peers, and mutual friends alike across my expedition.
Each have opened up their home, welcomed me into their community, and taken me to some of their favorite places, leading me straight into global outlook heaven. From seven hundred year old pubs and canopy covered patios, to home cooked meals and tacos filled with fries.
Maybe I am addressing the wrong idea here as the majority your progress can only be accredited to the lives that have shared with me. As a book is prefaced with a set of acknowledgements, to those who made its works possible, I would like to set aside a portion of this letter to those who gave to my traveling cause in this way.
Thank you..
dog lovers for driving me through the rolling hills and telling me all about the lifestyle of the countryside.
veteran dad for dancing to Mexican music and sharing your story of PTSD.
canadian and Swede for letting us camp out at your restaurant past closing.
belfast clan for transporting my friend and I to show us a true Saint Patrick’s day, historical meanings and struggles included.
tommy boy for showing me your prized vinyl and singing to Florence & The Machine while making dinner at eleven pm.
green bean for showing me the best views and giving me a group of quality foreign friends I know I could count on at a moment’s notice.
People say it takes approximately two minutes to decide if you’ll get along with someone; it took two minutes for me to feel bonded, accepted, and invited into the arms of the families and friends of those that I’ve met.
One of my frequent traveling buddies says that people have ‘no obligation’ to us; they don’t need to do anything for us, they have no strings tying them down and forcing their actions.
Rather, it is by pure choice that they take us in as their own.
You have a lot of people to thank for your current boom, world view. To continue this upsurge, when you accompany me back to the states we mustn’t forget to:
Be like those who helped us and provide the opportunity for conversations that encourage your spread between two or more people
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Take the time to feed you via news and community outreach
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Consider ourselves poor experts, this will give us the right mindset when seeking out or receiving knowledge
I don’t know all of the facts or the latest politics for all of the places I’ve been, but I’m doing my best to learn what I can with the specifics for now and create a set of universal proverbs that can help you see wherever you are.
The world is full of people, so if you want a view of the world, get a view of the people.
Thank you everyone for the views.
Looking forward to many more.
Riley Makenna
Compass 