Lianne, Sara, Me and Kyle - Shanghai 2006
Let me introduce you to my friend Kyle. If you've ever had a conversation with me lasting longer than 5 minutes, Kyle has undoubtedly been mentioned at least once. Although realistically, he's probably even made it into conversations under 5 minutes. And usually the dialogue follows something similar to this:
Me: "...blah, blah, blah, my friend Kyle, blah, blah, blah..."
Other Person: "Who's Kyle?"
Me: "Oh, Kyle?! He's great. He's just great. He's just, you know, great. He's....great..."
It's really hard to describe Kyle, and usually I get a little overwhelmed at trying to wrap all his awesomeness up in a few words, so "great" is the unfortunate descriptor that he's acquired. Ask any of my friends now, and they will say, "Oh Kyle! That great friend of yours?" Yes, that great friend of mine. *Sigh* I have never really done him justice, so I'm taking a little time out of my Saturday morning to give him and his greatness the attention it deserves, particularly because he's out doing something that I think everyone should know about.
I first met Kyle back in August of 2006 as I was starting my second contract teaching English in China. Sara and I were doing the new staff orientation and training, and one day Kyle (a newbie) came up and introduced himself. A small group of us went out for dinner, hung out at his apartment afterwards laughing (and laughing!) and the rest, as they say, is history. We continued to laugh together, shop together, cook together and travel together. Then came the unfortunate day in February 2007 when we had to say goodbye. Kyle was only on a 6-month contract, and as hard as it was to let him go (there were tentative plans to tie him up and keep him in a closet), it was for a good reason. He was off on his Dream it. Do it. World Tour.
As a spokesperson for Youth Venture, Kyle was traveling to 11 different countries on 5 continents to highlight youth-led organizations for social change. Youth all over the world were taking action to change their communities - on local, national and global scales - and Kyle documented it all through writing, video and pictures on his website. Currently, Kyle is off on another adventure. This time, he's on a 40 day road trip across America and Canada with the same purpose of highlighting social change through youth initiatives. Take a minute to check it all out, and you'll see why it's hard to wrap this guy up in just a few choice adjectives...
Official Blog: http://mrkyletaylor.blogspot.com/
YV Road Trip America Website: www.yvroadtrip.com