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A STEP ON THE SAND

“Walker, these are your footsteps, the path and nothing else; Walker, There is there is no path, you make the path as you go” Joan Manuel Serrat

Charles Raymond is our protagonist in this opportunity, because he is a young man that inspires confidence, liberty and adventure. His melancholic character and his quest for knowledge is a reason to include a note on culture and geography in this blog. Looking at him from his inside and also to the pictures that are included in this article, we can note that the path of the human being is not only written in his heart, maybe in another dimension there are pieces moving the space, but Charles is a man with his feet on the ground that with patience shared with us part of his great trip: the youth.

“With my age”…

Charles Raymond, who is only 25 years old, he has found places that are not considered precisely of touristic interests but places where, with his age and wisdom, he is able to experience all his desires. Of adventurous spirit and somewhat romantic, he believes is a place for everybody. His character, quiet but eager-makes him a young guy with a promising future.  

Although Chris is very young, he has been able to know countless places that most people of advanced age have not been able to, or even worse, they have not wanted to. Ecuador, Spain, Australia have been some of the places Chris has visited, as well as several Caribbean Islands. He has been interested by the life in Asia, as in third world cities. New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Malaysia and Singapore are in the world map of Raymond’s traveller agenda.

In his world –where he is wandering around with no apparent immediate responsibilities – it would appear that his legacy is the knowledge and pleasure.  “A step on the sand” shows that nothing is written in life. A man is born, decides to study, graduates in college and later on he works. A woman is born, gets married, otherwise she may become into a social fighter or President.

In some moments you may even imagine Charles in a Van among his relatives, traveling through New Zealand as a child. You may guess that since his origins in his mother’s interests was to provide Chris’s life with a sense of maturity. At six months old, he was able to play intuitively with the fabrics of will and liberty. Chris expresses that, since he was 18, he knows what is to travel on his own and what is to deal with the roller coasters that the every-day luck allows. He is part of a group of 4 brothers.

Blue mountains in Australia, Lost city in Colombia, 4000 islands in Laos, Cape Reinga in New Zealand, South island (NZ), Tikal in Guatemala, Caye Caulker in Belize, Little Corn island in Nicaragua, just North of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, Coral Gardens in Vanuatu are such places as the one chosen due to Raymond’s motivation.

Difficult moments

“The worst city for me was Managua, although it’s harsh to judge without living somewhere. I only stayed there for a few days because everyone told me it was very dangerous (although I hear that about all of the cities, and often it’s exaggerated). There was also very little that I found to do there, the people that I met were not very friendly and I got ripped off by a taxi driver, so I left”, commented Charles Raymond on such indignant reality.

The risks caused by theft in third world countries must cease. We have to be open for the tourism if we want the economy of our countries to develop. “Usually it is fear of things which ‘might’ happen, not necessarily what does happen. I rarely fear being harmed physically somehow, but there is always fear of theft when you carry everything you own with you. I have been very lucky so far and haven’t had any problems with theft but almost all of my friends I have met traveling have had something (or everything) stolen by the time they go home. Nothing has happened to me so far in my travels that have justified any fears I have had”, said Charles.

“Sometimes you have to walk a long way with your bags to get to a bus station or something but these are just things that come with the game. Really and often they are the times you remember the most”, wisely clarified our protagonist.

A step searching for beauty

Having the sensibility of appreciating a work of art or scenery is a virtue. Feeling the sea breeze, touching the sand, walking as if no one is looking at you is a gift and a lucky strike. “I love to see the beauty of the world: both, in people and in nature. When I travel I try to look for the different expressions of beauty”, commented Chris, while travelling all over this planet, he has found places as marvelous as: Thailand, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Wales, Canada, USA, Mexico, Panama, Holland, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela.  

Beauty is found everywhere: in lakes, in children’s faces, in Indians, in a master work, in an image and also in the books. Charles loves reading; although he is so young he has already read many interesting texts. Among them: Shantaram by Gregory d. Robert, Sishmael by Daniel Quinn, On the road by Jack Kerouac, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Midnight Falcon by David Gemmell, The Rum diaries by Hunter s Thompson, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Jim Morrison by Stephan Davis and the Electric Kool-aid acid test by Tom Wolfe…among others. In his spare time he surfs the web with his laptop to be aware about what is happening in the world, but above all, to look for information of his interest.

