For most of you, this won't be the first time your eyeballs have graced one of Tiffany's travel blogs. I use the word 'blog' loosely...in reality I have been spewing rambling words onto blogger templates since my first trip to Chile & Argentina in 2007 and through all of my wanderings in the UK, Europe on multiple occasions, India and the US (which I wrote and never published). I generally spill out a few hundred hurried, excited, nearly incoherent words for each location during the first half or so of the trip, forget to write the rest of the time and fail to reread or edit any of it.
Underlying my writing 'technique', a set of fairly engrained, heavily front-loaded travel pattens that are really to blame for this lack of structure or completion. I like to dream up some place to go based on a trail of wispy recommendations and coincidences, buy a flight and first night of lodging, pack lightly, and wing it. I can say with almost complete confidence that I have never stayed more than three nights in one place on any of my trips, even when I was deathly ill (Argentina and India) or in a place I was utterly in love with (hah, almost everywhere). I generally fuse together daily needs (eating, sleeping), curiosity (grown out of preconceived notions and fueled by my discoveries on the ground) and serendipities (chance encounters, loose introductions, unexpected events like the Dalai Lama's birthday or a flood) to move me from one place to the next. I have honed my technique and it has yet to fail me.
Nonetheless, I hope this trip will be a little different. There are a few reasons, all of which were planted in me over the years and just sprouted thanks to my travel companion, the heart and soul behind this trip, Matthew (who may be writing some blogs on here himself).
Declaring an intention
I realize my travels have had no purpose outside of fulfilling my hunger, curiosity and need for serendipity. This is a shame - I have seen and done some interesting things and have done a terrible job (see above links) documenting it so that anyone other than myself can enjoy these experiences. So my first task on this trip is to attempt to make something out of my time. I don't really know what that something may be, but I would guess it will lay along the lines of a slightly more organized and pleasant to read blog.
Staying in one place
In my advanced age I have come to see the value of staying in one place (not that I have done it yet). Of diving into something and really getting to know it. Of being still, and possibly even quiet. My second task is then to stay (at least somewhat) stationary and learn a place for more than the amount of time it takes to eat, sleep, get oneself into some trouble, take some pictures and then upload them (aka 72 hours).
Choosing a focus
Third, while curiosity has been the driving force behind all of my trips, it has only been present in the abstract. I have never gone somewhere with the explicit task of learning or discovering something (other than food, which is unavoidable anyways). As I started to read about Paraguay, mostly just out of interest in Matthew's trip planning, I couldn't help but make those far-reaching connections that have so many times led me to far-reaching places. I have been studying the ways of Earth-based cultures since January of this year, mostly Yavapai and Hopi from Arizona, and Q'ero (an Incan community), and to my great delight Paraguay is the only country in the Americas that has a native tongue, Guarani, as an official language. Combined with a cursory knowledge of the history from The Mission (caution: heartbreak) and At The Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, I have the probably ridiculous idea that the native people here have a more intact culture than in most of the rest of our fair continent. For this task, I'm going to look into that.
Creating an outcome
In all areas of my life I am in a process of culling. This involves figuring out what I am good at, what I like and what I value - three paramount aspects of life that I spent too little time thinking about in the past. Next I focus on these things and begin to merge them. This includes starting a company to (not coincidentally) help people do the same thing in their professional lives, carefully choosing my social companions, location, food, activities, media, etc. with intention and heart. Because travel is one of those things I truly love (and am good at), I need to find a sustainable way to integrate it into my life, especially financially and philosophically. This task includes having a purpose to the trip - one that supports all other areas of my life and extends past the experience itself.
Now, to really understand how this all comes together, I need to explain Matthew's plans. He has manifested this trip and graciously invited me to join. So his structure, on which I am working, is as follows:
1. Intention: scouting. This is a trip to make connections with a place and its people.
2. Staying: the location of interest is Ciudad del Este, Paraguay (CdE), where we will stay for a month, unless otherwise directed by the people we meet.
3. Focus: the unique aspect of CdE is its borders - physical, social, political. He will study how they affect people, commerce and community.
4. Goal: to someday make a documentary on the subject.
As Matthew shared his plans with me, a series of interesting events occurred The more I leaned towards going, the more frequent and more clear the signs were. I began to use them explicitly to make decisions, something I have learned about in my cultural studies this year. Given their role in my presence on the trip I have made them my focus for the trip. Bringing my four points together with Matthew's plans, I have the following mission: to learn about how people in Paraguay use omens and then to teach you about it via this blog.
