Friend in town

My pal Daniel Goldsmith came through last night. He's back in North America following 10 months of travel abroad to Nepal, India, Croatia, Bosnia....the list goes on. I met him in a funny way. The day before I was leaving for a solo road trip to Quebec a couple summers ago I posted an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone wanted to ride up with me and split gas. He answered. I ended up spending a couple weeks with him and his girlfriend and going hiking in Mount Tremblant with him too. Anyway, he's just finished his 4 year degree at McGill in philosophy and is one of the most contemplative, open minded people I know. I really respect him for that. He's got a funny way of simultneously talking incessantly and listening deeply. It's terrific to be around such an active mind in pursuit of peace. He read to me a bit of the book he's working on, and I expect great things from him.

Hearing his tales really made me miss my life at 23 (he's that age too.) When i was 23 I was living in Paris. It wasn't perfect, but looking back now I have a pretty rosey view. I mean, i was pretty damn broke, but boy did I have time to relax and enjoy the free shit. I think I went to the Louvre a dozen times that year. And how many times did I spend the whole day in a cafe writing in my journal and sipping espresso? A zillion, that's how many. And dinner parties with friends. And struggling with the language. And getting shit faced on 10 franc wine (that's like $2). I still have the wanderlust, but it pretty completely supressed.

But I'm going to India this summer. So I hope that will satisfy some of my desire to see a bit more of the world and untether from this vantage point on reality.