Recently I've been asked how I'm enjoying my retirement. Have I got enough things to do? Am I bored yet? Am I missing work?
The answers are: It's awesome; you bet; not likely; you gotta be kidding!!
It's just shy of 6 months since I hung up the shingle yet it literally feels like it's been years. That's because I have very deliberately created a change in perspective and state of mind.
For many years I have been a proponent of mindfulness, a state where one tries to be in the present, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Having now made the transition from "planning for retirement" to "actual retirement" there's a lot less of that worry going on. And lucky for me I made the right choice. It's not to say I don't concern myself with my financial future, but I believe I have it covered. Oh this is such a relief!
What I think is the absolutely crucial part of a healthy retirement is letting go. The past is the past. I was a doctor. I'm not one now, I don't ever plan to be one again, and please stop fucking asking! That's my past. Today is my present and future. I won't be defined by what I was, but what I am now. Which is currently: homebody, organic gardener, windsurfer, photographer, skier, world traveller, blogger. That will do for now surely??
An added benefit for me is I no longer need to recover from the stress of work. And I don't mean the stress of making decisions about people's health every 20 minutes, you work out how to deal with that early in your career or you burn out fast buddy! I'm talking about the stress of interacting with others when you're an introvert. Not just introverted, I'm almost a hermit, which is to say I love spending time by myself, doing my own thing, and not having to interact with others. It's not that I don't enjoy the company of others, and I'm hardly shy or unfriendly, but too much interaction and I become emotionally drained. 3 days a week of work left me mentally exhausted and it would take me at least a day to recover. That's no longer a problem...
I'm calmer, less worried, certainly less anxious. I'm particularly enjoying the ability to just be. To work through the chores without any pressure. Tomorrow is just another day.
Of course there's lots of mundane things to do, like shred all those papers I've been hoarding for years. Payslips, bank statements, so much shit sitting around in filing cabinets and folio boxes. It all needs to be sorted and scanned and/or shredded. But even the mundane has a pleasure. I'm listening to all those podcasts I've subscribed to but never got around to listening to, I'm even buying and listening to music again. And there's a great joy in simplifying one's life, even if to the high pitched whine of a shredding machine!!
I am relishing this slow, deliberate, yet mindful, pace.
I'm pottering in the garden. I'm baking, and making soft cheeses. I'm going windsurfing whenever I choose to. I'm working up to having another go attempting forward loops...
I'm planning my next 12 months of travel. I've organised house sitters for the year already, yay!
I'm getting home repairs and minor renovations done. I've painted walls I've been meaning to get around to doing for the last 15 years!
I'm derusting the car, which is 20 years old this year and still going strong. The other week I updated the storage for the windsurfing gear to make it so much easier to access than before.
I'm systematically decluttering all my possessions and getting ready for a massive garage sale in the New Year.
My retirement is awesome!! Just in case you were asking....
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Why I travel slow
I was having a conversation with a couch surfer I recently hosted about how I always like to use up a visa. I suspect this comes from my upbringing of not wasting things, hence why I over eat and am a hoarder, but that's another story... It also goes some way to explaining why I travel slow.
Sure if you've only got a 2 week vacation, you've only got 2 weeks, but if you're on a longer trip you have the luxury to take your time. A longer travel period for me doesn't necessarily mean travelling to more places, it means spending more time in each place I visit.
My approach is to pick a country I'd like to visit and find out how long I can spend there on the typical tourist visa, or exempt period, and what other visas or extensions might be available should I wish to extend my trip. Yes, just one country at a time. Others may try to fit as many countries as they can into a 3 month trip to Asia, I do pretty much the opposite.
Despite the fact that I am not a long term traveller (yet) I have never ascribed to the idea that I need to see it all. I know I can't. The world is too big, there's just too much out there. and trying to see it all is frankly overwhelming. However, taking time to look around, chat to locals, go for an aimless wander in a strange town, eat at a local market, always creates fantastic experiences and memories I will cherish forever. Sometimes it is a beautiful piece of architecture, or an interesting museum exhibit, a view from the top of a mountain, or across fields of green or a sandy beach, but it may just as easily be blowing bubbles with kids, chatting with a street vendor, or sharing snacks on a bus.
