I've been making some changes around here. Call it spring cleaning, if you like labels. Most of the changes have been subtle. I launched this back in the fall, as I was launching into the nomadic lifestyle and full-time travel writing. As such, it was just time for a few changes. The latest change is a new on-going series I'm going to start doing a couple of times a month. A couple of Mondays each month I'll be bringing together three of my greatest loves: travel, philosophy, and movies. I'll be highlighting a different movie each time, and asking for involvement around a topic on travel and/or philosophy. Let me say from the outset that you DON'T (see bold and italics) have to have seen the movie to participate. Got a movie that you think would be a good idea for this? Then feel free to contact me and suggest it. If I decide to use it, I'll link to your blog, website, or portfolio (as long as it's not a pyramid scheme) and if you're really good, then I'll even let you ask the question and kick off discussion. If you're up to challenging me on my movie tastes and try screwing with me with a ridiculous request, then you will be forced to buy me beers for the rest of my life. Examples of this include suggesting Pokemon, Showgirls, Godzilla (1998), and anything with Dane Cook, Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Steven Seagal. Executive Decision with Steven Seagal was entertaining, however, he died in the first 10 minutes. Believe me, you didn't miss anything by me telling you that.

As I mentioned, I'll pick a different movie each time. I'll hone in on a specific scene or quote from the movie and then ask a question related to life, travel, philosophy, or any of the like. You, the reader, will then answer the question in the comments. Feel free to talk about the movie, vehemently disagree with me, or any of the like. Rabbit trails, and holes, and tangents are gladly welcomed.

The movie to kick things off is one of my new favorite flicks, Inception, which was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and stars Leonard DiCaprio, Ellen Page, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Like many of my favorite movies, the plot behind Inception, if you haven't seen it, is way off the beaten path. Dom Cobb, played by DiCaprio, at the simplest level, can be called a thief. However, he is skilled in the art of extraction, which involves entering a person's subconscious while they are dreaming to steal an idea and deliver it to what is typically a corporate competitor. However, he's also an international fugitive. He's given the chance at redemption, but in order to do so, he's given a job, not of extraction, but inception: putting an idea into someone's mind. Sounds crazy right? Well don't dismiss it, because some have hailed it as Nolan's best work, which shouldn't be taken lightly, since Christopher Nolan also did Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight.

There's a scene toward the beginning of Inception, where Dom Cobb is assembling his team for this one last job. Cobb and his team visit a chemist, who he wants to use to create a powerful sedative, which basically acts as a stabilizer during the dream. Many people visit this chemist daily so they can dream. While they may only be asleep for a few hours, in "dream time", it's 3-4 days. One of Cobb's team members, Eames, asks: "They come here everyday to sleep?" At which point, an employee of the chemist responds: "No, they come here to be woken up. The dream is their reality."

Today's question is travel-related. Has their been a time when traveling, maybe an experience, conversation, overlook, or something else, which was so profound and "out of this world", that it felt like you were dreaming? What made it so dreamy?