September 17th, 2003
"Every Now and Then I Fall Apart"
Hi!
Life seen through rose-colored glasses is good. But they're getting scratched.
Cheap plastic lenses.
Funny...it wasn't until I left
I've been learning a lot. Never read a book under a coconut tree. If you tell an
Indian pharmacist you want something for sleeping and he gives you "diazepam",
you should know it's Valium.
My camel-leather sandals are shot. Completely wore through them after seven
months. However, in Hoi An,
Met a woman who said that if you spend too much time in
My Asian trip is coming closer to an end. I've taken out my world map, and it
seems I've covered it reasonably well, with large chunks of time devoted to
mainland
Somewhere along the line, I seem to have become a "city" person. I always hated
the cities (well, not hate, but like less, anyway), but now I really love how
you can kinda melt into a city.
Have you ever stopped to look at a chicken? I mean, really watch? They have to
be the f*$%ing stupidest animals that ever lived. Can't they walk without moving
their heads? And why the hell can't they doing anything in fluid motion. It's
like watching something move with a strobe light on. Now ducks, they at least
seem like they might be hiding some intelligence behind slightly airheaded
tendencies.
Became a millionaire for the third time of my trip a couple weeks back. Funny
exchange rates.
Countries with shitty governments post the "People's Demands" publicly. You'd
think this would be redundant or something. Needless to say, I don't think the
"people" agree with them.
Fourteen months and I ended up back in
I don't rightly know if I'm ageing slower or faster. The happy relaxed part of
travel would indicate the former; the hassles and uncomfortable sleeping and
sicknesses would indicate the latter. I am starting to feel broken in a bit,
like that shirt that you've worn a thousand times. Hopefully I don't wear out or
get holes, like all my clothes.
One stat I forgot to add to my one-year update: spent a total of $834 on lodging
in those first twelve months...
I'd like to build a log raft and float down a nice easy river in Canada or
somewhere when I get back. Let me know if you're interested in joining me.
I've found that each place really becomes a home. If I'm only staying one night,
my pack remains relatively intact. If I know it'll be even one night more,
things explode: books are lined up, clothes are everywhere, the place becomes a
temporary, messy apartment.
Important! As I make my way south, I want to check if the toilet water really
flushes in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere. Thing is, I have
no idea which way it flushes back home (and most toilets don't flush properly
here). So please email me, everybody...can be a simple message, just stating
clockwise or counter-clockwise (and what hemisphere you're in). When my survey
is complete, and I've tested the waters (ha!) down south, I'll report the
results. Thanks!
Convinced that my back is becoming a chiropractor's dream...sixteen months of
strange hard beds and bench seats on buses and trains.
Can't recommend smoking a Burmese cheroot backwards.
People sometimes ask how it is being an American...well, it's fine. Yeah, I get
the George W. Bush and
I read online recently a new survey that reported that many American pets are
overweight. Do people really care about things like this? I always figured we
have enough other problems without inventing new ones. It seems so comical.
I've really done my best to buy at least one tube of toothpaste in every
country. For that reason, I always buy small tubes. I may have missed
I learned in college that it wasn't so much that I learned engineering, but I
learned to think like an engineer...which allows you to ultimately become a good
one. So college was like "engineer training." I've found that similarly, I'm now
in a different type of training..."traveller training?" It's funny, but you
really do start to change the way you think...thought patterns, new sets of
issues to deal with on a daily basis. You still have problems. You still have
errands to run (you'd be surprised!). You still have stress. It's just a
different type, that's all. Examples: where and when to eat, and whether to
contribute to the Roth IRA this year, or forget about retirement so you can
travel longer, or to stay in town and pay more, or out of town and walk more.
Pulled out my first gray hair on July 16, 2003. Bummer. Well, I almost made it
to 27, anyway, and feel better knowing lots of friends found them earlier than I
did.
It's true...you start to forget. It's hard for me to imagine/remember what the
"normal" life was like back in the
And...it's hard to say what the "real world" is. I used to think about a return
to the
Most days are happy, a few are melancholy. Lately, I've been quite manic. I'm
enjoying travel more than ever. So no, I'm not burnt out, yet. Almost the
opposite in fact.
Something annoying? Fan. With the windows open, can keep a room quite cool. Now
it doesn't take a thermodynamacist to figure out that a fan itself generates
heat, and that in a closed room, the heat's got nowhere to go. You'd be
surprised at how many people will close the door and windows, leave the fan
running, and be surprised when they return and you can fry an egg on the floor.
Having spent a fair number of nights in shared dorm-rooms, I can attest to the
fact that many people fully expect that when they do this, it'll cool the room
down. I don't know what I mean to accomplish by bitching here in this email,
though.
Remembering the first time I ever ate in a restaurant alone.
If anyone wants to know two things that'll make third-world travel (or perhaps
any international travel) more fun and easy, here they are: (1) knowing to
fluently count and ask how much and thank you and hi in each language, and (2)
smile. You'd be astounded at how much these two things will make, especially #2
if you don't have #1 down yet. And it's surprising how many people don't bother
with either...
Somehow, I've come to love coffee: the taste itself, not just the accessories.
Never thought it possible.
So I sit in a sweltering, dusty Vietnamese/Cambodian border town. I have 72
hours to cross two countries to get to
In addition to being very excited to see Steve (my other brother), I have even
more to look forward to: He's bringing me Toastettes, Corn Nuts, Blueberry
Morning (cereal) and Great Grains (cereal)...and a batch of my mom's Special K
bars. And new boxers. There is no decent underwear to be found in
They say, or I've said, that you take a piece of each place with you when you
leave. But a more disturbing thing is when you feel that you're leaving a piece
of yourself behind in each place. There're pieces everywhere and sometimes it
seems that it will be really really impossible to get them all back together.
Bummer.
More updates on my summer are forthcoming. Remember to let me know about the
toilet thing.
Gotta run.
"So we placed his face in a smash-proof case and placed it...in the fridge."
(-Legendary Pink Dots)
Away Awhile is hosted by Josh Trutwin.