Balloons Over Bagan

An Inspiring Adventure
March 22, 2014 at 6:12 pm  •  Posted in Connecting, Inspiration, Inspiring, Learnings, Myanmar, Sports by

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If there’s one thing that I get enough of on this trip, I can assure you that it’s not water. When you have to buy bottled water way down at the supermarket, you find yourself constantly in a state of procrastination and dehydration. Nevertheless, my thirst is quenched by something else: inspiration. Yeah it’s cheesy, but incredibly true! I looked it up, there is such a thing as overhydrating and I feel like I’ve been “over inspired.” Every day it seems we meet another person living a completely alternative lifestyle and my dad will say, “Just another thing to do with your life,” in this sly tone he uses when he is hinting at something and trying to get us to think. “Just another thing to do with your life: become a world class chef and live in Florence!” “Just another thing to do with your life: become a mahout (elephant trainer) and live in Chiang Mai!” “Just another thing to do with your life: sell Buckets o’ Mojito and live in Koh Tao!”

Growing up on Mercer Island, it sometimes can feel like my future is one of the homework assignments that I used to get in Ms. Sayers’ 9th grade English class: stringent, well-thought-out, and the same one my parents got. You know the drill: attend college, land a solid, respectable job, start a family, make a little bit of money, retire, and play some good old-fashioned golf. Now don’t get me wrong, that sounds like a pretty good life if you ask me, but it’s just one lifestyle out of an infinite amount of others. It might be a good idea to stop and consider the options every once in a while, and ask myself what I would want to do with my life if I could do anything?  If the answer happens to be scuba diving with whale sharks in the exotic Thai islands, then I’ll just book a flight to Koh Tao and apply for a job at Good Times.  Steve Jobs put it best as he neared his final years: “I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Our second to last day in Bagan was the day I met Christophe, a man who risked everything and left his comforting home in Belgium, to move to Bagan, Myanmar. He was simply perusing an idea…a dream of becoming a balloonist for a living. Ever since eight years old, Christophe had been obsessed with hot air balloons, and there he was, soaring high over Myanmar, one of the most stunning places I have ever been to, simply living his dream. Meeting Christophe, someone who turned their dream into a reality, made me realize I too could become a hot air balloonist if I wanted to  Not something I would of ever considered back on Mercer, but in Bagan, starting every morning by peacefully flying over ancient Burmese temples lit up by a beautiful sunrise, and getting paid, sounded like a pretty sweet gig! “It’s just another thing to do with your life” as my dad would say.

Whenever I am suddenly inspired by some great purposefulness, some extraordinary idea that has so much potential it makes me smile by just imagining it.  My mind forgets the bounds that have restricted free, radical thoughts like “Why not?” My cognizance surpasses its deep-seated confines and ventures off into an entirely different, delightfully extraordinary world. One can never know what this kind of thinking can unearth, until they try. For example, I imagined a future as a balloonist in Bagan, and instantly dormant enthusiasm that I never knew existed in association to an occupation as quirky and awesome as ballooning erupted. Okay, so maybe I won’t become a balloonist, but it’s fun to expand my horizons by considering and envisioning the idea! What if we all asked ourselves “What if…” every now and then, and maybe by luck we would uncover what truly inspired us? Maybe we would discover the Bagan balloonist in us all, and maybe, just maybe, we too could muster up the courage to make a wild imagination’s fantasy a reality.

I greatly admire people who pursue their passion, and despite all the criticism they may receive, keep on striving. Those are the people I want to model my life after.  Not to copy what they did exactly, but to somehow figure out what it is that really inspires me and to chase it down as they do.

And on the topic of ballooning we are going to finish it out with yet another classic quote:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

PS: Sorry to keep writing such serious, meaning-of-life-mumbo-jumbo blog posts. Maybe I’ll just post a video of me eating some exotic asian food next time.

 

The obligatory champagne toast at the end of the balloon ride!

The obligatory champagne toast at the end of the balloon ride, as if it couldn’t get any better!

 

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5 Comments

  1. Chris Englin / March 24, 2014 at 11:59 pm /

    Wescott, you are wise beyond your years. My sons go to school on Bainbridge Island and I’m going to encourage them to read your inspiring post. What a gift this year is for you and your family. I’m afraid my “what ifs” to my boys have been to traditional. We too live with homework, testing, sports uniforms and following the college roadmap. It’s also not too late for me! Hmmmm…..

    • Wescott / March 25, 2014 at 7:14 am /

      Thanks for reading my post! I think that it is definitely not too late for you, or for anybody! It seems like anyone who realizes they can make a change for the better and start fresh, is well on their way to becoming who they want to be, rather than who others want them to be.

  2. Vanessa / March 25, 2014 at 11:07 am /

    Wescott, thank you for a beautifully written inspirational post. You amaze me.

  3. Ryan / March 26, 2014 at 5:02 am /

    OH that post was SO Worth the WAIT!!! Add it to the sports list.

  4. Gretchen Jones / March 31, 2014 at 1:58 am /

    Just another thing to do with your life, Westcott: become a travel writer! I thoroughly enjoy your thoughtful and introspective posts. Keep inspiring me.

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