This was my summer in a numerical nutshell.
I've had big travel dreams for years. In the spring of 2000, when I made my first trip out to the west coast with the family, I knew there was something more to this desire to see everything I could lay my goggled eyes on. It didn't take long to realize that those desires were going to be expanded from seeing Canada to stepping foot on as much of the planet as possible. For what other reason could I justify the thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours that I've spent on flights, trains, buses, taxis, ferries, tuktuks, motorbikes, and rickshaws? Work? Not really... I can find places to teach at home if I desperately wanted to. Nope... there was something more there the whole time.
I've talked about it before, but part of it was definitely linked to the heavily-accented stories told by my grandmother as I grew up in the prairie lands. Often the rest of the family got bored or uncomfortable when, inevitably, the stories would turn tragic and would rekindle a deep sadness my grandmother felt. I'm certain there was a sense of abandonment there too, leaving and ensuring her own safety, all the while knowing that more people would suffer under the newly-communist former Yugoslavia, just after the war was "won" against the Nazis. One could spend a lot of time debating what it means to win a war.
Luckily for me, I didn't come from poverty and other than giving up the requisite trips to Disneyland that my more affluent friends and acquaintances seemed to have taken care of before the age of 15 (when I say "give up", I mean I didn't exactly have the opportunity and my McDonald's earnings sure weren't being saved to make it happen). I came from a family who did, however, think I was crazy for embarking on my Europe excursion and they still believe (after I've been overseas in China for going on 4 years) that I'm nuts for living on the other side of the Great Firewall of the PRC. But they know... they see the glint in my eye as I get ready to hop on a plane, and they can sense my oncoming and ever-enduring verbal diarrhea when I talk about the flights/people/adventures I've experienced. This life isn't for everyone, but it sure is for me.
My Canada trip took me across 6 provinces, from one coast to another, and into different beds nearly every few days. I was exhausted when I returned "home" again to Dalian and it was wonderful to retreat into my place of comfort again. I got to see Canada's most beautiful cities all in one (expensive) fell swoop and my life continues to be more rich because of it. When I finally got back to China, I noticed that the techno music hadn't gotten any quieter and people don't spit less often, but I have grown to love the land of the People's Republic. As with experience in novelty, one can grow tired.
Thus, here I am, enjoying free Wifi at Starbucks on Victoria Road in Singapore. No firewall, no spitting ($1000 fine if you do!), and no problems just being. Other than trying to sort out the free Wifi system they offer to all locals. I'm down in order to pursue potential jobs for next year with my lady in tow. I'm hoping for some good luck. For now, though, the cosmopolitan surroundings I'm indulging right now will suffice, It's easy to get lost in all the accented vernacular here, but I'll indulge nonetheless.
As always, from the road (which is ever-changing), much love.
T
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