仗剑走天涯，月亮和六便士都会有的Roam the World, and You'll Have the Moon and the Sixpence Both

Whatever it is you want, maybe time really does hand it to you in the end.

I once dreamed of roaming the world, sword in hand, to see all its splendor
A young heart always carries a little recklessness — and now you make your home wherever you go
The girl who once broke your heart — has she quietly vanished without a trace?

Those lines are probably the truest picture of me these past few years.

Anyone who knows me knows I love to get out and roam (in the harmless sense — not that kind of roaming). Being the travel addict I am, I once made myself a vow: to collect all seven Dragon Balls — postcards from all seven continents.

On July 24, 2016, that dream was six-sevenths done — only Antarctica stood between me and "summoning the dragon." On August 3, 2019, the dream finally slotted its last piece into place.

I used to think this dream would take a very long time to pull off — at least ten years. But from zero to one, and then up to six-sevenths, took just three years. The final step took another three. Six years all told, start to finish.

The seven-continent postcard mosaic

Ma Dong once said, "To be misunderstood is the fate of anyone who tries to express something; we've got nothing to complain about." A few seemingly artsy hobbies have gotten me pegged as one of those artsy types, but I know full well I'm not — and I've seen what genuine artsy types actually look like.

Most of the time, I'm really a collector and an experience junkie. I like gathering anything tied to memory: visas, entry and exit stamps, postcards, maps, postmarks — and Kobe jerseys, marathon medals, etc.

The Kobe jersey collection, part one

The Kobe jersey collection, part two

I've always felt these hobbies aren't artsy at all. They're just a way to add thickness to a life, and — on the one-way, irreversible road of growing older (even with a memory that still holds up, I very tangibly feel my energy and brain cells falling behind the pace of change) — to leave myself more memories, a stock of "historical facts" I can hold forth about later with a laugh. I'm not the least bit artsy; "goofball" and "sports nut" fit me a lot better.

More and more, I'm coming to accept that this world is simply full of vast differences and vast mysteries. My curiosity still runs as strong as my appetite, and my thirst for knowledge as strong as my libido, but there's no way — and no need — to know the cause and course of every single thing. I keep reminding myself: rein in your vanity, your itch to show off, and that clever little impulse that always wants the spotlight. I don't much want to chase the newest, hottest concepts anymore; I only care about the things I genuinely love, and experiencing them with my whole heart.

So keep studying, living, and traveling far on your own terms, and let your own shape emerge. Gain knowledge, perspective, and character. Even if you don't follow the shows and movies everyone around you is discussing, even if you have no idea what hot topic is flooding everyone's feed — none of it matters. Don't let your days fill up with pointless chatter, and don't worry about which crowd you're supposed to keep pace with. Being liked isn't hard; being respected is.

People used to say that understanding is the prerequisite for tolerance. It isn't. The prerequisite for tolerance is accepting one fact: that this world is infinite and infinitely different. We don't need to understand so many things — we don't need to understand just how infinite the world is, or why every person is different.

A friend once said, you can roughly sort people into two kinds: target-based versus experience-based. The first kind has crystal-clear goals, and every action points toward them; the second chases the experience of the process, with personal experience being the reason behind every choice. I thought for a long time about which one I am, and finally landed on the second: even though my goals are clear and I don't change course once I decide, all of my goals and all of my drive come from a single conviction — life is about experience.

Thank you to everyone I met along the way; thank you for all the joy and the memories you gave me on the road.

And I'm glad I could bring you a little joy and comfort too. Thank you for all of it.

Still on the road, always on the road.

Forever young, forever with tears in my eyes.

Below are a few of the postcards friends sent me — enjoy.

The final piece — Antarctica

Asia — Japan

Europe — Austria

North America — the United States

South America — Argentina

Asia — Malaysia

Africa — Egypt

Asia — Thailand

Asia — Japan

Europe — Switzerland

Asia — Vietnam

Oceania — New Zealand

Taiwan

A Taiwan adventure

Anhui

Oceania — Australia

Ukraine — Kyiv

Taiwan — again

From a fellow Kobe fan

The empire on which the sun never sets