Paradise

Today we decided to go to a Greek Island. For years I have heard about Greek Islands, and it brings to mind people like Aristotle Onassis, riding around on yachts, seeing whitewashed houses contrasting with the blue Med.

After actually going there, I see why everyone around the world raves about them. We caught a hydrofoil over to Aegis, and after a quick 40 minute nap, we were there. We walked along the cutest little village with both neo-classical buildings and whitewashed ones, and then caught a cab to the other side of the island. And then, there it was.

Paradise.

We sat on an empty Aegean beach with the waves gently lapping at our feet, slumbered after a giant lunch of feta, olives, tzadziki, and other things made with a touch of olive oil, I swam out through the turquoise water and just floated in the Aegean under the afternoon sun.

I almost stayed on the island instead of coming back to Athens, but then I realized I had something very, very important to do tomorrow.

I have to get onto a plane and come back to America.

I have to come back to Los Angeles. I have an interview next week. I have to wear a tie again. I have to go back to the life I knew before and try not to talk about Siberia, Mongolia, Lithuania, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, and Greece for the rest of my life like this was the highlight of it all.

Tomorrow I will set off and begin crossing over the rest of the time zones, all of which I've already been in. I set out months ago with the goal of being in all 24 time zones this year, and very soon I will complete it. I will have circumnavigated the globe with no plans other than getting to Hong Kong. Everything got made up along the way. There was no ending to a chapter that I could see in advance.

This whole thing was a mystery.

It has been an adventure unlike anything I have ever considered or undertaken. Some of the people I met along the way were the worst type of human beings on the planet, but the vast majority of them were unbelievably kind. Mongolians opening the doors of their gers to welcome me. Russians escorting me around their capital. Lithuanians being hosts that make Emily Post look like she's clueless about hospitality. Greeks being kind and generous, Turks being funny and caring, Lebanese saying prayers for my safety. That Egyptian smile.

I look back on the past few months, which I do not want to admit are coming to an end, but the only solace to it all is the fact that I can really see now with clear vision how lucky of a man I am. Really and truly to feel the blessings I have while I have them.

I have tasted paradise in this life.