Knowing I can't see it all means the pressure is off. There are no expectations. I don't HAVE TO do or see anything, which leaves me open to opportunities.
I by no means prescribe to the idea of travelling without knowledge or direction. That, to me, is both disrespectful and arrogant. If you are in a strange place you should not expect to rely on the hospitality of others just because you haven't bothered to do your research about a place before hand. A little bit of language, a little bit of pre reading about the culture and norms, makes a massive difference to how locals will treat you.
If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I research my destinations in great depth, from books, guidebooks, websites and blogs, including foreign language sites which I translate using Google Translate. I do a pretty good job of finding out what's to be seen and done in the country I'm going to. I also make an effort to learn about political, human and animal rights issues, so I can travel responsibly and ethically. No Tiger Temples or orphanages for me. I'm not perfect, but I try my best to be informed.
Then, armed with the knowledge of how long I've got, I put together a rough itinerary of places I'd like to visit. Knowing how long bus rides in the developing world can take I factor in travel days that don't involve any sightseeing, and I also allow time for preparation. Like if I want to do a trek somewhere, the first day might just be preparing for it, getting food, hiring a guide and equipment etc.
Once I have my rough itinerary I head off. In practice, nothing turns out as planned. The trek turns out to be overpriced, the weather conspires against me, I find out about an alternative destination from fellow travellers and go there instead, I decide to stay an extra week because I love it so much. Sometimes a place doesn't excite me at all, so I move on. But none of that matters because I don't build up the expectations. Each day I find new things that excite me, travel is never boring.
Travelling fast, on the other hand, is exhausting. There's an agenda, a timeline that must be kept to. For me, the timeline that really annoys me is the visa expiry date, when I have to leave the country and go somewhere else. Just sometimes I'm ready to leave, but usually, there's so much more I want to do and see right there, even though the next country will be just as interesting.
I think when travelling fast it's easy to feel like you've seen the sights, ticked off the bucket list items, eaten the national specialty and seen a traditional dance, and convince yourself you've had a glimpse of the life and culture of the country you've visited. But once you travel slow, start having conversations with people about life, family, politics, religion, culture, you want to explore more, know more. You don't want the glimpse, you want the immersive experience. And its addictive.
Travelling fast you pretty well maintain outsider status the whole time. It's probably why people moan about not having authentic experiences when they travel. You've got to slow down for that. The conversation you strike up with a stranger isn't going to lead to an invitation to come to a wedding if you've got a bus ticket already booked to the next place and you're leaving in two hours. I still regret that we weren't able to go visit a village with some newly weds when we turned up in a small town in rural Laos because my travel partner's visa was about to expire and we needed to get back to civilisation. I know it would have been an awesome experience. Instead, we ended up dining with a Kiwi expat working in Bangkok who does philanthropic work building schools in rural Laos. That was a pretty interesting encounter as well.
I love returning to the same market stall for breakfast each day, and seeing the smiles of welcome that come with familiarity. Being able to chat with the transport guys without them haranguing me for a ride, even learning their names. Ending up teaching English in a secondary school for a day, travelling there through lush scenery on the back of a motorbike, then having another session with university students training to be English teachers. Having a long conversation with a mother about her dreams for her daughter and her worries about how her late night texting is affecting her sleep and schooling. Conversing with a farmer in a rice paddy in the wilds of northeast Vietnam, who is seriously worried about climate change because it doesn't rain at the usual times any more, but floods and droughts are getting more frequent.
It's these connections that you make with people, no matter how disparate our backgrounds, these little acts of familiarity, that stop you feeling lonely when far from home. The realisation that although this family may live in a dirt floored hut with unreliable electricity and no running water or toilet, they have similar dreams and hopes for their children, concerns about the environment, disdain for corrupt politicians, as someone living in a double brick house with a big backyard in Australia.
