I will be on the road again tonight, heading for the ice and snow. It's a great time, those moments before you leave your house to travel. In the days leading up to it there might be a million and one things on your mind, but as the departure becomes more imminent, all these things fade, until the moment arrives and all you think about is, "Have I got my passport?". Then once you have left the house...and in my case my journey usually starts with a bus trip...you take on a whole new identity. Even though I'm on a bus which I take regularly, now I'm on it as 'a traveller'. Everything seems different, my clothes, my attitude... A spring develops in my step, my thoughts start to travel on far narrower lines, day to day worries are left at home and a whole new set of thoughts replace them. This is one of the great joys of travelling and one of the reasons I love it so much, but it's not the whole story....
If you travel for long enough (in my experience this is any more than three weeks) it's possible to suffer from what I like to call (after a conversation in Vietnam) 'The Doom'. These are odd days where you start to question the reasons for everything, you start to ask yourself things like "What am I doing with my life?" and statements come out like "The problem is...I don't have a dream". There's no escaping these days you just have to accept them. Of course you can take drastic action...I have in the past...and return home. Or you can have a drink and then wake up the next day ready to take on a 32 hour train to Shanghai...or wherever you might be going.
I think the reason for all this is simple, no matter where you go and how far you travel, there's one thing you can never get away from, yourself. But this isn't a reason not to travel, the benefits far outway the downsides. In fact when I become world leader it will become compulsory to travel, to break out of your day to day and see how it works in other places. You soon realise that a lot of what you hold as necessary in life, really isn't.
It's suprising how long you can actually wear the same set of clothes for....
So my love, I will be leaving soon!!
P.s. It was 7 cans, not 9, but I will leave the post unedited because it stands as a testament to the power of alcohol.
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:-) and you're still pretty drunk huh? It's outweigh, not outway, I believe you just made a new word which is easier to spell. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your travel. For me the great thing about travel is to leave things behind, find perspectives by asking myself questions, by meeting others and comparing cities and cultures. Of course seeing the nature makes you wonder too.
Take care x
I hope you had a doom free trip, Jon (as if that's even possible).
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