April Acquaintances
This month’s blog post prompt is SO difficult for me to complete. I’m supposed to describe one friend I’ve met on my travels. Having been around the world for the past 10 months, I have been able to meet an incredible amount of people that have influenced my life for the better. I’ve had two long term travel partners & several short term ones — and above that, I’ve made many acquaintances that I would certainly now call my friends.
Instead of talking about my travel partners, which I was inclined to do at first, I think I’m going to use this blog post to highlight two people that have inspired recent change within my life! This month was exciting for me because it’s the month where I finally made the full transition into veganism. Becoming vegan was something that I had tried several times in the past, and could never succeed in because I was so easily swayed and lacked self control. I thought since I was traveling, it was a valid reason for me to excuse my moral obligations and feelings. But, that logic changed for me when I met two amazing vegans.
The first compassionate lad I met is called Ffin. His first name is actually Elfin (cool, right?). He’s a quirky, artistic, and very eccentric guy from Cornwall, England. Only one year my senior, Ffin has accomplished a lifestyle that not many of our peers can say they’ve matched. He lives on a boat, quite literally just embracing and living life day by day and to its’ fullest extent. I would say the most noticeable characteristic of Ffin are his piercing blue eyes. I’ve never seen Ffin in closed toe shoes (aside from an infamous pair of bright pink Crocs) — and he almost always had a hand rolled cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth. Ffin taught me compassion towards animals and to other human beings in an incredibly non-abrasive way. Ffin dedicated his free time to helping the children in Cambodia build and create costumes and floats for a New Years parade celebration. My favorite thing about him is definitely his confidence. Ffin doesn’t care what people think of him, and I mean this in the best way possible. He was always 100% himself, never putting on a show or a facade just to please other people. Almost always happy, the way he lives his life is encouragement enough for me to want to do the same.
The biggest push for me though, was definitely when I met “Guzi.” Brandon — a friend I met in Bangkok — initially didn’t want me finding out his first name. However, once I did, his nickname of “Guzi” no longer stuck. A dark haired bearded photographer from Canada, Brandon took me around Bangkok for a few days to explore and capture the city on film. He shared plenty of vegan/vegetarian restaurants with me and made good conversation. Listening to his reasonings behind why he didn’t consume or partake in the sales of animal byproducts really is what made me take the leap to cutting those things out of my life. Being passionate about something — especially when it comes to other living creatures — was something I hadn’t really witnessed outwardly from any other person I’ve met. So, to see something that I admire so much exemplified in a human being, much less my FRIEND, was incredible. Rather than talking down about why I was wrong for the way I was living, he gave me positive reinforcement when I expressed my true feelings and love for animals. Brandon was definitely one of the most spontaneous people I’ve met on my travels. His ‘get up and just go’ attitude has definitely sparked a change in my life in such a manner where I feel like I don’t worry as much as I used to. His carefree ‘everything will be okay’ outlook on life is definitely something I am pursuing on my journey to self love & happiness.