It makes sense that we want to stay connected, and I mean on a personal physical level, not virtually. It feeds our souls more than ticking off a bucket list of sights and vicarious experiences ever will. I will never forget hot-air ballooning over the Serengeti, or skiing the Tasman Glacier (both of which are true bucket list experiences I would highly recommend), but I'll also never forget all those people I've shared snacks with on long bus and boat rides (I never sit with the westerners, always with the locals, they know where the more comfy seats are), my knight in shining armour in Malang, the complete strangers who've invited me into their homes, and the fantastic couch surfing hosts I've stayed with. Those people are what makes travel sustainable for me, and I mean for my soul.
Slow travel is pretty kind on the pocket too, as transport costs tend to take a good chunk of your travel dollar so if you're moving less you're spending less. Staying longer in one place can often mean a discount in accommodation too. Local hospitality can also be incredibly generous but should never be expected. I believe that I have a responsibility to contribute to the local economies where I travel, and taking advantage of other's generosity only to make my travel dollar go further is a pretty heinous act in my moral code. Unfortunately I see far too much of it in my travels.
There really is quite a bit of ugly out there on the road. I've met people travelling on next to nothing who do it with such generosity you feel you are doing them a favour, but I've also met my fair share of sneaky cheap selfish stingy cheapskates, who are obsessed with getting the lowest price or paying nothing and are just plain mean about it. Unfortunately the former aren't quite as common as the latter, but I've been lucky to meet some, who totally live the reciprocity of giving in a non monetary way. I did my fair share of living on a minuscule budget back in my 20s and I decided I'd never travel like that again. Budget travel is one thing, obsessing over the price of everything is quite another, and no way to enjoy yourself. Luckily, that's no longer an issue for me.
Karma. Pay it forward. These concepts apply just as much to travel as daily life. Travelling slow allows me to make connections, be generous to others, not just think about myself. It feeds my soul and keeps me wanting to travel further and longer.
Just slowly...
Sure if you've only got a 2 week vacation, you've only got 2 weeks, but if you're on a longer trip you have the luxury to take your time. A longer travel period for me doesn't necessarily mean travelling to more places, it means spending more time in each place I visit.
My approach is to pick a country I'd like to visit and find out how long I can spend there on the typical tourist visa, or exempt period, and what other visas or extensions might be available should I wish to extend my trip. Yes, just one country at a time. Others may try to fit as many countries as they can into a 3 month trip to Asia, I do pretty much the opposite.
Despite the fact that I am not a long term traveller (yet) I have never ascribed to the idea that I need to see it all. I know I can't. The world is too big, there's just too much out there. and trying to see it all is frankly overwhelming. However, taking time to look around, chat to locals, go for an aimless wander in a strange town, eat at a local market, always creates fantastic experiences and memories I will cherish forever. Sometimes it is a beautiful piece of architecture, or an interesting museum exhibit, a view from the top of a mountain, or across fields of green or a sandy beach, but it may just as easily be blowing bubbles with kids, chatting with a street vendor, or sharing snacks on a bus.
Knowing I can't see it all means the pressure is off. There are no expectations. I don't HAVE TO do or see anything, which leaves me open to opportunities.
I by no means prescribe to the idea of travelling without knowledge or direction. That, to me, is both disrespectful and arrogant. If you are in a strange place you should not expect to rely on the hospitality of others just because you haven't bothered to do your research about a place before hand. A little bit of language, a little bit of pre reading about the culture and norms, makes a massive difference to how locals will treat you.
If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I research my destinations in great depth, from books, guidebooks, websites and blogs, including foreign language sites which I translate using Google Translate. I do a pretty good job of finding out what's to be seen and done in the country I'm going to. I also make an effort to learn about political, human and animal rights issues, so I can travel responsibly and ethically. No Tiger Temples or orphanages for me. I'm not perfect, but I try my best to be informed.
Then, armed with the knowledge of how long I've got, I put together a rough itinerary of places I'd like to visit. Knowing how long bus rides in the developing world can take I factor in travel days that don't involve any sightseeing, and I also allow time for preparation. Like if I want to do a trek somewhere, the first day might just be preparing for it, getting food, hiring a guide and equipment etc.
