On the road again....

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It feels like this trip has been such a long time coming. We’ve been counting down to it for almost a year – and we’re only going to be gone for a month.

Still, I’m loving it so far. There’s something so strangely familiar about travelling, like I’ve come home somehow. Even though it can drive me crazy, there’s something beautifully satisfying about the whole mess of it; the ‘have I still got my passport?’ anxiety, the queues, the never-smiling customs officers, the aeroplane food, the drifting in and out of sleep, walking around airports, constantly checking for departure information, and the waiting. Always with the waiting.

Some people hate it (and by the look on my travel partner’s face right now I can safely say this includes him), but I love it. Granted, if you did it all the time it would get pretty tiring. But this long distance travel bit, the actual travelling itself, I love it just as much as the arrival. Just as much as walking into the hotel room for the first time and flopping onto the bed.

Right now we’re four hours into our eight hour stopover in Bangkok, on the way to London. It was an hour of familiarising ourselves with the airport, wandering around, peeking out the windows to see what we could see of the city. Then about an hour of deciding where to eat, finally choosing a pretty average place that served overcooked vegetables on sticky rice with so much chilli it made my eyes bleed. Then some more time wandering aimlessly, not really sure what to do. And now it’s that silent resignation, knowing we still have another four hours left. That our feet aren’t going to keep up with the all the walking, so we need to sit, read, go online, and wait.

But this is exactly what I love about travelling. It’s so rare that I get the time to just ‘be’. I normally have to force myself to sit quietly and read a book. There are always so many distractions and other things to do, other places to be. This is a rare moment of stillness, a feeling of peace that comes with the waiting. Sure, it’s a bit of a long stretch on some not very comfortable chairs and I’m fairly sure once I get to six hour mark in I’m going to change my mind. But right now I love it.

A month is a good break, but it’s no year away – it’s going to go quickly. There’s a lot to look forward to on this trip; going back to Strasbourg after five years, seeing one of my best friends get married, and finally seeing Thailand for the first time. But I’m not going to look forward to any of it anymore. Not going to countdown to anything because the countdown is over. The trip has begun, and now it’s about enjoying the ride. I’m going to cram so much in this month away is going to feel like a year!

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Photos

Bangkok airport
I love it when you step off the plane and just know you're somewhere different

Thai Coke
Is it juvenile to still get so excited about foreign writing on Coke cans?