Our one year “Round The World” airline ticket turned out to be not long enough for us. We thought we wanted to keep going for another year but by the time we reached Kathmandu Nepal we were getting tired. When Mount Everest was “just another mountain” and when we both came down with Giardia (Kathmandu was known for blessing travelers with this lovely little parasite), we decided to head back to the States but not without conflicting emotions. We couldn’t go on and we didn’t want to go back. We were so sad to find our travels at an end, we had so much more we wanted to see and experience.
We first had to fly back to Bangkok as we had left a bag of our things at the guesthouse we had stayed at. It was a short flight but we were held up an hour in immigration that left us getting to the guest house at 8:30 PM. Still, at that time of night, the heat was stifling. Robert and I lay awake on our steamy bed with a slowly revolving fan doing nothing to alleviate the deadly heat. By 3AM we decided to sit in the community lounge, where it was just a bit cooler, until our taxi to the airport arrived at 5 AM.
The first leg of our journey was a five hour flight to Tokyo, the second leg was an eight and a half hour flight to San Francisco. Our little parasites were in full party mode, so we had to keep popping Lomotil pills throughout the flights. We also had a strange man on our airplane who insisted on wearing his underwear on his head. He was quite passive, friendly and wore a “secret” smile but the flight attendants were a bit unnerved and kept asking us to keep an eye on him and let them know if he got any “weirder”! The excitement and drama at least helped relieve the boredom of the flight.
Our first impression of the USA, after being gone so long, was that it was so clean, bright, orderly and totally alien! We weren’t used to the cars being on the right side of the street and we didn’t know which way to look when crossing. Deja vu right back to when we first arrived in New Zealand and the cars were on the “wrong” side of the street there! We couldn’t get over how there were so few people on the sidewalks, the streets seemed empty after the crowds in Asia. OMG, people actually waited in line, no pushing or shoving!!! We would get dizzy when going into stores with the plethora of material goods for sale, it was mind boggling! Even the fruits and vegetables looked artificial as there were no blemishes on them! We were in total culture shock, never mind being totally jet lagged! It would take us some time to feel comfortable again in the US culture.
A week at my sister’s house roaming the streets of San Francisco, then the flight back to the East Coast to spend time unwinding and reculturating at a New Hampshire cabin in the woods would get us back on track. BUT, we would never be the same after seeing the world, living in other cultures, meeting people from so many countries and walks of life. Our wanderlust had been ignited and we were to stay “traveling” for another 13 years before settling down in one place for an extended period of time.
I have never regretted listening to that “voice” that told me to “sell the farm” which set me on a life of adventure.
Until next time, be fearless in listening to your own “inner voice” and see where it leads you!!!
PS. A little “Traveler” humor. 🙂
The Differences Between Tourists and Travelers
Travelers:
- Are lean and appear under nourished.
- They stay in cheap guesthouses, hostels and losmen without special amenities like air conditionings, TV, private baths, and there are no maids to make the beds.
- The best stories are about how much suffering they have endured and enjoyed.
- They live with and have direct contact with native people.
- They are turned off by tourists.
- They wear the same clothes every day.
- They travel on public buses, crowded boats in the back of trucks with local people, their produce and livestock.
- They smell natural.
- They get their travel information from Lonely Planet guidebooks.
- They carry their packs on their backs and try to find places to stay that are far away from other travelers.
Tourists:
- Are chunky to fat or at least look well nourished.
- They stay at luxury hotels with all the comforts of home.
- Their best stories are of how much material bounty they have been surrounded with.
- Their contact with native people is when the locals dress up and perform for them at their beck and call and for money.
- Tourist’s are turned off by travelers.
- Tourists wear different clothes every day.
- They travel in luxury buses and AC vans with other tourists.
- Tourists smell artificial.
- They get their travel tips from “Travel and Leisure” and their travel agents.
- They have their bags carried for them. They seek to be with other tourists.
Terra Lyn Joy 