Once I have my rough itinerary I head off. In practice, nothing turns out as planned. The trek turns out to be overpriced, the weather conspires against me, I find out about an alternative destination from fellow travellers and go there instead, I decide to stay an extra week because I love it so much. Sometimes a place doesn't excite me at all, so I move on. But none of that matters because I don't build up the expectations. Each day I find new things that excite me, travel is never boring.
Travelling fast, on the other hand, is exhausting. There's an agenda, a timeline that must be kept to. For me, the timeline that really annoys me is the visa expiry date, when I have to leave the country and go somewhere else. Just sometimes I'm ready to leave, but usually, there's so much more I want to do and see right there, even though the next country will be just as interesting.
I think when travelling fast it's easy to feel like you've seen the sights, ticked off the bucket list items, eaten the national specialty and seen a traditional dance, and convince yourself you've had a glimpse of the life and culture of the country you've visited. But once you travel slow, start having conversations with people about life, family, politics, religion, culture, you want to explore more, know more. You don't want the glimpse, you want the immersive experience. And its addictive.
Travelling fast you pretty well maintain outsider status the whole time. It's probably why people moan about not having authentic experiences when they travel. You've got to slow down for that. The conversation you strike up with a stranger isn't going to lead to an invitation to come to a wedding if you've got a bus ticket already booked to the next place and you're leaving in two hours. I still regret that we weren't able to go visit a village with some newly weds when we turned up in a small town in rural Laos because my travel partner's visa was about to expire and we needed to get back to civilisation. I know it would have been an awesome experience. Instead, we ended up dining with a Kiwi expat working in Bangkok who does philanthropic work building schools in rural Laos. That was a pretty interesting encounter as well.
I love returning to the same market stall for breakfast each day, and seeing the smiles of welcome that come with familiarity. Being able to chat with the transport guys without them haranguing me for a ride, even learning their names. Ending up teaching English in a secondary school for a day, travelling there through lush scenery on the back of a motorbike, then having another session with university students training to be English teachers. Having a long conversation with a mother about her dreams for her daughter and her worries about how her late night texting is affecting her sleep and schooling. Conversing with a farmer in a rice paddy in the wilds of northeast Vietnam, who is seriously worried about climate change because it doesn't rain at the usual times any more, but floods and droughts are getting more frequent.
It's these connections that you make with people, no matter how disparate our backgrounds, these little acts of familiarity, that stop you feeling lonely when far from home. The realisation that although this family may live in a dirt floored hut with unreliable electricity and no running water or toilet, they have similar dreams and hopes for their children, concerns about the environment, disdain for corrupt politicians, as someone living in a double brick house with a big backyard in Australia.
It makes sense that we want to stay connected, and I mean on a personal physical level, not virtually. It feeds our souls more than ticking off a bucket list of sights and vicarious experiences ever will. I will never forget hot-air ballooning over the Serengeti, or skiing the Tasman Glacier (both of which are true bucket list experiences I would highly recommend), but I'll also never forget all those people I've shared snacks with on long bus and boat rides (I never sit with the westerners, always with the locals, they know where the more comfy seats are), my knight in shining armour in Malang, the complete strangers who've invited me into their homes, and the fantastic couch surfing hosts I've stayed with. Those people are what makes travel sustainable for me, and I mean for my soul.
Slow travel is pretty kind on the pocket too, as transport costs tend to take a good chunk of your travel dollar so if you're moving less you're spending less. Staying longer in one place can often mean a discount in accommodation too. Local hospitality can also be incredibly generous but should never be expected. I believe that I have a responsibility to contribute to the local economies where I travel, and taking advantage of other's generosity only to make my travel dollar go further is a pretty heinous act in my moral code. Unfortunately I see far too much of it in my travels.
