Go West, Young Man

 A famous quote by Horace Greeley, an American author and newspaper man of the 1800s, I always misinterpreted this quote as meaning "go and have adventures as a young man" instead of its actual meaning of manifest destiny. It's still a valid message, though, and only as a soon-to-be-exactly-in-his-mid-thirties-man stuck at home working for the majority of his life, it's a great reminder to try out new things and experience as much as possible, because one day we won't be able to due to time restrictions, baby responsibilities, job duties, physical changes, or simply just being set in one's ways and not being able to go back to that mindset of tearing up the world.

I value all the ASB (Alternative Spring Break) trips I took during college and in law school, but at the same time I berate myself for being obsessed with the March Madness basketball tournament back then that I snuck away from the group in Seattle and Orcas Island (two great areas) to go to an Internet cafe to check my fantasy basketball teams and complete my bracket. Fantasy basketball is fake and college basketball will live on, but those ASB trips and times of youthfulness and hanging out with other college students with similar ideals is once-in-a-lifetime. Not my proudest moment. Similarly, in my mid-twenties I lived for 2 months in late summer in the city of Philadelphia. I worked 40 hours during the week in the city, but otherwise I had all the free time in the world to explore the city, run to University of Pennsylvania (great campus location), run to the Museum of Art and climb up and down the Rocky steps, run along the Schukyll River (still not sure how to pronounce it). There was one Saturday I felt really adventurous where I rented a bike and rode it all the way to Valley Forge, the famous Continental Army campsite during the winter of 1777-1778 led by George Washington, which was a 26 mile journey from Philadelphia. An unforgettable journey, just enjoying the sights and sounds of the trail and being free as a bird; little do you know at those times how rare those moments come by and that you'll look back fondly back at that experience, even though at the time I was thirsty, sweaty, and fighting a dying iPhone battery. At the end of the 2 months I had an option to stay in Philadelphia for longer to explore, but due to some unimportant agreement I made with a law school friend of living together in L.A. I decided to go back and leave the adventure behind. Little did I know that I closing the door to my adventurous life behind. 

On a more positive note, I went back to Philadelphia this past weekend as part of cherry blossom viewing (which I realized was a little too early), but the river's still there, the Robert Indiana LOVE statue is still there, and I even found new things to enjoy (the Barnes foundation in the heart of the city is spectacular, as is the vegan Chinese restaurant right next to it). But if I hadn't taken that Valley Forge bike trip or even agreed to go to Philadelphia on that work trip in the first place, I'd never have forged (get it?) those memories in the first place, which is why it's important to "Go West, Young Man!" when you still can.  

But then again, don't go TOO extreme like Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos. In what must be the umpteenth portrayal of her life and creation of the blood-testing company because her life is just so weird, Amanda Seyfried plays her in the Hulu mini-series "Dropout." (audiences must love scandal, because FX's American Crime Story is out too at the same time with Impeachment, the story of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton). She was 18 when she went to China and participatedd in a Mandarin immersion program (great direction!) but then dropped out of Stanford, started her own company at age 20 and raised money from investors like Larry Ellison and Don Lucas... but also was clearly out of her element and made bad investments along the way.