Today we celebrate one full year of traveling. Time for a bit of reflection.

Sasha recently wrote a piece about how a seemingly innocuous book had such an amazing impact on our decision to direct our lives toward world travel (see this article). Having read the same book, I share many sentiments with the things she says, but I wanted to share some of my own progression to making the jump into international living. Sasha, of course, had the biggest impact on me, but I want to discuss a couple other personal experiences.

One major push came about 6 months before we left, while browsing architecture books at the bookstore. I came across a book that outlined the life timelines of many famous architects in recent history and realized that nearly each one of these individuals took a break from their education/work life to travel. Most traveled for several years and it was after this time that their success really began to take off.

I’m not trying to become a starchitect, but I do want to be the best that I can be. And it’s hard to design for the people of the world when you haven’t experienced it yourself.

Going back even further, I have recently been reflecting on my time in college and how it has impacted me. A recent request from my alma mater for updated information helped to solidify many thoughts, thanks to a single question.

The question was simply: How has your WSU education had an impact on your life/success?

There are many ways in which my university education has impacted my life. Specifically looking at the School of Architecture, there are certain professors and courses that cross my mind nearly each week. Usually I am working through a problem or on a specific task and think back to what these professors may have told me to help find a solution. Most times their general teachings are in the back of my head guiding me as I take in all the world architecture I can.

Notable memories:

One professor’s attention to detail and proving you can be critical of architecture and the world while recognizing and enjoying the humors of life.

Another professor’s tenacity to see every part of a building he can (even when entering through side doors or being threatened for taking photos of private doors and windows).

Yet another professor’s insistence that a project have a greater theme to tie the pieces together, always asking “what’s the big idea?”

A specific course that had a huge impact on me was a course which was to culminate in a trip to China. This was one of the most complete courses we had with regards to a specific society and how that culture came to impact everything in their lives, especially architecture. Unfortunately, WSU cancelled our trip due to SARS fears, but the desire to travel and experience another culture was already awakened and never went away.

One very vivid memory I have from my time at WSU was while working on my final project. I had a few buildings selected as reference or precedence to help inform the design of my building. As I described each of these places and the characteristics I was trying to embody into my own work, one professor looked me in the eye and asked, “have you ever been to any of these places?” I said, “not yet.” To which he responded, “You gotta go, man. You gotta go.”

Finally, after more than a decade has passed since I graduated, I’m going. I find myself literally on the opposite side of the planet from Hawaii, visiting our seventh country since leaving, and celebrating a year of travels. All the while trying to assimilate into the local cultures, always noticing the details, and being overly critical of various projects and buildings by simply asking “what’s the big idea?”

I admit that I’ve been noticing the details ever since I was in college, photographing them for my own records. Nearly all of these will never be posted to the blog, but they are good for my own study. It seems that in Europe there are so many more details to see that my image archive is becoming more of a library.

The question described above from WSU (or a similar one) has appeared on their update requests in the past, but I usually leave the answer blank. I would think about the question, but (while working your butt off and not quite feeling like you’ve made it to the life you sought) the answer gets convoluted and would make me feel lost.

This year however, the question helped to consolidate my swirling contemplations. For the first time I felt like I was doing something to better my own life, which will improve my career as an architect.

And for the first time, I answered the question. I owe a great deal of my desire to be enveloped by the cultures of the world and to better understand architecture to my WSU education.

Today I find that my own ideas regarding architecture and contemporary styles is still growing and changing, and does so greatly with each new city I visit. In fact, my ideas about where the industry is headed and how I will fit into that system changes every day. I’m excited to see where the world takes us next, both physically, emotionally, and professionally. The latter is starting to feel more like a mission than a job. And I’m agog at the possibilities.

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