It's here- the last post! I don't have any snazzy tricks, stats, or photos left up my sleeve, just some thoughts on a couple contemplative topics. If reading these posts has been even half as enjoyable and stimulating as it's been to write them, I'm thankful.

On South American history:  

Traveling through the continent made me hyper-aware of the lasting effects of imperialism. It was an all-too-familiar story. How did a handful of men subjugate an empire of millions? What happened to all the valuable resources? How many people were killed because they resisted? Where did the indigenous people go? This applies to all the powers of the time, not just the Spaniards in this case. The US is as guilty as anyone, playing a role in the separation of Panama from Colombia that secured a century of control over the strategic Panama Canal. 

Slavery is undoubtedly the biggest travesty in the history of mankind. In the context of my travels, I'm referring to the colonial period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries which we most strongly associate with the term. Though the truth is that we've cruelly subjugated our fellow humans in various forms throughout history. 

In Colombia, I was recommended a book called The Empire of Necessity, an excellent read about slavery in the New World, centered around the story of a slave rebellion in 1805. Especially being an American, I never realized how prominent slavery was in Latin America. Only 5% of African slaves were sent to North America, compared to over 50% to Brazil and Spanish America. This gap lessened throughout the nineteenth century as slaves in the American South had higher birth rates and the cotton boom demanded more labor. But the treatment of slaves also differed between regions. As the proportion of slaves was significantly higher in Spanish America (e.g. slaves constituted up to 90% of the population in the West Indies compared to 20% in the American South), slaves were able to access certain aspects of freedom. Under the umbrella of Spanish Catholicism, slaves could marry, buy freedom, retain culture, and seek reprieve from harsh owners. Additionally, there was a stark difference in conceptions of race. The social stratification in the Spanish colonies was more nuanced, allowing for racial mixing and leading to terms like mulatto and mestizo still used today to describe mixed-blood individuals, but with minimal negative racial implications. That's in contrast to the US, where we bristle at anything that suggests race as a differentiating feature. There's no 'better' version of slavery, but it's important to understand the differences.  

Thankfully, that's not all I took away about history from my travels. The South American identity is alive and well. I recommend a listen to the song Latinoamerica, which wholly encapsulates the spirit I encountered there. 

On solo backpacking:

In the very first post, I laid out some reasons for wanting to go solo backpacking. I did some things well and others not so well. But this was never about goals, it was about enjoying the adventure. I don't want to over-glorify the experience- traveling is not a cure. I don't profess to being a changed man, but there's a reason why people offer up traveling as the top answer to the popular question of what they would do if work or money wasn't a concern- our innate curiosity. And as a curious person, venturing on this journey was one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had. 

One unexpected effect of backpacking for a longer period of time is the hindsight. Traveling is typically associated with looking forward, but it also forced me to look backward. The more new friends you make, the more you miss your old friends and family. The more new you try, the more you appreciate of the old you've loved. The more each day is different, the more you wish each day could be the same. The more you see, the less you might appreciate. It's a very fine balancing act. I think about this 'explore versus exploit' problem a lot, and in certain stages of life we need more of one than the other.  

I'm not sure when, or even if, I'll embark on another solo backpacking trip. That's less a result of my actual experience backpacking and more a reflection of my current desire to do other things. Of course, I'll always be exploring, but backpacking around the world is not my life's goal. Backpacking was about absorbing what the world has to offer. At the moment, I want to focus on what I can give back.

On learning Spanish: 

By the end, I was able to have genuine, if halting, conversations in Spanish. It goes beyond just learning the language- it's like discovering an entirely new social world. I'm set on reaching conversational fluency and I'll continue to study daily.

Throughout the process of re-learning Spanish, I've also come to appreciate another language I've let deteriorate. I grew up (reluctantly) going to Chinese school every Sunday and speaking Mandarin at home. My first language might be that of America but my first culture is not. I'm proud of that, and recognize the bond between language and culture. However, my Mandarin has been in steady decline ever since I left home when I was 16. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the news in Mandarin, but at least the game shows, right?

On writing: 

Reading more in my 20's has taught me the value of writing. It also helps that my job at Amazon drilled it into me. Half our meetings were in dead silence. Isn't that a refreshing thought? We started meetings by reading a meticulously prepared document so everyone was fully-informed before diving into discussion. That type of writing isn't applicable in every context, but it's communicative power was undeniable.

I've never been a creative type, so writing a blog was a challenge I wanted to tackle. To do that, I spent an ordinate amount of time writing these blog posts. Each post took at least 5-10 hours. Funny to think about spending hundreds of hours to produce paragraphs read in minutes. But besides the inefficiencies, there's some invaluable strategies I learned... dump out all your thoughts and organize later. There's a constant ebb and flow. Ride the wave when you have it and keep paddling when you don't. Constraint breeds creativity. The more introspective, the better. And as with so much in life, in writing, perfect is the enemy of good.

There are some really delightful characteristics of good writing. The structure and flow is logical, brevity is a virtue, it's a good way to impart and reference lots of information, you don't get interrupted, you can make jokes merely by strategically utilizing punctuation, and you can reach a depth of thought that isn't always possible in conversation.

I definitely want to continue writing, though I haven't decided on what. I'll probably shift over to Medium because that's what the cool kids do these days.

What now: 

I'm currently living in Dallas where I grew up. It's been too long since I've spent some quality time with my parents and old friends. And while I have the freedom of not having to worry about finding an apartment or going to an office, I'm working on an education technology startup, learning new skills, diving into topics that interest me, working off all the empanadas, and reading extensively.