A Tribute to Fellow Travelers
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2008
1
8
13
Trip End
Nov 14, 2008
Olympos,
Antalya,
Turkey
Friday, October 3, 2008
In retrospect, Casey claims he had his hesitations about the adventure. While the down pour had stopped, a light rain continued and the weather didn't look like it was going to improve anytime soon. Sure, there were white caps jutting out across the water as far as the eye could see, but the water was radiating warmth as it poured over the sides of the boat. It was like really aggressive bath water--and how much harm could bath water do?
About 10 minutes into our trip, Ennis, the Aussie in the back seat of my two-person kayak, asked, "Do you feel a little dizzy?" He explained that the jarring up and down of the boat had made him a little light-headed a few strokes back. It seemed to have passed, and I felt just fine, so we rowed on.
Not ten minutes later, I started to feel it. I had never been even remotely seasick, but I was beginning to think that the world spinning around me was not actually a typical component of the up-and-down-of-the-kayak sensation. "Don't throw-up" I began to chant inside my head. "Hold it together, Jessica. Don't throw-up." Ennis must have started to suspect something when I stopped talking--and rowing.
"You alright, Jess?" he asked.
"Uh, I think I am getting that dizzy feeling you were talking about...ha...ha..."
By God's grace I was able to row the rest of the way to the cove with only a couple more "breaks." I figured that our time on the beach would allow me to regain my composure (that is, my head and my stomach) before our trip back to our starting point. Not so. Increasing rain forced us to get back in our boats and return to the main beach. This time I was in the front of a doubles kayak with Wei, the travel buddy we had picked up three days prior in Istanbul. Within the first five minutes of our return trip on the water--just long enough for the other boats to drift off in front of us--I felt even more sick than before. "We have so far to go!" I whimpered inside. "Don't throw up! You have to travel with this guy for two more weeks and he barely knows you! This could ruin you!" I started crying. It was all I could do to keep from not getting sick. Helpless, embarrassed, wanting to be anywhere but in this tiny red kayak on the angry, salty Mediterranean Sea, I sat there is my kayak with Wei rowed and sent forth kind words of encouragement.
Out of this miserable experience, I gained immense gratitude for the fellow travelers Casey and I have encountered in our trip so far. Ennis and Wei went out of their way to comfort me--a little American stranger--when I couldn't hold it together in the kayak any longer, and their kindness never ceased in the rest of the time we spent together in Olympos, along with Ennis' friend Matt.
Our fellow travelers have been a big part of the trip that I did not anticipate. While most have been pleasant, fun, and simply a joy to spend time with, they have also led me to think a lot about the way I live my life. When graduating from college, I felt the excitement and anxiety of life's openness--I could go anywhere and do anything! Traveling during this time, however, has only magnified this sensation. Not only do I know that life's options are numerous, I am continuously encountering good people who are actually living their lives in very different ways than I do. Many travelers start moving without an end date for their trips. They travel until the money runs out, work wherever they are in the world, then more on to the next spot that fancies them. I could never imagine living like this! I am such a planner! Yet, it has been inspiring and challenging to meet people who can find peace in this life style. It forces me to consider why I don't think I could easily find peace in it.
The best part of traveling may not be the destination, but rather the people I meet while I'm getting there.
![[03] Olympos ruins](http://images.travelpod.com/users/el_condor/thumbnail.asia_2005.1148208360.picture_020.jpg)
