Travel asks how much we’re willing to surrender to the unknown. It is as Pico Iyer suggests, an exercise in trust as we pitch ourselves, naked and undefended, into a foreign place. It satiates our curiosity to know something more about a place and to go deeper inside ourselves without the encircling familiarity of home. No surprise that in Ancient Greece, travel was considered one of the four main tenets of educating the ‘whole man’. Time for educational reform!
In transit for the past two weeks, some poignant thoughts and reflections from Palma to Perth. Check out the flickr photostream – In Transit, Singapore and Perth 2011
Thrills and Giggles
- flying to Singapore on an Airbus 380, marveling at the minds able to engineer an 80 m wing span. Flying may well be my Ghostly Lover. I am ever more convinced that the woman’s animus IS, as Jung believes, up in the air.
- watching locals patiently wait out the daily downpours of Singapore’s rainy season, no umbrellas or rain gear. A wonderful comment on acceptance of life as it is.
- searching out bustling eating places (Chinese, Malay, Indian) where mine was the only ‘white’ face
- attempting to eat Indian curry, rice and sauces with fingers only! So humbling, and counter to everything I was taught about eating etiquette.
- remembering the things I so loved about being in Australia years ago…passion fruit, sunshine, laid back lifestyle, BYOB to restaurants. A right thing in the right place (see A Shoe in the Washer)
- hearing Christmas carols while wearing summer clothes
Surprises
- how 32 degrees and 94% humidity feels on a jet-lagged body
- young people publicly puffing on giant, steaming hookahs at an outdoor cafe in the Malay-Arab quarter, and the fruity fragrance of sheesha (flavoured tobacco). Legal in Singapore?
- how achingly beautiful the evening call to prayer (adhan) from the Sultan’s Mosque. An overwhelming yearning to enter and be part of this ritual.
- warning sign of gun-toting soldier aiming at would-be intruder at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Confirmation of law breaker treatment in Singapore.
- entry into Australia requires a visa! Thank God for night time revelations and e-visas
- my house sit owner’s inspiring love of life. I am open to this choice, as are you.
The few annoyances arose from jet lag, waiting in lines, and the time and expense of getting to and from airports and accommodations. Things that can consume hours of precious time and energy. All ample evidence for going some place and staying still for a while. I like to call it residential travel. It’s about being somewhere not just seeing somewhere!
To travel with Becky is to enhance one's awareness, awaken one's compassion and taste buds! (Meg M)
I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed your blog. What strikes me with every new submission is how open you are to your surroundings; the people, the places, the culture, and then you make it your own. Each writing has no preconceived ideas, just putting something out there that you have
observed… and always with a different twist. Your writing is fun, humorous and serious at the same time and with a depth. I love the way you are able to make an observation (I'm thinking of Singaportrayal) and then write about how that observation touches you in some way, all without making any judgement. You just seem so open. It seems that these months of travel have been good for you. Yes?
You are probably the most courageous person I know.