Gregory and Me

If you were to attempt to unravel all the threads of your life and see all the happenstance decisions that lead you to a certain place you would probably go stark raving mad with “what if” possibilities. Luckily life works all that out for you and you don’t have to think about it too much. All you need to do is set the events in motion by a single act. The beauty is most of the time you don’t know you are setting anything in motion. You just go about your life and hope that the decisions you make don’t land you in jail or as the next guest on Jerry Springer.

Take the Kiwi owner of Octopus Resort for example. My stay at Octopus was greatly colored by this man. In his late forties (I would guess), recently divorced, and filled to the brim with money, Nick was the embodiment of a midlife crisis playboy. With thirteen properties his presence at the resort was seldom, but to our luck, he was spending the next three weeks “hanging out” there. When you just own and not manage what better way to see how your property is operating than by using the facilities. But really I think he had nothing better to do and loved to entertain people. For example upon hearing that a large group of us were going to dive the same dive, he arranged another boat to join us and then take all of us to a secluded beach afterward for a little post dive soiree. Just because he thought it would be fun. He even had his people put together a cooler full of drinks. Or the time that I actually got myself to sit down next to the pool to enjoy a bit of the sun. I made some stupid sarcastic comment about how much life there sucks and it could be all that much better if I was doing the same thing but with a Margarita in my hand. Rick-who was sunbathing behind me-immediately sprang to life and said, “Coming right up!”. A few minutes later my universe was complete with Margarita in hand, and I didn’t even have to move. "Compliments of Nick" or that was at least what the waiter said. Now that’s a great example of setting a set of events into motion.

Each decision you make starts a snowball rolling and it would take a super computer to track them all. Who has time to think about all that when the next sand volley game against the Fijians is about to start and you need to get your serve on? All kidding aside decision making was a bit hard at Octopus. This was mainly due to the wonderful list of activities that you could sign up for each day. I ended up diving a total five dives over the course of five days. Luckily they have three chances to do so a day so you could work around other activities. So each day was centered around a dive, some beach time, some snorkeling, an afternoon activity, dinner and then a night activity. One morning we walked to the Fijian Village nearby and talked to the villagers and took photos of all the kids. Another day I went line fishing off one of the boats, and actually caught six different fish. The kitchen the next day cooked one of them up for me for lunch. There was also a sunset boat cruise. But it was the night events that really made the day. We had a movie night next to the pool. A traditional Fijian song and dance night, hermit crab racing (of which my two crabs seemed to disappear), a sand volleyball game where you got a free shot every time you did something good, and a game/bonfire night where I stupidly entered a game where you had to eat a whole candy bar and chuck down an entire beer before the other team does. I turned white and nearly puked. And most importantly sundown was always an activity to stop for no matter what. Obviously then what activities you do then effects who you hang out with. (Or in this case bond with after nearly puking)

Like an extended trip as a whole, Octopus Resort was a microcosm of all the missed opportunities to get to know someone and a concentrated example of the dynamics of how people end up hanging out together in happenstance circumstances. Since visitors to the island came only by the resort boat daily, Octopus had a strange flux of people coming and going. One day one person would be gone replaced by another person and sometimes a person would be there a couple of days before an opportunity to notice them arrived. Almost from the begging boat ride I had groups to hang out with and we were all staying the exact amount of time. This was the three British girls-Jo, Katie and Kirran and the three Montana boys-Jonathon, Dan & Jackson. We came on the same boat and in the end left on the same boat. Then there was Katie & Sam from Britain and Stephan from Germany. We met because one day I happened to take a swim in the pool and they were having a hard time doing that squeeze thing with your hands that makes a stream of water shoot out of your clasped hands. (don't ask). Then there was Ingrid and Louise both from the UK. We met on our walk over to the village. We bonded over pigs, taking pictures of little kids, snorkeling, and generally making fun of other people. I also met Josina from Australia on that same walk. She and I would dive one of our best dives together where we saw a white tipped reef shark and a giant moray eel. I met Alina from Minnesota because I had walked into the office and over heard she was American. She was later influential in my decision to go to the Rugby game and in the end would be my travel partner on the plane back to the States. As happenstance as these meetings may be depending on whether I made a decision to go here or there, I can't help but think that in the end they are not so much random. I was to stay at Octopus Resort five nights and out of all the people I became close to not a single one of them was staying any longer than I was. To stay any longer would have overstayed the experience, to leave on the downward spiral and not on top. This was influential in my decision to come home when I did. It was a wonderful way to end-knowing that it was time to go. Maybe I am just sentimental but it was as if we were all meant to gather at this place at this time. And knowing that some of us not only were leaving at the same time but on the same plane made it easier to leave. Some decisions as it were are obviously made for you.

All things said, it wouldn't be proper to end this trip with out mentioning one more thing. That is the single handed act that started the chain of events that led to my adventures in both the South Pacific and many other wonderful places. It started on a cool spring day in 2001 when I walked into an REI in Oakbrook, IL with my friend Kate and purchased my Gregory backpack. For nearly nine years that pack has taken me to far off places and it is the single greatest reason why I am able to travel in the manor that I do. I spent $300 dollars on this purchase but what it has afforded me is without price. God had I only known back then the places "Gregory" would take me and the perspective I would gain. However, no matter how many people I would meet along the way, in the end it always came down to my pack and me.

What if I hadn't walked into the REI store that day? Doesn't matter. I did. And my life is rich for it. Where it will take me again is unknown, but it most certainly will. Life has a way of working that out and all you have to do is make the decision to start the chain of events.

Whether you are aware of it or not.