Man in Love

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

Traveling to me is a never ending voyage that I intend to experience for the rest of my days. From the moment I left my family home in Sudbury at the age of 17, I realized the world had so much to offer. I would need to live a million lives to see it all. People often ask me if I had one wish what would it be. My reply is time and time again with not even a second to consider "teleportation". For if I could teleport, I could see all of the things I have ever wanted to see. But, seeing as living a million lives and teleportation are rather unlikely options, I intend to make the most of my time as a man who cannot teleport.

I love all types of traveling no matter how far or how short it may be. From a 1.5 hour drive from Toronto to Muskoka. To a 1.5 hour flight from Toronto to New York. Toronto to New York in same time as driving to Muskoka from Toronto! Side note - Flying may as well be time travel considering you can go just about anywhere in the world in less than a day. Take this week for instance, my lovely fiancé and I flew from Toronto to Tokyo in less than 13 hours. The feeling of flying to the other side of the world is unexplainable and can only be understood through the actual experience itself. Just blows my mind that one day you can be somewhere like Toronto, Canada and the next day wake up in Tokyo, Japan. With a different smell, sight, and atmosphere all together. Where the people speak another language, drive on the other side of the road, and eat with chop sticks. There is not one city that is the same as the next. Some may be similar or some may be the exact opposite. If you're like me you may want to experience them all.  Needless to say I am beyond grateful for living in todays society where the miracle of flight is considered the norm. 

I have done a fair amount of traveling in my 25 years of life thus far. Much on my own, and some with friends and family. I would encourage traveling on your own simply for the pure experience of it all.The things you can learn about yourself while being completely out of your comfort zone is indescribable. Having to make decisions on your own in a different part of the world is only bound to make you grow as an individual. Many say that traveling is the best education money can buy. I for one agree with that statement. I will say however, that traveling alone (like anything else) does come with some down sides. Sometimes being in the most amazing place in the world may not be so amazing if you don't have someone to share it with. Sometimes it just doesn't matter where you are its who you're with. Having that chance to share an exciting experience with someone else makes that experience far more exciting (from my experience anyways).

 Lets talk about the airport now. The airport, despite the thousands of people are flying in and out daily, can definitely be a lonely place when you're there on your own. Having a solid flight partner can literally make a flight far better in so many ways (I say this to you as a person who still flies coach...for now). Regardless, having someone to share your flight experience brings much comfort, especially for longer flights. Having someone to chat with, lean on, share snacks, share laughs, or even share a kiss or two depending on who your with. It all makes a difference. Lets not forget the airport pick up. I say this a lot and I’ll say is again now; "never under appreciate a solid airport pick up or drop off". There's no better feeling than having a friend or family member pick you up after a long day of flying. There have been many times that I have gotten off the plane, only having to figure out the public transit of whichever city I was in. On top of a long flight the last thing you want is another hour to 2 hours of pubic transit commuting. Needless to say though, its all growth and learning at the end of the day. I am happy to have had the chance to experience them both.

As I mentioned before, I am currently in Tokyo, Japan. I am here for business and it is my second time here. I came here three years ago on my own. But this time I have the privilege of being here with my lovely fiancé Ally aka my ultimate travel partner. Ally and I will likely travel the majority of our trips together from here on out. Having her here so far has been an absolute breath of fresh air. She surely brings comfort to a place where we’re both outside our comfort zone. And in less than two months from now we’ll be traveling to the beautiful country of Thailand. It is a dream come true for the both of us to see Thailand and we can hardly contain our excitement! It is surely bound to be the greatest experience of our lives thus far. We may be far away from Canada, but to us we’re still right at home. As they say “home is where the heart is”. For this is truly the case with us. No matter where we are, as long as we’re together we will always be at home. I would also encourage you to find your “ultimate travel partner”. For as great a traveling is, it can always be better if you’re with the right person.

