Traveling, living the dream and remembering it - The nostalgia for Wonderland and Muscle memory

A Memento Year - My Exhibition of memories and moments in Hamburg

I've been describing my EuroTrip last year as 'living the dream'. It has a double meaning in that its the achievement of a goal but also how the experience now feels like a half-remembered fantasy. Whilst I didn't take many photos, I more than made up for it with a lot of writing online and off. There is no disputing that the events of last year took place, though I've had several moments since that have messed with my reality.

The main reason for this dream-like feeling is that most of the places and people are so physically distant from my daily existence. The lack of shared history has also made the connection seem more fragile than it might actually be. This can be fixed through reunions which I was fortunate to achieve, having reunited with traveling friends I made in Australia around England and Germany. I've experienced how the connection and memory continues on right where it was left.

I've started to get curious about books like Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, stories that explore a nostalgia for a fantastic place all but forgotten. Looking through photos or writing/reading about these memories never fully captures the feeling of having been there which is why its so important to live in the moment. It might be all we have.

One thing that has given me comfort is that even if time and circumstance manage to erase the memories in our mind they can never erase the feeling of knowing we carry in our body.

Comedians Pete Holmes in conversation with Duncan Trussell references the film 'The Assassination of Jesse James', counting the stars and how our "body knows"

VIDEO: The Duncan Trussell Family Hour - Pete Holmes on how "your body knows"

'The Duncan Trussell Family Hour' - Episode 8: Pete Holmes is a beautiful Dreamer
PETE HOLMES: They're riding at night... he looks at the stars and Jesse James (Brad Pitt) says "You ever count the stars. I can never get the same number". The guy's nervous because he knows Jesse James is about to kill him and he goes "I don't even know what a star is in reality" and this is what Jesse James says before he f*cking shoots him in the back "You're body knows, its your mind that forgot" 

DUNCAN TRUSSELL: Whooaaah! 

HOLMES: He's riding towards the camera so we can see his face, he knows he's about to die. He knows that Jesse James took him out to kill him. Every f*cking time (I've seen it 30 times probably) the gun shot startles me because I connect with him making his peace, with him commending his spirit. With him being incapable of commending his spirit, with him dying afraid instead of knowing what a star is.
And we see for about the longest 30 seconds in the world, we know he knows he's about to die. He's looking at the stars and he's kind of crying. He looks like he's about to cry and he realises he's going to die. He realises he doesn't know what a star is

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Have you ever lived the dream? Are you starting to forget it?