There really is quite a bit of ugly out there on the road. I've met people travelling on next to nothing who do it with such generosity you feel you are doing them a favour, but I've also met my fair share of sneaky cheap selfish stingy cheapskates, who are obsessed with getting the lowest price or paying nothing and are just plain mean about it. Unfortunately the former aren't quite as common as the latter, but I've been lucky to meet some, who totally live the reciprocity of giving in a non monetary way. I did my fair share of living on a minuscule budget back in my 20s and I decided I'd never travel like that again. Budget travel is one thing, obsessing over the price of everything is quite another, and no way to enjoy yourself. Luckily, that's no longer an issue for me.
Karma. Pay it forward. These concepts apply just as much to travel as daily life. Travelling slow allows me to make connections, be generous to others, not just think about myself. It feeds my soul and keeps me wanting to travel further and longer.
Just slowly...
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Musings on a tropical island
Currently I'm spending a few days doing very little on Kurimunjawa. These are islands six degrees off the equator, north of Semarang. Most of the people who live here originate from Java, Madura or Sulawesi and live a fairly simple life fishing or supporting the tourist trade which arrives in strength every weekend. The village is small, everyone knows each other, and it's pretty friendly, especially if you stay beyond the busy weekend.
One of the purposes of this 2 month trip was to trial long term travel, to see this short sojourn as an experiment in adjusting my mode and outlook to travel, and to test equipment. It's been a really good lesson and I'd love to share what I've learnt.
I've known for a long time that travel to strange places doesn't scare me at all, that I am not overwhelmed by difference but instead look for and find the similarities and then explore the new experiences. I never wake up feeling I am in a strange unfamiliar place, in fact the familiarity I experience often shocks me. I could be anywhere, yet feel perfectly at home.
This trip began with a list of destinations in mind, but as often happens with me, the journey becomes the experience as my priorities change, or some other option presents. This is only possible when you make no fixed plans, when you don't book ahead, when you trust that there'll always be a bed available somewhere.
My primary goal when travelling is not to see monuments and great scenery, but to meet and try to understand the lives and culture of the people who live there. It's not to say I'm not fascinated by the beauty around me or the history and culture associated with ancient buildings, but it isn't the primary goal. It's why I don't seek to associate with large groups of foreigners when I travel - in this case I am not looking for similarity with my own kind - but instead try to make myself approachable to local people. Travelling alone in Indonesia makes this very easy, because it is such a foreign concept for the locals that they instinctively want to include you. We in the west could learn a lot from the generosity displayed by complete strangers to foreigners that I experience on a daily basis.
When travelling for a fixed period of time, the destination based itinerary tends to be foremost, and in my experience most people tend to put too much on that itinerary. I like to absorb what I've seen, reflect on what I've learnt, not hurtle on to the next destination, and the next after that. I too am sometimes guilty of wanting to see too much in too little time, but on this trip I have curbed that tendency and slowed down even more, and not chided myself for "wasting time".
As a long term traveller, you just can't sustain the continuous sightseeing indefinitely. Packing and unpacking every day becomes a source of irritation, dealing with transport touts and bargaining for hotel rates becomes exhausting, and it's easy to lose sight of the reason for travel in the first place. You need days off to do absolutely nothing, to read a book, sit in a cafe, lounge on a beach or in a hammock, play with the neighbours children, whatever, but something that isn't about the inexorable onwardness that can make travel a chore rather than a delight. And if you don't plan ahead, when you find a place that feels right you just put your feet up for a few days, a few weeks, a few months.... and relax.
That's what I'm doing right now on Karimunjawa. As yet I have no idea when I'm leaving....
One of the purposes of this 2 month trip was to trial long term travel, to see this short sojourn as an experiment in adjusting my mode and outlook to travel, and to test equipment. It's been a really good lesson and I'd love to share what I've learnt.
I've known for a long time that travel to strange places doesn't scare me at all, that I am not overwhelmed by difference but instead look for and find the similarities and then explore the new experiences. I never wake up feeling I am in a strange unfamiliar place, in fact the familiarity I experience often shocks me. I could be anywhere, yet feel perfectly at home.
