Entry #15: Please Follow the Highlighted Route. . .

My departure date will be here before I know it. Oddly enough, even though I will soon be leaving for China via airplane, I wondered how long it would take me to walk/swim -- you know, the ol' fashion kind of travel that requires one to get their shoes dirty and their muscles aching to an extravagant point before realizing it's time to rest (thank the lord for modern times!). Thanks to the oh so intelligent Google Maps, I discovered it would take me approximately 127 days and 18 hours to get to my destination via the power my body produces.

Google Maps very kindly and sweetly told me to "Use Caution! This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths. . ." Really? I had no idea. 

One doesn't always need a clearly defined path to get them where it is they want to go. Whether it be a high speed thorough fare or a dirt path bruised by a horse drawn cart, one must adapt to the situation at hand and go with the flow. As I prepare for my trip and think about what it is I will eat, where I will sleep, how it is I will effectively communicate (for example, will I curl up into a ball and desperately long for my English words back?), and the inevitable occurrence of getting lost, I realize I must adapt. 

For those of you who know me well, you'll understand me when I say that my directional skills are borderline nonexistent. One might even go as far to say that I have an undesirable mental condition that prevents me from locating the correct destination, even if it is the next door neighbor's house. Not exactly wonderful for a boy exploring a foreign land. . . So we'll just see what kind of navigational dangers the winding, curving, maze-like streets of Chengdu, China have in store for me. Bring it on!

All I can do is thank the universe for Google Maps -- and the little highlighted route, which I usually always "modify." 

[Oh, wait. . . Google is censored in China still. AHHHHHHHHHHH!]