One Month - Report Card

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Well I’m officially one month into my trip. That being the case I thought I’d reflect a little on the trip so far, in relation to my goals at the start of it.

Philippines volunteering

I always thought Philippines would be difficult yet rewarding. Not just difficult because of the conditions and what I was doing, but because of the random factor. I’d spend a lot of time “tagging along” with others, often with people who I’d never met. It really was just as I thought it’d be – random, difficult, yet rewarding. I won’t go in too much detail as I’ve covered a fair bit in previous blogs.

Study

When people would ask me whether I’d get bored during my time away, I’d unswervingly answer that the study will keep me from being bored. As boredom has just started to creep in of late, it's fitting that this should be my go-to activity. I’m keeping count, and I’ve done a total of 2 ½ hours the entire trip. Bear in mind though, there was never any plan to study in the Philippines, that part was holiday and volunteering only. So in actual fact it’s a week, for 2 ½ hours study. And that was all in 2 days, so 5 out of 7 days I did no study.

From now? 8 hours a day as originally aimed for now seems very steep, but if I can do one full lecture every day for a week, with reading interspersed, I’d see that as something to build on. One lecture each of Neuro and Comp Science would be excellent.

Self-learning (Eat Pray Love style)

Yeah ok, this hasn’t happened. I drink beer, go on Whatsapp and play video games. What did I do in Sydney again? Oh yeah. Drink beer, go on Whatsapp and play video games. Hmmm. Not that I’m necessarily unhappy with those activities, but I am. I’ve also been told I look at my phone too much while out with people. The trend is clearly that I’m allowing myself to be distracted – these external stimuli are having the primary say in where I put my energy, rather than me choosing it from my core.

From now? Meditating at least once daily seems a must-do. One designated hour per day internet and phone free. No phone during meals out. Do first things first.

Budget

Quite simply, I’ve spent too much. And this is in Asia, the cheap part of my trip. Put bluntly if I keep spending like this, I won’t last the 6 months. I guess one problem is that when travelling, every day feels like a weekend, and I spend as such. I eat out, I drink, I snack, I buy random things.

From now? Cut out the unnecessaries. Have a certain amount each day that I’m happy to spend, say, $20 – plenty in Vietnam. I’ll also need to stay in one place more. I’ve been hopping around a lot, largely again because Philippines was the holiday part of my trip, but the trend is continuing a bit in Vietnam. I’ve had fun but do need to stabilize. The purpose of my trip is not actually to gather stories to tell and photos to show off, but to come back home feeling refreshed and with a stronger sense of purpose.

Blogging

I’ve not been blogging every day like I intended, but have been doing a reasonable amount.

From now? Blog every day. This is one thing that will keep me on track and accountable with my goals.

Gym + “lose the gut”

This is going ok. I’m counting calories, eating fruit and have joined a gym which I’m going to daily. I’d stress that this is a low-priority aspect of my trip, but still something I’m thinking about.

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