Privileged Few or the should be's

My blog has been about recognizing my personal search and exploration of life. I've been on this current journey for the last 5 weeks. It's the longest one I've ever taken that did not involve school. In it, I have tried to live and experience life as it is not for a foreign traveler but for the authentic local experience. Choosing apartment rentals over hotel stays, striking conversations often and when appropriate, eating out, walking, & using the metro system. 

Surely, it's an imperfect art, this shape-shifting and experiencing another's life outside your own. Through it all, I had my own life to contend with, a child to try to impart moral and life wisdom to, a family who had their own intentions, or not, for the trip, and my own goals to "just be" and find the love and laughter in family. We discovered tears and heartache in the midst, perhaps from my perspective a naivete, but mostly from the underpinnings of most conflict, a misunderstanding of terms. Truly, the heart of the matter was not at stake, but when it felt like it was being attacked, the sting burned so deeply. 

On barely the other side of it, the aftermath in full display, of a crumbled nuclear family. No, there was no need to hold onto what cannot be held onto, but the mess is there, nonetheless. 

So, on what seems like a still incomplete thought and a tangential beginning to ask, between the life I lead and the lives I see, who look back at me, is the opportunity to travel and experience this world, one that I hope offers immense perspective, just for those privileged few or that can be claimed and should be by many more? 

Perhaps in feeling my privileged state, I am holding myself responsible to answer these questions: What have I learned on this trip? And how will it impact my actions going forward? 

Next time.