Wow.
I’m sitting writing this in a coffee shop
in Mumbai airport, waiting to check in for my flight to Delhi, and the start of my Indian adventure.
This feels like a whole new trip - the confidence I’ve built up over the last 4
months in Asia is about to disappear, and I’m faced with a whole host of new challenges, noises, sights,
sounds & experiences over the next 7 weeks.
As I was thinking about what’s coming up,
and trying not to panic too much (I’m on my OWN! In INDIA! I’m going to HATE it!) I got
to thinking about my last 4 months, and what I’ve learnt, not only about
different countries and cultures, but also about myself.
So I thought I’d try and sum up my thoughts
of what I know after:
9 flights
10 ferries
11 minibuses
3 sleeper buses
11 local buses
11 Songthaews
Innumerable tuk-tuks
A yacht
A dinghy (how I hated that bloody dinghy)
Many long tails
Speedboat
Elephants
Bamboo raft
White water raft
A zip wire
A Thai train
A Vietnamese sleeper train
A quad bike
Motos
Pick up trucks
Kayaks
Bicycle
And a tractor inner tube
Here’s what I've learnt:
I know that planning gives me comfort, but
I like to go off plan
That I’m more of a backpacker than a flash
packer at heart
I’m more capable than I think I am
I’m a great friend
I’m not any more clumsy than the average
person
That first impressions can be deceiving
That people you think can teach you nothing
will teach you something
That life goes on, no matter what your
worries - PERSPECTIVE
That mankind can be cruel
That mankind has the most amazing survival
spirit
That I don’t need to only receive validation via my career
- I can and will get it elsewhere
That my inner coach ROCKS
That the twists & turns of coincidence
are amazing - life could be so different with the smallest of changes and
decisions
I choose how I’m defined - people perceive
me as I define myself
That underneath, every single one of us, is
self-obsessed. And once you know that, you worry less about what people think
(thanks Benny :-))
That something beautiful can come from
something a bit crap
That opening up to strangers can be a
relief
That I deserve an equal. And moreover, that
one day I’ll find one.
Showing weakness isn’t a failure
Sharing a weakness strengthens a friendship
And I’m only 2/3rds of the way through my
trip!
And what of the things I’ve seen &
experienced?
Meeting my family again and getting to know
them all - Julie, Chris, Mo,
Hani & Orion
A thunderstorm off the Malaysian coast
The beauty of Peanut butter French toast
Building a dam with James & Todd
Seeing the remaining impact of the Tsunami
in Khao Lak
Yoga on the beach in Ko Lanta
Bathing elephants at dawn
Flying through the jungle on zip wires
White water rafting
Asking Buddha for my fortune
A taxi breakdown in Cambodia
Sunrise at Angkor Wat on Christmas Eve
My first whisky bucket
Christmas lunch on the balcony in Siem Reap
Seeing Cambodia pass me by as I stuck my
head out of a minibus
Quad biking through rural Cambodia
Meeting our amazing Quad biking guide
Tuol Sleng prison and the horrors of the
Khmer Rouge
The triumph of the human spirit in the
Cambodian people
Beautiful sunsets in Sihanoukville &
Phu Quoc
The awesome border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam
The Cu Chi tunnels & the AK-47
The dreaded sleeper buses
My birthday in Vietnam
Partying on a pool table, dancing to my
ipod
Moto riding in the mountains of Sapa
Extreme hardcore tubing
Vientiane
Being a champion card shark
Waterfalls, caves & coffee in Laos
The plastic stool on the bus
Riding in the back of a pick up truck
The tranquillity of Don Det
So, to Julie, Chris, Mo,
Hani & Orion, to James, Todd & Mark, to Lee, Sarah and my adopted
family at the Elephant conservation centre,
to my extreme hardcore tubing chums and everyone I met in between
But most of all, to Kathryn, Ben, Roxane
and Ollie
Thank you for making this the best
experience of my life to date.
India,
here I come!
