I have done this trip several times in the past twenty seven
years and each time the significance was clear and present for me in the internal
growth that resulted from visiting my family in Kingsport. One of those trip was back in 2006 when I learned
about the organic food and healthy living in more depth than ever before as my
aunt visited the Hippocrates institute where
a wealth of new knowledge she gathered and later eagerly shared with me.
That trip back then changed my life and helped me to overcome of the difficult
years that was ahead of me.
This time the trip was different. The significance was in leaving
of my beloved state of New Hampshire where I spent most of my time since I came
to America in 1986. The state that prides itself in Freedom and it is true, the
most hands off policy of any state government I ever experienced and it served
me very well raising my children, freely without any interference as I kept
them out of school as much I could. Consequently my children grew to be much
more aware and self-reliant citizens, instead being reduced to sleep-walking consumers.
This trip to Kingsport was significantly different because I
have started a new life, the kind that was induced by a major health related problem,
serving as a catalyst. The Chinese wisdom played out once again about the
trouble also has its own opportunities. The little known solution to my acute
back pain that doctors in NH & MA were eager to turn into a chronic pain (
and eventually to push me to surgery ), is now in full control as I found my
own path for healing without drugs and surgery.
Once again, thanks to my family in Kingsport TN and mostly to my aunt
who is in such a terrific health considering her age and long history of
turbulent years she had to live through since 1940. Her wisdom once again
prevailed in helping me!
This time I planned my trip to take two days, instead of the
one super long drive to cover the 800 miles. Partially to care for my back and
also to experience the Couch Surfing network as a traveler. For years I have
been a host, but this time I wanted to see it from the traveler’s perspective.
Visiting the Sympson family half way into my trip, was a pleasant experience.
Only a few hours though before I had to get going, we did manage to have a
great conversation, a short trip to downtown to pick up a fellow traveler who
was staying there before I arrived and he was doing his academic research. I
even managed to be a little bit of help with my computer knowledge to my host,
to reciprocate for their kindness to letting me stay there for the night. This is a winning concept I knew in theory
but now experiencing it was very encouraging. While I could have easily stay in
a hotel; meeting people, learning about their lives is a far superior
experience to staying in a lonely hotel room.
My new life in Kingsport Tennessee now has begun.
