Experience Hangovers - July 23, 2008

ex•pe•ri•ence hang•o•ver

1. That punched in the stomach feeling you get when an amazing experience ends and you find yourself lost without a guess in the world about what you're supposed to do next. Like the day you come home from summer camp and everything looks dull and all you can think about is going back next year.

There are these moments when traveling that no matter how hard I try, I can't capture. It doesn't matter how many pictures I take or how many words I write, there's nothing I can do to explain what it's like to stand on a beach at one in the morning under an Alaska sun than never really set but turned the sky a burning orange color.

Or what it's like to hike all day to get to a backcountry camp ground with three of your closest friends, set up camp and an hour later find a bear sniffing around the bear box where all your food is stored.

In those moments I don't even know how I feel, there's just this sense of wonderment. It's the only time I truly feel lucky to be alive.

And when I come back from a trip like that, there's this let down, like I've been cheated out of something. I spend a lot of time blinking my eyes and looking around, hoping that I'll blink one too many times and wake up on a beach in Hawaii again.

Experience is the only currency that matters. No one cares how much money you make or what kind of car you drive. No one cares that you're a "very important person." And if they do, that's exactly the kind of person you want to run screaming from.

The people I like the most are the ones that violently throw themselves outside their comfort zone. Who go find interesting parts of themselves and explore them. I like people who are more afraid of regretting the things they failed than the things they did.

I like my experience hangovers. They hurt like crazy but they tell me that I've just been through something extraordinary. They tell me that I've now got a memory that I'm going to carry with me the rest of my life.

Posted by Ben Corman at 9:40 AM

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Comments

Sounds like you had an amazing time. I can't wait to read the new stories that will be sure to grow out of a experience like that.

Posted by: Rabbit B. at July 24, 2008 09:15 PM

Does this mean you're looking forward to the prospect of Thailand?

Posted by: Jamie at July 24, 2008 09:38 PM

Very much so. I've wanted Southeast Asia for a very long time.

Posted by: Ben Corman at July 24, 2008 09:39 PM

I have a motto that summarizes your post very nicely: I'd rather regret action than regret inaction.

Posted by: Ilan Bouchard at July 25, 2008 03:22 AM

"Experience is the only currency that matters." I like that.

Posted by: Andrew McMillen at July 25, 2008 06:15 AM

Talk to Scootah. I recall many posts about his experiences in Thailand on the RMMB. Now if you swing west into Nepal, I can help you there.

Posted by: Tree Frog at July 25, 2008 09:20 AM

Hey Tree Frog,

Nepal is definitely on the list. I can't think of many places that aren't on the list of places I want to see.

Posted by: Ben Corman at July 25, 2008 07:36 PM

"I can't think of many places that aren't on the list of places I want to see."

New Jersey?

Posted by: Ilan Bouchard at July 25, 2008 08:15 PM

I've been to Jersey. Therefore it's off the list by virtue of me having already been there. Plus a friend has access to a house down there near the shore, so it's always fun to hang out with her and my friends from home (Philadelphia).

I should sit down with a map of the US and really look at it. I think I may have been to all fifty states between road trips, train trips and vacations. I had an atlas at one point but I think it got lost in one of my moves.

Posted by: Ben Corman at July 25, 2008 08:20 PM

Love this entry, I definitely feel the same way. Also, I'd totally go to Asia with you.

Posted by: Laura at July 26, 2008 12:03 PM

About a third of my friends from college were from Philly, and they stayed in Ocean City during the summer.

Do the names Wilson, Lasher, Dean or Boova mean anything to you? Malvern Prep?

Posted by: Tree Frog at July 26, 2008 06:16 PM

Those names don't sound familiar but it's been a long time since high school.

I went to Northeast and later Upper Moreland (outside of the city).

I do remember Ocean City well though. I spent a summer hanging out down there.

Posted by: Ben Corman at July 26, 2008 06:36 PM

The Salty Dog truly is the greatest bar ever. Hope to god it doesn't burn down. Nice pictures of my home state, well done.

Posted by: Joe at July 29, 2008 12:21 PM