So, there you have the full backstory. This is no spur of the moment vacation my friends! We have purpose. We have motive. We have intention. I hope you will join us, however digitally, on our journey. At least I know my mom will! Cue comment from Molly:
Underlying my writing 'technique', a set of fairly engrained, heavily front-loaded travel pattens that are really to blame for this lack of structure or completion. I like to dream up some place to go based on a trail of wispy recommendations and coincidences, buy a flight and first night of lodging, pack lightly, and wing it. I can say with almost complete confidence that I have never stayed more than three nights in one place on any of my trips, even when I was deathly ill (Argentina and India) or in a place I was utterly in love with (hah, almost everywhere). I generally fuse together daily needs (eating, sleeping), curiosity (grown out of preconceived notions and fueled by my discoveries on the ground) and serendipities (chance encounters, loose introductions, unexpected events like the Dalai Lama's birthday or a flood) to move me from one place to the next. I have honed my technique and it has yet to fail me.
Nonetheless, I hope this trip will be a little different. There are a few reasons, all of which were planted in me over the years and just sprouted thanks to my travel companion, the heart and soul behind this trip, Matthew (who may be writing some blogs on here himself).
Declaring an intention
I realize my travels have had no purpose outside of fulfilling my hunger, curiosity and need for serendipity. This is a shame - I have seen and done some interesting things and have done a terrible job (see above links) documenting it so that anyone other than myself can enjoy these experiences. So my first task on this trip is to attempt to make something out of my time. I don't really know what that something may be, but I would guess it will lay along the lines of a slightly more organized and pleasant to read blog.
Staying in one place
In my advanced age I have come to see the value of staying in one place (not that I have done it yet). Of diving into something and really getting to know it. Of being still, and possibly even quiet. My second task is then to stay (at least somewhat) stationary and learn a place for more than the amount of time it takes to eat, sleep, get oneself into some trouble, take some pictures and then upload them (aka 72 hours).
Choosing a focus
Third, while curiosity has been the driving force behind all of my trips, it has only been present in the abstract. I have never gone somewhere with the explicit task of learning or discovering something (other than food, which is unavoidable anyways). As I started to read about Paraguay, mostly just out of interest in Matthew's trip planning, I couldn't help but make those far-reaching connections that have so many times led me to far-reaching places. I have been studying the ways of Earth-based cultures since January of this year, mostly Yavapai and Hopi from Arizona, and Q'ero (an Incan community), and to my great delight Paraguay is the only country in the Americas that has a native tongue, Guarani, as an official language. Combined with a cursory knowledge of the history from The Mission (caution: heartbreak) and At The Tomb of the Inflatable Pig, I have the probably ridiculous idea that the native people here have a more intact culture than in most of the rest of our fair continent. For this task, I'm going to look into that.
Creating an outcome
In all areas of my life I am in a process of culling. This involves figuring out what I am good at, what I like and what I value - three paramount aspects of life that I spent too little time thinking about in the past. Next I focus on these things and begin to merge them. This includes starting a company to (not coincidentally) help people do the same thing in their professional lives, carefully choosing my social companions, location, food, activities, media, etc. with intention and heart. Because travel is one of those things I truly love (and am good at), I need to find a sustainable way to integrate it into my life, especially financially and philosophically. This task includes having a purpose to the trip - one that supports all other areas of my life and extends past the experience itself.
Now, to really understand how this all comes together, I need to explain Matthew's plans. He has manifested this trip and graciously invited me to join. So his structure, on which I am working, is as follows:
1. Intention: scouting. This is a trip to make connections with a place and its people.
2. Staying: the location of interest is Ciudad del Este, Paraguay (CdE), where we will stay for a month, unless otherwise directed by the people we meet.
3. Focus: the unique aspect of CdE is its borders - physical, social, political. He will study how they affect people, commerce and community.
4. Goal: to someday make a documentary on the subject.
As Matthew shared his plans with me, a series of interesting events occurred The more I leaned towards going, the more frequent and more clear the signs were. I began to use them explicitly to make decisions, something I have learned about in my cultural studies this year. Given their role in my presence on the trip I have made them my focus for the trip. Bringing my four points together with Matthew's plans, I have the following mission: to learn about how people in Paraguay use omens and then to teach you about it via this blog.
So, there you have the full backstory. This is no spur of the moment vacation my friends! We have purpose. We have motive. We have intention. I hope you will join us, however digitally, on our journey. At least I know my mom will! Cue comment from Molly:
