“Not all those who wander are lost.”

I have found that to be more true than I expected.

If you looked at everything CLTC-related that I have done since camp ended, you might think, "it has been seven months and he is dragging it on", but none of it feels forced or unnecessary to me. It feels like following moments as they appear.

It’s about seizing the day rather than spamming side quests.

Right after camp ended, while everyone was dealing with serious post-camp depression, I got a text.

“Yo, who’s tryna come to FL on the 29th?”

I did not hesitate. Obviously, yes.

I remember booking tickets, only slightly questioning the logic of flying to see people who had been strangers two weeks earlier, and boarding a plane bound for Palm Beach International Airport.

That trip did not feel planned. It felt instinctive. Yachting. The country club. Crazy Buffet. Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Papa Kwan’s. Flopping off Cato’s. Video games. Long conversations about sports analytics, contract prospects, and building a playlist together.

Somewhere in the middle of all of it, I realized something I had already felt at camp. These people were not just friends from a program. They were family. Not by blood, but close enough that the difference did not really matter.

Reid never got his swimsuit back, but I walked away with memories that stayed and a quiet understanding that saying yes to the unplanned often leads to the most meaningful moments.

Since then, I have tried to follow that instinct, whether it be CLTC or just the ordinary daily event with the lads.

The next opportunity to wander did not come until the holiday season.

Right before Thanksgiving, I went back down to Florida for a weekend of thrifting, Florida fishing, Juno Pier, and gatherings every night.

After an incredible Thanksgiving week with another friend from camp, I scheduled a week-long visit to see her the following month. Even that felt far away.

While I was in Florida visiting family, I leaned into another moment. My friend Yoni took a train up just for the day. Catch us on BBYO Insider eating caviar.

After a great week in Oak Park, I came back home expecting things to slow down. I assumed I would stay put and not see camp people again until IC.

Then another message came through.

“@jessevaytsman, come down for the weekend from 17 to 19.”

When I found out my CLTC AZA coordinator, Harry Barnett, would also be there, the decision made itself. I booked the tickets.

When I say that seeing him was surreal, I’m not lying. Between watching football, playing hide and seek in an empty house, meeting a semi-pro pitcher, spending an obscene amount of money on food, all of the lore recaps, and everything else, I am beyond glad I was spontaneous enough to book a trip within a week’s notice, and I’ll be back very soon.

Across it all, if you ask Reid, he’ll tell you that he gets a call from me at 10:30 or later more nights than not. These calls entail me doing work while he plays video games, drops lore, calls me corny, reminisces, talks about life, some combination of these, and just about everything between and beyond. 

Come IC, Reid, Ben (our friend from CLTC, shocker), and I are leading AZA Separates about identity in a world of noise. 

That, if anything, represents that even though our friendship wandered long and far beyond the 11 days, we found more by wandering. Wandering beyond CLTC has brought me to so many new places and experiences, and I’ve become a more fulfilled version of myself in the process.

I have stopped measuring life by how direct it is. The detours have given me people, stories, and a sense of belonging I could not have planned, and somehow, every step away has brought me closer. Now, beyond CLTC side quests, midnight burgers and shakes, traveling far and wide for food, and waking up early to catch a sunrise are the highlights of my week.

I urge you to, if the opportunity presents itself, go off and do something you wouldn’t normally do. See a place you wouldn't normally see.

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

Can someone please make an “I <3 Side Quests” T-shirt?

Fraternally submitted with undying love for the airport, Crazy Buffet, Cato’s Bridge, sports analysis, birthday hibachi, Vicky, the yacht, school pre-planned absence forms, house watching, hot tubbing, Reid’s swim trunks, bedazzling, New Pot, Grown Ups at 2am, “Ref, do ANYTHING,” Florida Swim, Unc, Attack on Titan, Eataly, and so much more.

I forever remain Aleph Jesse Alexander Vaytsman, a damn proud Aleph and a damn proud Jew.