i have come to learn of myself that i am 2 very distinct things - an explorer - an international person taken together, it makes perfect sense im drawn to something such as CS. i have struggled many times in my life to fit to the standard model of life. owning a house? expensive car? kids? marriage? white collar/suit type of job? religion? nationalism? across the board, all these are all topics that deserve discussion in their own right and explanation as to how my own life has intersected with them or not and so much of it points back to those 2 things that drew me to CS. if i was to be honest with myself, i never quite intended to live an ordinary life. i set out to be a world traveler in my early 20s. the following is what i wrote here on CS having barely stepped out of my home town "𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦; 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 *𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴* 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘪 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴." looking back as i now AM a world traveler, i have this to say: i see value in the path i chose. i also see value in the direct opposite. if i were to change a singular concept with what i wrote above, it would be to change my word choice of "happily" to something more wise, accurate, and mindful i have seen some awesome things and have stories to tell. insights into world events. a friend list that scatter-plots rather than clusters. but this place-to-place brings a lot of pain as well. as a result, i think a lot these days in terms of "bittersweet" and life plans/paths/routes. life is a journey and doors open while others close every step of the way ---------------------------------------------------- i also wrote the following on CS when i was in my early 20s, again before i ever held a passport... "𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘪 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘪 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘣𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯." ... now in my mid-late 30's, i have traveled to churches, mosques, temples, and pagodas, some many hundreds of years old. i have found most peace and tranquility in the Buddhist spaces, my number one favorite being Borobudur in Indonesia and my number two favorite being Boda Stupa in Nepal. and despite all that, my thoughts on religion remain the same, if not more finely polished to exactly what i mean. and with that i will leave you with a thought on the disconnect of what is modern and old and the rapidly changing world we live in a Buddhist monk dressed in traditional monk robes holding a smartphone... whilst a world of robots and artificial general intelligence are about to be walking right through Humanity's doorstep. this, a recent thought as I was observering a monk in Chiang Mai, Thailand.