The Travel Experience

It´s Christmas Day, and I´m in an Internet Cafe, filled with travellers, all phoning home or interneting. There´s Queen playing in the backgrond (sounds like Live At Wembley).

It´s hot and sunny, and I´ve had a fantastic lunch. So I thought I´d do a quick "travel experience" post. I´d been planning to do these weekly, but it felt too much like work :-)

Anyway...

One month in, and I´m having fun. I´ve met some great people, seen some great things, and I´ve enjoyed (almost) every minute.

One thing I´ve noticed is that everyone is commenting on how light and small my bag is. But I´ve not missed anything (including the fleece I lost on the World´s Most Dangerous Road).

I did go through a few days of looking at the book and trying to see how much I could pack in, and telling myself I needed to be in Buenos Aires for Christmas and find a place to have a great New Yeatr.

I remember reading a book by the Dalai Lama who said that striving for things leads to unhappiness. And I noticed that the more I pushed myself to get here or there, and try and rush to be somewhere, the less I enjoyed myself.

So I´ve ditched the plan comlpetely, and am back to one thing at a time. And it worked for Christmas. And even if it doesn´t work out for New Year - so what. So I´m getting off the beaten track, and making my own way.

It might mean I miss something, but so what.

I´ve had a few "what´s next" conversations with people, but while I´ve thought about it (a little bit) I´m too busy to give it any real thought, so I´m just leaving it for now.

One slight frustration is not being able to speak Spanish. I´ve picked up enough to handle the basics, but beyond that it´s difficult, and there are many people who don´t speak English. I always try and make an effort, because I don´t think people should just speak English, just because I don´t know Spanish.

The only problem is - language is going to be an issue except in Oz - so it´ll be something I´ll get use to - although I´ll always have a go regardless of which language or country I´m in.

The food´s been pretty good, although I could really eat some good fish and chips (along with mushy peas and a Theakstons Best would be really nice. And Tomato Sauce of course - goes without saying). And I´ve missed not going to Christmas parties and seeing people.

But I´ve seen some incredible things - can´t wait for tomorrow...