This trip began with a list of destinations in mind, but as often happens with me, the journey becomes the experience as my priorities change, or some other option presents. This is only possible when you make no fixed plans, when you don't book ahead, when you trust that there'll always be a bed available somewhere.
My primary goal when travelling is not to see monuments and great scenery, but to meet and try to understand the lives and culture of the people who live there. It's not to say I'm not fascinated by the beauty around me or the history and culture associated with ancient buildings, but it isn't the primary goal. It's why I don't seek to associate with large groups of foreigners when I travel - in this case I am not looking for similarity with my own kind - but instead try to make myself approachable to local people. Travelling alone in Indonesia makes this very easy, because it is such a foreign concept for the locals that they instinctively want to include you. We in the west could learn a lot from the generosity displayed by complete strangers to foreigners that I experience on a daily basis.
When travelling for a fixed period of time, the destination based itinerary tends to be foremost, and in my experience most people tend to put too much on that itinerary. I like to absorb what I've seen, reflect on what I've learnt, not hurtle on to the next destination, and the next after that. I too am sometimes guilty of wanting to see too much in too little time, but on this trip I have curbed that tendency and slowed down even more, and not chided myself for "wasting time".
As a long term traveller, you just can't sustain the continuous sightseeing indefinitely. Packing and unpacking every day becomes a source of irritation, dealing with transport touts and bargaining for hotel rates becomes exhausting, and it's easy to lose sight of the reason for travel in the first place. You need days off to do absolutely nothing, to read a book, sit in a cafe, lounge on a beach or in a hammock, play with the neighbours children, whatever, but something that isn't about the inexorable onwardness that can make travel a chore rather than a delight. And if you don't plan ahead, when you find a place that feels right you just put your feet up for a few days, a few weeks, a few months.... and relax.
That's what I'm doing right now on Karimunjawa. As yet I have no idea when I'm leaving....
Friday, February 8, 2013
The philosophy of travel
Why do we travel?
Why do some people have an almost insatiable wanderlust and others are content to never leave their home town ever?
I can't answer either of those questions with any authority, but I can pose some ideas based on my own experiences.
I believe most people look for meaning in their lives. Some people find it where they live, whilst others need to look further afield. Many are still searching...
What sort of meaning? Well I think that depends a bit on your age and maturity at the time. Young people travelling in their late teens and early twenties are still finding themselves, still seeking their own individual identity, and where they fit. Older people may be seeking spiritual enlightenment, or an exploration of options before settling down to a mortgage career and kids. The elderly or retired are seeking validation of their lives, and perhaps catching up on hopes and dreams that they failed to fulfil when younger.
What I'm saying is, travel isn't about where you go, it's about what you learn along the way. "It's not the destination but the journey" cliche. But that slightly misses the point, because it's the internal journey that's the crux. It's what you learn about yourself, it's how travel informs your views, attitudes and behaviour, it's how exposure to different cultures, food, environments, languages impacts on your previous experiences up till then. Whether it changes your views, or reinforces your views, travel forces you outside your comfort zone and has a profound effect on you, whether you realise it or not.
A few years ago I met a Mingenew farmer in his fourties who had never travelled outside the midwest region. He'd never been to Perth and had not yet discovered the power of the internet to make anyone an "expert". He was genuinely amazed that I knew so much about lots of different things and had opinions on such a wide variety of topics, and wanted to know how I had gained that knowledge. He wasn't stupid, he'd just never thought to explore outside his rather narrow world.
It is incredibly easy these days to become a virtual traveller. Virtual tours are a dime a dozen on travel websites. In my insatiable troll through the interwebs seeking information about destinations I wish to visit I have even found entire sites written by people who have never left home but have become virtual experts on places they've never been to. It's all very well to share your research, but when you become the self appointed expert about a place you've never visited, and begin arguing about factual content with people who have.....
