Random Ramblings of a Wanderer

Hello All...Well it has been a while since I have posted a new entry so I figure it is time to ramble on. I know I had promised you a controversial post at the end of my last entry, but I have decided to hold off for the time being on that entry and have chosen to rather focus on some recent events from my travels. No need to fear though, I will still address the controversy in a future post so keep a lookout for that to come.

Just to give everyone a reference point on my recent ongoings, since I last posted an entry about two weeks ago I continued travelling up the western coast of Ireland through Galway (where I also took a day trip down to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren) and Donegal Town and eventually made it into Northern Ireland where I spent the last week up along the northern coast in the small villages/towns of Ballintoy (near the Giant's Causeway) and Waterfoot/Cushendall (near Glenariff State Forest). I then made my way to Belfast where, unfortunately, I only spent one night. I had intended on being in Belfast for two days but spent an extra day in Glenariff so my stay was cut short. When I have the chance I would love to go back to explore more of the city which has such a coloured past. Yesterday (Tuesday, 8/1) I left Belfast and Northern Ireland behind and took a ferry from the city to Stranraer (Scotland) and then took the train to Glasgow where I am currently sitting in an internet cafe typing this (as it is pouring rain outside which I have experienced on a regular basis for the last week). I will head out of Glasgow tomorrow and travel up north to Ft. William where I will spend three days before heading up to the Isle of Skye and eventually further northeast towards Inverness and the infamous Loch Ness. Following that I am not sure yet if I will try and head up north to the Highlands or head south towards Stirling and Edinburgh. Either way I will eventually make it down to Edinburgh (if I can find a place to stay...a huge festival will be going on and most things have been booked for months already). In all, I should be in Scotland for about the next two weeks before heading down into Wales and England.

In giving everyone a little more detail on my travels to Glenariff I will hopefully explain more clearly why I honestly do not believe in coincidences and rather see every event in life (whether it be while traveling or in daily life) as purposeful and with greater embedded intention. Whether you believe these "coincidences" to be directed by a higher power or simply orchestrated as a natural progression to life's crazy journey, it really doesn't matter. The important point is that we must become more aware of these events in our life and recognize them for what they are...a means of teaching us lessons and giving us insight into the mysteriousness of our lives.

In leaving the small village of Ballintoy, I took a bus into another small coastal village called Waterfoot where I knew a road led up to Glenariff Forest Park. Other than that, I knew very little. I had no idea where I was going to be spending the night as there were very few accomodations in the area. My only fleeting idea as I got off the bus was that I would hike up to the park where I knew there was a camping area but didn't even know how to get there or how far it was. I ran into the only small market in the entire town and bought a few things (Pringles, potato bread...I don't know how to explain this stuff, a small jar of Nutella, a couple apples, some McVittie's bisquits...cookies to us Americans, and a couple bottles of water) which I hoped would last me a couple days camping.

I found the road heading out of town and leading towards the park which listed it as 6 km away ("not bad" I thought as I had just hiked almost 20 km the day before...but of course without 60 pounds on my shoulders). But I soon discovered that the entire 6 km was uphill. I had been walking for about 30 minutes when it started raining...not bad, yet. I came across a small B&B that I would just stop at and see if there was any availability since it looked like it was going to be raining for a while. Of course there wasn't and so it was back on the road...a very narrow and winding, uphill road mind you and on the support of a throbing left ankle which I sprained about a week earlier and was continuing to get worse due to hikes of 10 and 20 km from the previous couple days and is still bothering me. After about another 15 minutes on the road and about 10 close encounters with the hoods of speedy BMW's and Peugot's it began to be a downpour...and I still had about 2 to 3 km to go. Cars continued to zip by and none even seemed to think twice about picking me up (I think mainly because the majority of people travelling on the road were also other travellers who had rented cars and usually don't feel too comfortable about picking up strangers or have no room).