At the end of the day people travel for several different reasons. It could be for the culture, the beach, the excitement, the food, the money, the opportunity, and the list and go on and on. The airport sums it up the best by asking "business or leisure". My list could go on forever for all the reasons I love to travel, but I don't have the time to write it and nobody has the time to read it. But I will say that I am beyond grateful and fortunate that I have given myself the opportunity to take part in travel for both 'business' and 'leisure'.There's a big world out there and believe me it's worth getting to see. Now you just have to ask yourself, who would you like to see it with? Because sometimes its not just about where you are, its who you have beside you that can turn something good, into something great. For it's never too late, to begin your never ending voyage.

These days a lot of men have trouble saying “I love you." It doesn’t really matter why they’re saying it, or who they’re saying it to. But those words for some reason just put guys in a vulnerable place which makes it difficult to say three very simple words.

Of course, its not the words that make it difficult. It is in fact the meaning behind the words that makes this statement so special. Perhaps it is the way people are raised, or the environment in which they grew up in. I agree that the way you are raised and your environment play a key role in your life, but for how long?

I firmly believe these things play a role in your life for however long you allow them to. You have the ability to learn for yourself; whether it be learning to drive a car, run your own business, or yes, even the ability of letting yourself fall in love with someone. Whatever it may be, we can certainly create our own destiny. But for now, lets focus on the love between two people.

Whether its the love for a man or the love for a woman, I firmly believe that finding our soul mate is the strongest form of love. I understand my views on love may be different than many other people’s current views on love. The reason I say ‘current’ view is because eventually everyone is steered in this direction as its simply the way we have been created. As human beings we’re scientifically drawn to one another, and we seek and need companionship.

I myself for example, did not always feel this way. It took me many years to figure it out, but man am I happy I have built this knowledge. My knowledge summed up in its simplest form is: finding and staying with your companion is the greatest accomplishment of all. If you don’t agree with me now thats fine, but I’m sure you will once you find your soul mate.

I am very fortunate to say that I have found my soul mate and I couldn’t be happier. She is without question my better half and she completes me in every way. Her name is Alexandra Payetta, and I am happy to say that we just got engaged as of March 22nd, 2014. We surprised each other by making the decision together while walking down the street in New York City. I had planned several different ways to surprise her by proposing, and I just couldn’t find the way that seemed right. We just both decided that it didn’t matter how it happened, as long as we it did. The moment felt right, so minutes later I surprised her by getting down on one knee at this beautiful lit up area at the corner of West Broadway and Franklin St., and asked her to be my wife. Needless to say… she said yes!

Unfortunately, some people never find their soul mates. Some people may never find companionship at all, or they may go through more than one partner and fail to stay together forever. There are several reasons why someone may never find a companion. The most important reason someone may never find a companion in my opinion, would be their inability to be open enough to allow themselves to fall in love. The best thing you can do for yourself to be open to true love is believe in true love. It does exist. Don’t tell yourself it doesn’t. Many people will do this to cover up their fear of rejection. Fear of rejection is completely natural and everyone has it. But when it comes to love, its worth taking that chance. Because in the end when you’re lying in bed with your soul mate, you’ll never regret the times you struck out.

On the other hand, many people may have several companions and fail to stay together with one building a life long relationship. My opinion on this is simple; its easy to fall in love, but the hard part is staying in love. Anyone who knows anything about love will tell you that its not easy. There will be hard times. But you work at your relationship everyday. If you put each other first, and work at doing that everyday, you can’t help but to fall more and more in love. The fact is, love takes hard work. And like anything else, the more work you put into something the better your results will be. Once again, you will never regret the work you put into your relationship when you’re lying in bed next to your soul mate.

So these are my views on true love thus far, from an old soul living in a young mans body. I have learned from my elders, peers, role models, strangers, and most importantly; myself. I continue to learn more each day as I am always open to absorb new and useful knowledge. Remember to practice love everyday by loving yourself. The more love you have for yourself the more love you will have to project into the world around you. Because “love makes the world go round” so “practice love everyday”