I might just clarify that "travel" in my definition of it, is travel for leisure. Not forced by circumstance to live an itinerant lifestyle, but a personal choice, made by millions of people with enough disposable income to take this option. Quite a few billion more don't have that option, and will never have that option, and all travellers would do well to remember that the ability to travel for pleasure is a privilege bestowed on only a few. Particularly when they are condescendingly explaining to the shop keeper in rural Laos that they are a "poor" backpacker with little money. Perspective please!
So why do I travel? Why do I leave my cosy little beach house and garden in the hands of a house sitter and go see the world?
Curiosity. Spiritual enlightenment. A need to embrace humanity in all its forms.
It's all very well living here in this nice house by the beach but I frequently feel stifled. By the small mindedness of my fellow Australians both locally and nationally, from the utter crap that comes out of the mouths of our politicians, on both sides of the fence. I believe that I'm bigger than that, that I can embrace people's differences because most of the time I see that despite an alternative religious belief, or cultural practice, there are so many more areas of commonality between us. Travel, for me, reinforces that belief in spades. The hospitality I receive, the conversations with people about their hopes and dreams for themselves and their children, the good times and bad times we share, continue to shape my belief that no matter where you were born, no matter what language you speak, no matter what food you eat and what god you worship, I can still find so much common ground. And I embrace that.
Spiritual enlightenment for me isn't about following a prescriptive religious belief. I get that enlightenment from experiencing generosity of human spirit, the incredible aura of a magnificent natural landscape, and believing in the goodness of fellow human beings. When I am overwhelmed by the pettiness at home I need to travel, to rid myself of the poison of self importance, nationalism, and "we're better than you" type attitudes. And to see some awesome sunrise from the top of some mountain somewhere!!
I am curious. I crave learning. I really do believe that if I haven't learnt something new today then it wasn't a good day. Which is kind of why I have that head full of knowledge that the Mingenew farmer was so enamoured with. And why I'm a bit of a know it all. I can't help it that my heads kind of full of stuff and you ask some silly question that I actually happen to know the answer to. Mind you, my curiosity about the antics of so called celebrities is completely lacking, in fact the only time I expose myself to that pap is when I get my hair done. And mostly I have no idea who I'm reading about and why they are famous. Seriously, I only found out about the Kardashians from a magazine, apparently they are big on TV, for boobs or bums or something, nothing of any importance. No, I don't want to know!
I love to learn new languages, to explore artisan crafts, especially textiles, to learn about how other people live their lives. I'm the traveller who jumps on the local bus so I can experience what it's like for a local, who sits next to a local woman and tries to strike up a conversation, who jumps into the rice field to experience the back breaking work of harvesting and threshing rice by hand, and feet! Who wanders around markets looking at the produce, asks about the local specialties. Asks where the genuine cuisine can be found, because until you eat their food, you never understand their culture. I'll travel 2 days down a dead end road just to see some world class weavers and if given an invitation to come back to the village will take it, and will sleep on the floor, use a non existent toilet, and not wash for a few days if that's what everyone else does. No, I'm not better than them, for they are generous spirited, they are curious, and they have dreams not dissimilar to my own.
Why do you travel?
Why do some people have an almost insatiable wanderlust and others are content to never leave their home town ever?
I can't answer either of those questions with any authority, but I can pose some ideas based on my own experiences.
I believe most people look for meaning in their lives. Some people find it where they live, whilst others need to look further afield. Many are still searching...
What sort of meaning? Well I think that depends a bit on your age and maturity at the time. Young people travelling in their late teens and early twenties are still finding themselves, still seeking their own individual identity, and where they fit. Older people may be seeking spiritual enlightenment, or an exploration of options before settling down to a mortgage career and kids. The elderly or retired are seeking validation of their lives, and perhaps catching up on hopes and dreams that they failed to fulfil when younger.
What I'm saying is, travel isn't about where you go, it's about what you learn along the way. "It's not the destination but the journey" cliche. But that slightly misses the point, because it's the internal journey that's the crux. It's what you learn about yourself, it's how travel informs your views, attitudes and behaviour, it's how exposure to different cultures, food, environments, languages impacts on your previous experiences up till then. Whether it changes your views, or reinforces your views, travel forces you outside your comfort zone and has a profound effect on you, whether you realise it or not.