Just as I was about to give up all hope, when I was emotionally at perhaps the lowest part of my travels thus far, I just happened to see, through the rain streaming down my soaked face and the fog that enveloped the entire valley, a car's reverse lights coming closer to me. The couple inside asked me if I needed a lift somewhere. "Um, yeah that would be wonderful," I muttered. I would soon find out that the older couple (probably in their early 60's) lived in Waterfoot and were heading over the hill to Ballymena (a small city about 20 km away) for the day since it was raining and there was nothing they could do outside. They asked where I was heading and I told them that I had intended to camp at Glenariff Park. They said they could drive me up to the camping area and let me decide if I wanted to stay there for the night or they would take me another 3 or 4 km up the road to a camping barn (basically a hostel - one room with about 8 or 9 sets of bunkbeds) which was owned and operated by a woman who is an internationally renowned storyteller and somewhat of a local celebrity. They had never been to the camping barn themselves and did not know the owner personally but they knew where it was located. We drove by the camping ground but I decided to have the couple take me on up to camping barn as it did not look like it was going to stop raining anytime soon.

They dropped me off at the camping barn and I thanked them from the bottom of my heart without ever even finding out their names. I did learn, however, that they have a son about my age who is doing the same thing in Australia and New Zealand for about 6 months. They said they felt compelled to stop when they saw me as they thought about their own son being in a similar situation in need of help and hoped that their generosity would be extended by others half way around world for their son if he should ever need it. If nothing else, their generosity will always be remembered and appreciated by myself and I will do everyting in my power to be sure that I extend my own generosity to others along my travels.

So, was this all a coincidence? I personally don't think so...I was meant to stay at this place whether I knew it yet or not. It would turn out that this refuge in the middle of the wilderness would rejuvinate my weary body, mind, and soul. I was greeted with overwhelming kindness, wonderful food, and stimulating conversation from both the owner, Liz, and the young German girl, Simone, who was managing the barn for three months and shadowing Liz as part of an internship for her university. She is also interested in storytelling and has already written and published her first book (with her twin sister) for young children at only 23 years of age. I spent most of the first two days there inside as it was usually pouring rain (luckily I got out on the third day for a stunningly beautiful 15 km hike around a trail through Glenariff), but still think that this place will always hold a special place in my heart for reasons I don't truly understand myself at this point. To add to this "coincidence", a lady (the daughter of a man that Liz knew quite well) and her two children came on the second night and were still there when I left. Of all the places in the world, it would turn out that this lady has been living in Eugene, OR for the last 10 years and had been in Sligo, Ireland (along the western coast) for the last couple weeks at a family reunion. Apparently, her father's side of the family has royal Irish heritage that owned and lived in a castle near Sligo hundreds of years ago and so that is where they decided to base their family reunion. Her husband had had to return to the states early as his mother was in severe failing health due to a battle with cancer and they were uncertain how much longer she had. Needless to say, I find the whole situation a little too crazy to chalk it up to a mere coincidence. It may be difficult for others to understand just why I think I was meant to spend a few days at this oasis but the most important thing for you to understand is that this was a place which allowed me to take a closer look at aspects of my life and which provided me with a place where much of my personal healing would begin. Perhaps someday, when I truly understand it myself, I can elaborate just how significant this place was to me.

I'm sure most of everyone out there will have their own opinion as to how this all came to be and what its meaning is but quite honestly I don't care to know them as I have my own theory and prefer to keep it that way. In my personal thinking, things don't just happen by chance or with complete randomness. The problem is we are taught to ignore the underlying meaning of life's events and most of us only live on the surface of life, never truly recognizing those rare events that happen in our lives which are meant to provide us with lessons and give us in-depth looks at our innermost being. We are in such a hurry scrambling from one place to another, so consumed with meaningless details of what we think is important such as making as much money as we can, having the best cars and other worldly possessions, and making the best impressions for others that we miss the big picture which is staring us in the face. I am just as guilty of this as others and perhaps even more so but this "coincidence" forced me to look beyond the randomness of life and become more concious of those things that may seem meaningless at the time but which truly hold a deeper purpose. I know that I continue to work on being more aware of things which come across as being random and will continue to look for those things in my life which have been placed in front of me so that I may learn from the situation and be more appreciative of just how precious these "coincidences" can be.

Well, I could ramble on for hours but will leave the rest up to you to decide for yourselves. I hope everyone is doing well and I wish each and everyone of you only the best. I will certainly try and make sure that my next post does not take another two weeks but I can't guarantee anything as I will be heading up to areas that are not nearly as crazy and accessible as Glasgow. Until next time, take care and remember to keep an eye out for those events in your lives which may just seem like a mere coincidence but which ultimately may just hold untold secrets to your life. I know it may all seem a little "out there" but I personally will be looking for those random moments throughout my travels which could have limitless meaning and provide a deeper look at life and my inner most being.