Family Adventures

All this travel has meant tons of time with the immediate family as well as great opportunities to reconnect with family I haven't seen in years.  That also meant meeting new members of the Taylor/Brown/Burgoine clan.  Such fun!

Most importantly, we celebrated my sister's graduation in Boston:

I met this little dude:

Spent some quality time with Uncle Kit, Auntie Julie, and the legend, Grandma Jean:

Celebrated Easter with the Shepherds:

Road public transport with the Taylors:

Reconnected with the Browns/Burgoines/Other Surnames:

Met these two little dudes:

Party rocked with the legend that is Courtenay:

Let these two be friends:

And did some whiskey tasting with the ultimate Kitty Cat:

Next up, all the friends that happen to accidentally fly through London, followed by a note on Gay Pride before regular programming commences!

Stereotypical Oz - And PERFECT

There are those “things” that people associate with Australia:

Kangaroos
Koalas
The Great Barrier Reef
The Rainforest
The Outback

What if I told you there is a place where you can see ALL of them at once? I know, right? It’s called Northern Queensland, where the Great Barrier Reef runs into the mighty Daintree Rainforest which trickles into bush and outback just over the mountain ridges. Once there, kangaroos abound and koalas munch intensely on the native Eucalyptus leaves. It’s pretty darn perfect.


Nothing quite compares to the tranquil wonder of the Great Barrier Reef. There you are, 30 miles from shore, finning around in crystal clear water with the likes of fish, sea turtles, and sting rays zipping by in every direction.


One fin, two fin, goggles on, wetsuit zipped, snorkel placed in mouth and kerplunk! You join the other world that lives below the sea. I felt like I was simultaneously living through Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid with a tinge of Jaws in the back of my mind.


One minute the boat is zipping along at Mach 3 and the next minute you’re apparently “there,” though “there” looks a lot like that scene in Open Water when the two people mysteriously disappear.

Paddle paddle here, paddle paddle there. “Look over there,” I shout and point. “It’s amazing!” A few seconds later a new “most amazing thing ever” appears and I point once again. Paddle paddle here, paddle paddle there. I hold my breath and duck dive to get a fully submerged look, spinning 360 degrees to find myself completely enveloped by a school of brightly colored fish.


The whistle blows and it’s time to go, the fastest hour of my life having zoomed by without fair warning. It’s back on the boat and onward to our next dive site. Two hour-long dives later and we’re zooming back to shore to re-enter our World, which suddenly doesn’t seem quite as vibrant, lively, and social as the one I just left behind.

Fortunately, global warming means I might have the opportunity to call the fish “neighbor” a whole lot sooner that I would have liked.

You can find more pictures of the Great Barrier Reef on my flickr site.

--
Kyle Taylor

A Day With Family

Throughout my years traveling and living abroad I have sometimes passively and sometimes actively found or acquired “parents” and “family.” There are, of course, my birth parents. Then there is my “DC Mom” in the form of Aunt Robin. Then there’s my Belgian family from when I studied abroad and my Shanghai parents - Jim and Deb - from when I was living in China. Most recently, I acquired John and Lois as my London “Rotary parents.” Needless to say, having the change to connect with an old friend from college and meet her “Ukrainian parents” from Peace Corps sounded like a wonderful time.

As usual, it started with a two-hour mini bus ride from Kiev to Chernihiv northeast of the city. It involved detailed instructions from Gretchen that included things like: “When you get off the metro, turn left and go through the doors and down the escalator into the station. You'll go through a turnstile to exit. Once you're out the doors, turn right. The first set of doors on your right is the entrance back into the metro, so walk past that. After that you should see a set of stairs going up. Take those stairs!” That is, it was an adventure.



Upon arrival we met up with her 14-year-old, 6 foot 2 host brother Aleksei who would act as tour guide extraordinaire. Gretchen had just set him up with an email address and the usual sibling bickering was happening. “No, you write the email and I’ll proofread it,” she said. “No, you jut write it. It will be much faster,” he countered. “But it’s YOUR thank you letter. YOU have to write it,” she reiterated. “But it’s hard and I don’t want to,” he pouted. “Oh, alright,” she coalesced. The only thing missing was some name-calling and hair-pulling.



After towning around and seeing the six million churches as well as a canonization in action Gretchen suggested we nip back to her host parents’ place “just to grab her bag.” Yeah right (in a very good way). Two minutes in the house and we’re all staying for dinner. I’ve also been invited to spend the night “but not in Gretchen’s room, silly. No boys allowed!” Gretchen is in her late twenties. I mention in passing that I’d like to see a village and ten minutes later we’re trudging through town to catch our bus to the village where Gretchen’s Ukrainian grandparents grew up. She and I look like American tourists. Meanwhile, Mom looks like she’s about to head down the catwalk in Milan.



Mid wander through the village we approach a farm and see a man waving at us. “Do you know him,” I ask her. “Oh yes, that’s my uncle. He lives here. He is also a communist, but don’t say that to him.” And the day just got way more interesting (as if it wasn’t before). We pop in to say hi, everyone is introduced, I stand there with a smile plastered on my face while they all talk in Ukrainian. After he gave us enough apples to feed a small country, we head for the cemetery and cow pastures to literally “watch the Cows come home” and come home they do. In fact, they march out of the pastures in a single file line, walk right through town to their house then “moo” until someone comes and opens the gate. Seriously. It’s remarkable. How come Ukrainian cows are so much smarter than American cows?



