One of Those Old Guys

Yep, that's officially me. Man, I NEVER thought I would actually be one of them but then it hit me last night. Where has time gone?

Ok, in the bigger picture of things I am still quite young. But last night after arriving in the beautiful coastal town of Ulcinj Montenegro after a full day of business meetings (in 35C heat), I rewarded myself with a quick dip in the sea, a nice long read on the last sandy beech on the Adriatic (as one heads north) and then took a sunset stroll (wait till you see the photos) along the old castle walls that protected the small harbor. Perfect. Just perfect. Several restaurants have embedded themselves inside the castle walls and have the most picture perfect decks to wine, dine and watch the sunset over the water. Which is what I did. Not to mention that Montenegro is worlds more advanced for tourism than Albanian. Great waiter service, wonderful seafood dishes (with menus slightly catering towards western pallets such as the fresh breaded fried calamari I had), and pleasant settings that make you want to have just one more drink.

As I was keeping to myself, my book (Peace at Any Price-about the entire UNMIK occupancy of Kosovo), and my camera to snap off some shots of the setting sun, I couldn't help but overhear the young couple next to me struggle at trying to order a half portion of the mixed seafood platter on special. I had to remark to them at the end of the 10 minute and 3 waiter ordeal, that I would be very curious to see what they ended up with. And with that comment we launched into a meal conversation about how I had arrived on that deck at that particular time. Seeing that they were both 21 year old Juniors at Carnegie Mellon in the States taking a couple months off to backpack on the cheap around the Balkans, they appeared unable to get enough of my stories of why, where and how. What did I study in college, how did I get overseas, (first where but then) what is Kosovo like, how can they end up doing what I do...

And then it hit me. I remember being EXACTLY them trying to spend no more than $5/day staying at some of the roughest places and traveling on the worse possible transports but somehow loving every minute of it. And then coming across one of those guys that just seemed to be out there on his own doing whatever he has chosen to do. For better or for worse, I know I was in awe of some of those folks but also thought that they seemed to be really a bit 'out there'. All I can say is that if I was able to impress upon them to follow their hearts and passions and to let it lead them to wherever they want to end up on the planet, then I am proud to be remembered as that old crazy guy they met eating a randomly sorted fish platter that cost them double the negotiated price.