Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! – Dr. Seuss
Wednesday, December 25, 2013 (DAYS 660 - 664)
Besides the standard questions that are both asked by you and to you, there are five things that I’ve learned backpackers are quite terrible at. I am not without flaw as I’m also guilty of these as well, and over time have found them to be quite humorous, because as Pico Iyer put it, “we travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again–to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”
Besides the standard questions that are both asked by you and to you, there are five things that I’ve learned backpackers are quite terrible at. I am not without flaw as I’m also guilty of these as well, and over time have found them to be quite humorous, because as Pico Iyer put it, “we travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again–to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”
| | FIVE THINGS BACKPACKERS TEND TO FAIL AT: 5. KNOWING THE DURATION OF HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN AT YOUR CURRENT LOCATION: Too many times when the question arises of how long you’ve been at your current location, just as with knowing what day or month it is, this takes some mental work. 4. REMEMBERING NAMES: As you meet so many people, often names are replaced with the country the person is from and being approached by someone because they recognize your face–even from months prior–is more common than remembering their name. 3. TRAVELING WITH LARGE HEAVY ROLLER BAGS: The worst decision for extended travel as well as awkward when you’re crossing dirt roads or climbing varying terrain, backpacks provide more mobility and I have to say sorry to all my Israeli friends, but you guys (especially the girls) tend to lug these awful large things around. 2. VACATIONING WITH ORGANIZED PLANNED ITINERARIES: Often you see groups being led around like cattle and I feel as though people often miss some of the best parts of being abroad by immersing yourself in the local culture and searching out better prices for things outside of the poolside resort. 1. KNOWING WHAT DAY IT IS: Ask most people and they have no clue what day it is as well as the time. I’ve even been guilty of thinking that it’s going to be 2013 soon, until I had to realize that was completely wrong. It feels as though daily life is a perpetual weekend with the freedom of living without a schedule or list of things to do. |
MY RTW PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
Today embarks my second Christmas in a row that I’m fortunate and blessed enough to be able to spend on a beach, this time halfway around the world from last year. A few of us even sought out looking for a church to go to the night before, but unfortunately on the small island of Ko Tao we were unable to locate one. What we did find were plenty of Santa hats and traditional Christmas songs playing at several of the restaurants, bars, and shops that line the narrow streets. As I was making the short one-minute walk to Sairee beach from the hostel, I heard Joy to the World playing, and couldn’t help but stop and listen as it truly felt like Christmas.
Today embarks my second Christmas in a row that I’m fortunate and blessed enough to be able to spend on a beach, this time halfway around the world from last year. A few of us even sought out looking for a church to go to the night before, but unfortunately on the small island of Ko Tao we were unable to locate one. What we did find were plenty of Santa hats and traditional Christmas songs playing at several of the restaurants, bars, and shops that line the narrow streets. As I was making the short one-minute walk to Sairee beach from the hostel, I heard Joy to the World playing, and couldn’t help but stop and listen as it truly felt like Christmas.
Walking along the beach, as the surf would occasionally wash up over my bare feet, I made my way towards Koh Tao Cabana Resort on the northern stretch of the bay in search of a hammock to stretch out in and enjoy the afternoon warmth. Along the way I passed under palm trees wrapped in lights and saw boats that were strung in garland with hand-written Merry Christmas signs on them.
Finding an empty hammock that was calling out to me, I settled in and began slowly swinging as I watched families playing in the water, and unfortunately even caught an eyeful of a few banana hammocks from the European guys. This is something I feel I will never understand. As time seems to come to a standstill, I think about some of the friends that have recently messaged me about wanting to experience extended travel and I thought about a quote I read from Tim Cahill, “A lot of us first aspired to far-ranging travel and exotic adventure early in our teens; these ambitions are, in fact, adolescent in nature, which I find an inspiring idea…Thus, when we allow ourselves to imagine as we once did, we know, with a sudden jarring clarity, that if we don’t go right now, we’re never going to do it. And we’ll be haunted by our unrealized dreams and know that we have sinned against ourselves gravely.” Aside from the alluring dream of global vagabonding, I’ve asked people what their intentions are for traveling, because if you are using this experience to escape from an unhappy situation, I feel that there is a deeper piece of life that is missing and travel will not fulfill that, but may be a temporary change before returning to problems that are preexisting. Search your heart and truly examine the missing element in your life, for then when you seek to achieve the dreams of your youth the peaceful contentment of your soul will be fulfilled for a better purpose, even if that dream is to travel and explore exotic places.
One evening taking a stroll around town I noticed a sign outside of Island Restaurant that advertised that they would be showing the film, The Beach. Even as a group of us were watching it, the entire time it felt a bit surreal since I had been to Maya Bay a few months before, the location of where the film was shot, as well as all of the other references to Thailand. Since the restaurant is right on the beach, the entire time you could hear the sound of the rolling surf as it made contact with the shoreline while feeling a slight breeze coming across the water and at one point there was an impromptu fireworks show further down the beach lighting up the night sky just to the right of the screen. I feel that after this experience, watching a film anywhere else just won’t be the same, as the bar has been raised and anything short of this will just be a disappointment.
I know that I’ve tended to use quote a bit of quotes recently, maybe due to some laziness, but from another traveler’s writings I thought this was another great explanation of their vagabonding experiences. “For me, the experience of travel is not only what I’m seeing but also what I have chosen to leave behind, even for a short time, and the perspective I gain from doing that. The hardest thing about travel is deciding to go. Once you’ve made that commitment, the rest of it is easy. And, despite the anxiety that comes with these issues, my travel experience would not be the same without them. I remember stopping my motorcycle just outside the Bayon complex at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, so I could absorb the scene in front of me. I was overwhelmed with the most awesome feeling of gratitude and pride. I was proud of myself for being there–because I’d worked hard to get there and I knew it. But also for quitting a great job, because I know there is more out there,” Rebecca Markey.
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