Travel Observations

I am sitting in an internet cafe in the Bangkok airport as I just arrived from Tokyo and my next flight is early in the morning. Supposedly there is a place that I can sleep upstairs so I am taking that chance because by the time I take a taxi to the city I will not have that much time to sleep. I decided that this would be a good time to write some travelling observations that I have had in the past 2 1/2 months. These are my own opinions as everything else in this blog has been...

Tourist

How can you truly enjoy a country when you are always travelling as a tourist? This point struck home for me while living with my friends in Japan. It is a much different experience seeing a country through the eyes of a native rather than experiencing it on your own. Even writing the blogs for Japan was a different experience because it was more like I was visiting friends and I forgot that I was in a different country. When I lived in Costa Rica for a couple of months the feeling was the same because I lived with a family and went to their events and had the "everyday life" experience. However, being in New Zealand, Australia and Thailand was extremely different. I stayed in hostels with multiple people sharing the room. I took tours of the country and was told the same spiel that everyone else is told. It was as if I were following in someone else's footsteps and not taking my own journey. Of course I had my own distinctive thoughts, but my experiences were essentially the same. These differences have left me unsure of how to continue my travels. How do you get to know a country when you do not have that much time there and are living in hostels and unable to appreciate the realism of a country. In Thailand, I was fortunate to stay with the Kurin tribe, but this was still contrived as it was designed for tourists in a package deal.

Everyday Life

Even though I have been travelling I have had similar worries and issues as I would back home. While away things do not go away. There is a simplicity that comes with hopping from place to place. I have realized what is important and what is too heavy to carry with me. I have been changing my diet and experimenting since as a single traveller it has not been convenient to buy and cook my own food. Instead I am constantly eating out and falling into the traps of such decisions. I have been journalling (thanks to Kristen!) as I have never done before. I appreciate my solitude as a respite. I realize that being a single (and female) traveller invites people to talk to you, but sometimes I want to wear a sign that says, "I am happy to be alone, reading my book and listening to my music, but I hope you have a pleasant journey!" In fact I just had this experience on my last flight and politely said that I would like to continue reading my newspaper. Many people before I set out on this journey inquired how I could travel alone, however, I am never alone. It actually feels good to wander through a museum and have my own thoughts about the displays rather than listening to a guide tell me what to think.

America

Many people hate America. I guess I never realized this before, but it has become quite apparent to me now. As an extreme example, a taxi driver in Cairns actually told me that all Americans were stupid and selfish and that we were not even from America, but from the United States. There have been a great many who want to talk about the politics of the Bush Administration and want to gather my opinions on that. I say yes, there have been many mistakes made, but I really do not follow politics. The response is usually how did he get voted in the first place...On the flip side everything seems to come from America. I have listened to radio stations and watched television in each country and all of them have music and programs from America. One person even discussed with me that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie make a better couple than Jennifer Aniston ever did with him. In Japan, I was not able to find Japanese music for this generation on the radio. Either there is American music or old Japanese music with a shamisen. Every time I open my mouth and someone says, "Oh, you are from America," I cringe because I don't know what their follow up statement will be.

Similarities

No matter what country I have travelled to, people are altogether not that different from one another. They want someone to love, to enjoy their job, to live in a nice home and to be surrounded by people that care about them. The food, clothing and customs may differ, but we are all very similar to one another. I guess this takes away a little of the magic of travelling. Japan, for instance, is a technology mecca. There are some people wearing kimonos in the street, but for the most part their traditions are not as apparent as they may have been 50 years ago. The Aborigines in Australia wear regular clothing and live in houses. They have jobs, albeit not usually completely integrated with society, but they live similarly to ourselves. I think there is a romanticism to travelling in that somehow we will be transported back in time in order to see people as they used to be and as they are in stories. Many people expect geisha to be walking along the street and Aborigines to be hunting in the outback. We are becoming ' One World, One Culture'. This was the name of a store in the Tokyo Narita Airport that sold items from Asian and African countries. I think it is a good description of what the world at large has become.

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