Gunnar Larson Blog

Spring 2006 Semester in Europe student

 Next 4/25/2006

Cyprus today, New York tomorrow

5/3/2006 4:23:59 AM

As I sit in Cyprus, antsy as a schoolboy who is just about ready to get the okay from mom to go and play in the mud, I look back at traveling the world, all of the exciting memories, all of the people I have met, and all I have learned.

Swimming with dolphins in Australia, interviewing a prostitute in Vietnam, dancing with the Masai in Kenya, getting the story of two rioting French students in Paris, being in awe on the Beaches of Normandy, interviewing an archaeologist atop The Acropolis in Athens, standing at the base of The Great Pyramid in Egypt, and living in the only militarily divided capital on the world are just a few of the experiences while on this tour of the world. Together through keeping in touch, we have visited every continent except antarctica.

Friday, I will be back in Manhattan.

Who would have really thought it was possible? Growing up in Culdesac, Idaho, raising pigs and mowing lawns, to somehow reporting for a small station in Nampa, Idaho, then living in New York, and visiting nearly 30 countries? It sounds almost outrageous now doesn't it, almost too good to be true? Comically, one of my friends said, "Cinderella has nothing on you." 

Indeed, there has been many times when I have pinched myself, quite literally, wondering if I was really understanding all of this. And as the mental pictures tarnish in my mind, each experience seems richer and deeper to me. It is not my intention to get nostalgic with you, but I cannot help but reflect just a bit.

When I first started this blog, I told you what my goals, dreams, and aspirations are. From the first blog entry:

"Now that I am older I recognize to become a strong journalist, it is a must to see cultures outside the United States. Through my previous international travels, I witnessed extreme poverty alongside extreme wealth. I have seen happy children playing in streets laden with sewage. Why these children are so happy compared to those of the United States is stimulating. I toss ideas such as this around in my head and think, "There are great possibilities for news stories about other cultures!" I am taking advantage of the amazing opportunity to sail around the world to experience many more exciting cultures. China, India, and Japan are just a few of the countries to be encountered. 

Even then, I had no idea that I would double the countries that I was to visit.

Now, I go back to New York City, setting out to embody each of my experiences abroad into my life and work to come.

There is a scene in a movie "Life or Something Like It," where a young upstart journalist is interviewing a woman who is a 25-year veteran journalist. The young upstart asks the veteran journalist, on national TV, if she would have done anything different in life. Furthermore the young journalist professionally points to the example that the veteran journalist never married; she sacrificed her life for her career. Granted, she was now a very powerful, famous, and well respected journalist, but she had never married. The veteran journalist breaks down into tears. 

I know a lot of people like this. Reporters work their tails off for the one job that they have always dreamed of. Then one day they wonder where life has really gone. And I cannot help but wonder, will I end up like this too? Will Cinderella actually have something on me in the long run?

I cannot feel sorry for myself though; and I have dreams, goals, aspirations, and memories that have allowed me to live a unique life so far, and I plan to continue to do so. I will never forget growing up in Idaho, or growing up while traveling the world.

To steal a line from the movie, "If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is to be yourself in your job and your career," and that I will do.

I do not know what the next step is, or how, or where I will get where I need to go in the weeks, or months, or even years. Or how I will use these experiences, memories, and dreams to give back to the world that has afforded me so much. That is nothing new though; it is part of the journey as I see it. 

I say so long for now, and close the chapter on this round of world adventures. Australia is yet again on the horizon, but we can only wonder what is in between.