A few years ago I met a Mingenew farmer in his fourties who had never travelled outside the midwest region. He'd never been to Perth and had not yet discovered the power of the internet to make anyone an "expert". He was genuinely amazed that I knew so much about lots of different things and had opinions on such a wide variety of topics, and wanted to know how I had gained that knowledge. He wasn't stupid, he'd just never thought to explore outside his rather narrow world.
It is incredibly easy these days to become a virtual traveller. Virtual tours are a dime a dozen on travel websites. In my insatiable troll through the interwebs seeking information about destinations I wish to visit I have even found entire sites written by people who have never left home but have become virtual experts on places they've never been to. It's all very well to share your research, but when you become the self appointed expert about a place you've never visited, and begin arguing about factual content with people who have.....
I might just clarify that "travel" in my definition of it, is travel for leisure. Not forced by circumstance to live an itinerant lifestyle, but a personal choice, made by millions of people with enough disposable income to take this option. Quite a few billion more don't have that option, and will never have that option, and all travellers would do well to remember that the ability to travel for pleasure is a privilege bestowed on only a few. Particularly when they are condescendingly explaining to the shop keeper in rural Laos that they are a "poor" backpacker with little money. Perspective please!
So why do I travel? Why do I leave my cosy little beach house and garden in the hands of a house sitter and go see the world?
Curiosity. Spiritual enlightenment. A need to embrace humanity in all its forms.
It's all very well living here in this nice house by the beach but I frequently feel stifled. By the small mindedness of my fellow Australians both locally and nationally, from the utter crap that comes out of the mouths of our politicians, on both sides of the fence. I believe that I'm bigger than that, that I can embrace people's differences because most of the time I see that despite an alternative religious belief, or cultural practice, there are so many more areas of commonality between us. Travel, for me, reinforces that belief in spades. The hospitality I receive, the conversations with people about their hopes and dreams for themselves and their children, the good times and bad times we share, continue to shape my belief that no matter where you were born, no matter what language you speak, no matter what food you eat and what god you worship, I can still find so much common ground. And I embrace that.
Spiritual enlightenment for me isn't about following a prescriptive religious belief. I get that enlightenment from experiencing generosity of human spirit, the incredible aura of a magnificent natural landscape, and believing in the goodness of fellow human beings. When I am overwhelmed by the pettiness at home I need to travel, to rid myself of the poison of self importance, nationalism, and "we're better than you" type attitudes. And to see some awesome sunrise from the top of some mountain somewhere!!
I am curious. I crave learning. I really do believe that if I haven't learnt something new today then it wasn't a good day. Which is kind of why I have that head full of knowledge that the Mingenew farmer was so enamoured with. And why I'm a bit of a know it all. I can't help it that my heads kind of full of stuff and you ask some silly question that I actually happen to know the answer to. Mind you, my curiosity about the antics of so called celebrities is completely lacking, in fact the only time I expose myself to that pap is when I get my hair done. And mostly I have no idea who I'm reading about and why they are famous. Seriously, I only found out about the Kardashians from a magazine, apparently they are big on TV, for boobs or bums or something, nothing of any importance. No, I don't want to know!
I love to learn new languages, to explore artisan crafts, especially textiles, to learn about how other people live their lives. I'm the traveller who jumps on the local bus so I can experience what it's like for a local, who sits next to a local woman and tries to strike up a conversation, who jumps into the rice field to experience the back breaking work of harvesting and threshing rice by hand, and feet! Who wanders around markets looking at the produce, asks about the local specialties. Asks where the genuine cuisine can be found, because until you eat their food, you never understand their culture. I'll travel 2 days down a dead end road just to see some world class weavers and if given an invitation to come back to the village will take it, and will sleep on the floor, use a non existent toilet, and not wash for a few days if that's what everyone else does. No, I'm not better than them, for they are generous spirited, they are curious, and they have dreams not dissimilar to my own.
Why do you travel?
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