We get home just in time for dinner. I bring a bottle of vodka as a “thank you” without knowing Ukrainian tradition states that a gift of vodka must be finished completely with the guest present. Thank goodness I bought the smallest bottle! We talked about home and family, we picked on Aleksei, we drank vodka. And when it was all over we ate an upside down sweet apple cake thing that was simply divine. My bus departure time was fast approaching, which meant a quick - albeit sad - farewell with tidings of good luck, an open invitation and, hopefully, an adopted set of Ukrainian parents as long as Gretchen doesn’t mind sharing!

I love Ukraine.

--

Kyle Taylor

Talks, Burgers & Goodbyes, Oh My!

It just hit me. I’m spending 40 days in a Toyota Scion with the same person. While we’re great friends as of right now, close quarters and bad mix cds could mean other things…


We’ve still got about a million things to buy, stuff in and check off of our pre-departure list, all before an evening farewell barbecue with family and friends. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this next part of the adventure. It seems that I do all I can to avoid normalcy then, just as it becomes enjoyable, I mix it all up again! Nonetheless, this mix is certain to be memorable.


We’re starting in LA then onward to San Fran, Portland, Seattle, Yosemite, Mount Rushmore, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Omaha, Little Rock, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Atlanta, Greesboro, Montreal, Denver, Burlington, Concorde, Boston, New York and DC. Yes, we are both insane. Today it was pretty sweet – we were at an international school in South Gate, Los Angeles talking to the leadership class about launching Ventures through a partner organization, OneWorldNow! These kids go through all of high school in a trilingual environment – English, Spanish and Arabic or Chinese. WHOA! Needless to say, they had some phenomenal ideas, and I think we may get a solid 5 to 8 teams from the school! These kids are all from modest backgrounds and most will be the first in their families to go to college, which is pretty cool!

Well, hittin’ the road shortly, so back to packing…

Christmas With The Griswalds...I Mean Taylors

It might come as no surprise that my family is large, loud and always right. That is, each member is ALWAYS right, which isn't possible because I am always right. When the holidays roll around I think of three things: Christmas lights, christmas food and 19 people all opening presents at the exact same time in my grandparent's living room. This year was no exception to all of the above. I know the Taylors are overbearing. I know the Taylors are very "vocal." I know the Taylors can, at times, be a lot to handle. Still, we're more fun than any family I've ever met, and it was nice to be at home this year (after all, I was in Shanghai last year). Here's a few photos cataloging the "adventure:"

My Nana, the QUEEN of Christmas (and all holiday things kitsch - note the hat):


My Mom, this year's Princess of Presents. We was good to her:


Payne Stewart, I Mean My Dad, King Of "To Me, From Me." He Funds Most of The Holiday Operation:


My Mom Holding My Dad's "Favorite" Gift - Underwear That Doubles As A Tent For Two:


The Aftermath of a Taylor Christmas (Don't Worry, We Recycled All The Paper):


All 19 Of Us - Now That's Pretty Cool!

Christmas In SoCal & Driving Lessons

It's Christmas in Southern California, which means all 19 family members opening gifts simultaneously in a rather small living room, matching sweaters, limited amounts of corn because Uncle Michael bogarts the serving dish and open season on southern California highways. Nana sent this my way. Enjoy, and pay particularly close attention to numbers 5 and 6. To those of you who have visited me here, all I have to say is, "I told you so." Happy Holidays!


Things To Know Before Driving In LA:

1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name, it is LA.

2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.

3. The minimum acceptable speed on most freeways is 85 mph. On the 105 or 110, your speed is expected to match the highway number. Anything less is considered "Wussy".

4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. L A has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, in Malibu , SUV-driving, cell phone talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way.


5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.

6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot.

7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in all of L A and Orange counties. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting.

8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, cats barrels, cones, celebs, rubberneckers, shredded tires, cell phoners, deer and other road kill, and the coyotes feeding on any of these items.

9. Map quest does not work here, none of the roads are where they say they are or go where they say they do and all the freeway off and on ramps are moved each night.


10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been "accidentally activated."

11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65 mph zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be "flipped off accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot.

12. Do not try to estimate travel time, just leave Monday afternoon for Tuesday appointments, by noon Thursday for Friday and right after church on Sunday or Temple on Saturday for anything on Monday morning.

On The Road Again…

After two months of being unemployed and without a home I am now settling into both. Well, trying to settle, at least. I left Saturday for what will be a 20-day trip to New York, Boston, New Hampshire and Connecticut. Some of it is family time for the holidays, some of it is work time for Youth Venture.


You might be thinking, “my oh my, he must be jumping for joy, finally traveling again!” A friend even said to me, “hopefully this trip will satiate your desire for something different.” That really got me thinking. It’s utterly bazaar, but what I want is to just sit. In my new apartment. With my awesome roommate. And type. And think. And sit. Did I mention sitting? Don’t get me wrong, I cannot WAIT to get back out there and explore the planet again, but after so many months of so many bumps, the “same” (so long as it’s calming) sounds rather appealing.


Plus, now that I’m “settled” (ok, that word still freaks me out), I’ve created my own “different.” That is, fighting with insurance companies, getting my shoulders fixed, relearning to ride a bike, obsessing over the upcoming election and helping young people change the world.


It seems that at least something has to be the same and I’ve resigned myself to the fact that for the next few months, that something is my location. Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing just fine jumping around New England, but a little “home sweet home” don’t feel so bad after all. Dear god, did I just type that? I wonder how long this will last…

----

-Kyle Taylor