In his tour longing for “liberty”, he has practiced skydive. He feels that such free fall is worthy, in spite the risks involved. On El Yaque beach, Margarita Island, he has enjoyed having Kite surfing classes, and in the open sea, scuba diving with Enomis Divers (www.divemargarita.com).  

Where no one knows you

“Another thing I love is the feeling of anonymity, to be in a place where no one knows you and you know no one, it’s a kind of freedom I guess”, commented the interviewee. Getting lost among the multitude and realize that no one knows you is a strange feeling, there are those who to want to be been seen by everybody and there are those who hide from the glances, but definitively felling as invisible when your senses look for mystery and anonymity is pure energy.

The most attractive city

London is an exciting city where young people are attracted by its streets and squares; but for sure Charles found much more than that. Fun and, as usual, experiences. “In London there is a lot to do with my age and situation at the time. I loved living in London. I made the best friends I have there and had so much fun living and working there. I worked right in the middle of the city and enjoyed how busy it was and how much variation there was in the people that live and work there. I think there is a saying that if you can’t find someone like you in London, that you haven’t been there long enough”, added Charles.

Even though Raymond is an Economist, he is currently devoted to know the world. With the backpack handy, some money and a lot of enthusiasm is willing to know cultures, nice people and homemade dishes. Here in Margarita Island he studies to become a Dive Master with Luis Fonseca, Charles’s friend and teacher.

Quito!

The traveler finds interesting living new pastimes and does things he had never done before nor had he imagined doing, as well as contemplating sceneries and events he had never seen. Bangladesh, the Caribbean and Quito, for example, are some of the places  did not have in mind when only six months old his mother Penélope would take him in her arms to know the world.“It is a great feeling to discover something that you love but you never knew existed. Here in South America, my favorite city so far has been Quito. I loved the feel of it, walking in the streets, the buildings and the statues were all great. Bogota also has beautiful buildings and art around the city”, said Raymond.

Quito

Difficult steps

“Language is my biggest problem at the moment, it is very difficult to interact with people and to learn about the different cultures when I don’t know their language. I am learning though, and most people I meet are very forgiving and helpful”. Expressed our interviewee.

Another problem Charles Raymond faces when traveling is how to get his food.  When he misses homemade food, there are some friends that invite him to try new flavors.  But Chris is a very independent young guy, he knows how to prepare good bread, and he knows how to move around snack shops and buget restaurants that he visits. “There are some foods which you can only get when you are home, so they are missed too”, said Charles.

Food in New Zealand includes many fish, sea food, meats and delicious sweets. New Zealand is a nation of islands. The consumption of fish has been traditionally low, because New Zealanders usually eat a lot of meat. Sea food and fish have always been a significant aspect of the diet of the los Maoris and many of the names of these sea food and fish are of Maori origin.

Lamb is one of the most traditional foods. It is almost always cooked in the oven together with potatoes and pumpkin. This is a tradition during Sundays, especially in winter. Fish with fried potatoes is a typical meal of New Zealand. Normally is cheap and very good, especially when you don’t want to cook. It can be bought in stores called Takeaways or Fish and Chips Shops that exist in every city.

“Things that come with the game”

Charles loves honesty and genuine people. It is important to ask ourselves why Charles left his native country in order to adventure into Latin-American countries. The experiences that come together with the game are bets that the travelers fall for when they go through difficult moments. For those leaving their native countries the important thing is to grow and build a “portable” home. – What do you think does knowledge do for the human being? “If you were mathematically minded and chose to twist the words then you could take from that. I think knowledge is a curse. Maybe it is the cursed savior. People say that knowledge is power…but I really hope it has something better to offer than that”, Raymond expressed. There is a saing that knowledge is power, but only if you take it into action.

– When do you decide to move, when do you decide to stop?

– It depends on the situation I am in, the people around me and how I am feeling. Sometimes I like a place and feel no need to move again for a little while, so I stay. If I am bored or need to change the way I am thinking, I move somewhere new. A lot of the time it is out of my control and I just move when I can.

For example, if I am saving and don’t have enough money to travel, or when I was at university. During university I would travel (mostly to Australia) during the summer holidays and stay in New Zealand for the months when I had classes (March-November). I had no money so I would work in Australia and pay for my summer and maybe have a little bit left over for a few short holidays during the university year.

Go to travel…

Larissa García de Fonseca