Rush rush.
Well, yeah I didn't expect to be sooo caught up but it happened aite. Surprisingly the last few days were super duper hectic and yet soooo much fun!
I'm grateful to have met Marleen. She's a very vibrant and pleasant person with a mind of her own. Reminded me of a butterfly all the time. I kept asking all these backpackers how were they supporting themselves financially. Just seemed like everyone was on a year or more sabbatical. On my last night I met two girls, Linda and Lisa from The Netherlands who were on a three week break. And they were surprisingly the only ones who'd heard of PwC. I couldn't fathom it but I deduced that's because the crowd who travels street style are not the ones from any Big Four. They must be the hotel and 4-5 star class. On my salary.. yeah backpacking rules! Hahahaha.
Nevertheless, very very interesting people sharing their backpacker stories and how they fund their travels and the kind of freelance work they get up to. I guess it all boils down to how much you believe in yourself, and how badly you want it. They seem to be so content with living in the NOW. No stress about the next pay cheque or the next meal. I did ponder on this a lot... I.e. if I'd been born overseas, the kind of access I'd have had to such opportunities. I yet have to meet Indians who can say they've worked odd jobs to fund their travel stories.
Another thing I noticed is how fit they are. And they all seem to have hobbies as life skills. I feel like my hobbies have just stayed hobbies because we've always grown up to believe that there is nothing better than a good education with good grades. And I think in my case it was important since I'm not the smartest nut on the block but it has helped me have interesting conversations with people as well as show them a side of India that they are so ignorant about.
I got asked often if I spoke Indian or Hindi and it still startles me, how startles people get when I tell them my first language is English and we speak English at home. Talking about my education, the kind of environment I've grown up in, the foreign education, job and travel opportunities, yeah, it does seem astonishing. And when I say it, I feel so humble and blessed to know how much I've been given. It's truly a great reminder to never take things for granted and to always thank the man above for my countless blessings.
I ended up having experiences not exactly in my agenda and that's because I deviated as and when. It meant having spare change to buy a new pair of slippers and a wet shirt --- new motivation to keep surfing. I really get excited when I push up on the board, little shaky but a whole lot more confident. I think it was my 7th surf class. It was such a bloody disaster. Too many people and probably because we drank by the Riverside the previous night and then grabbed more drinks at Hideaway. I wasn't hungover or high, just unable to get my head together.
The next day felt like it would be just the same until I paid attention to another girl surfing and then Chuchu magically uttered the words "Slowly, get up" and wham... I started standing on the board again! The board turning was still happening because of the way I have been positioning my body when standing and that again I started concentrating on and I had a few successful waves I caught which saw me go straight to land. Very very proud of me ol' bag of bones.
During the trip, I did a lot of thinking. I feel it's important to disconnect and just spend time with yourself, your thoughts and clear all the confusion and mess around whatever it is that's bringing you down. So so very important. I spent time portraying silence to the cat calls, ignored potential hook up opportunities and showed my game face to anyone out to piss me off. At the same time, I kept seeing how many people were randomly hooking up throughout the trip. I did find this one guy interesting, and that's because I found him amiable. But, yeah, I was older than pretty much every single person present and I didn't wanna kiss and not tell anymore. So I didn't wear a mask because I didn't need one. I was happy with present company and glad to have met kindred spirits who were as lost as I was and who were taking each day as it came.
You're never too old to learn something new -- my favourite takeaway from this trip. Yeah, people will always have one up over you but that doesn't mean you can't overcome your late entry into the game without practice. Take Stan for example... He is the latecomer to Tennis and yet, he made it for a few years, didn't he?
I'd get a couple of shaadi.com reminders about potential matrimonial suspects and looking at what was on "offer" -- and realising meeting anyone on my present circumstance is out of the question. Will leave the profile as is, for now. On the road from A-Bay to Colombo I realised again how much I preferred being alone rather than being forced into being with someone I wasn't inclined to be with in the first place. With this clarity in mind and heart, it hurt but it is what I want and need for my own sanity's sake. I will never compromise and will never settle for anything or anyone.
We all deserve better. I know I do. And I know you reading this do too.
Well, yeah I didn't expect to be sooo caught up but it happened aite. Surprisingly the last few days were super duper hectic and yet soooo much fun!
I'm grateful to have met Marleen. She's a very vibrant and pleasant person with a mind of her own. Reminded me of a butterfly all the time. I kept asking all these backpackers how were they supporting themselves financially. Just seemed like everyone was on a year or more sabbatical. On my last night I met two girls, Linda and Lisa from The Netherlands who were on a three week break. And they were surprisingly the only ones who'd heard of PwC. I couldn't fathom it but I deduced that's because the crowd who travels street style are not the ones from any Big Four. They must be the hotel and 4-5 star class. On my salary.. yeah backpacking rules! Hahahaha.
Nevertheless, very very interesting people sharing their backpacker stories and how they fund their travels and the kind of freelance work they get up to. I guess it all boils down to how much you believe in yourself, and how badly you want it. They seem to be so content with living in the NOW. No stress about the next pay cheque or the next meal. I did ponder on this a lot... I.e. if I'd been born overseas, the kind of access I'd have had to such opportunities. I yet have to meet Indians who can say they've worked odd jobs to fund their travel stories.
Another thing I noticed is how fit they are. And they all seem to have hobbies as life skills. I feel like my hobbies have just stayed hobbies because we've always grown up to believe that there is nothing better than a good education with good grades. And I think in my case it was important since I'm not the smartest nut on the block but it has helped me have interesting conversations with people as well as show them a side of India that they are so ignorant about.
I got asked often if I spoke Indian or Hindi and it still startles me, how startles people get when I tell them my first language is English and we speak English at home. Talking about my education, the kind of environment I've grown up in, the foreign education, job and travel opportunities, yeah, it does seem astonishing. And when I say it, I feel so humble and blessed to know how much I've been given. It's truly a great reminder to never take things for granted and to always thank the man above for my countless blessings.
I ended up having experiences not exactly in my agenda and that's because I deviated as and when. It meant having spare change to buy a new pair of slippers and a wet shirt --- new motivation to keep surfing. I really get excited when I push up on the board, little shaky but a whole lot more confident. I think it was my 7th surf class. It was such a bloody disaster. Too many people and probably because we drank by the Riverside the previous night and then grabbed more drinks at Hideaway. I wasn't hungover or high, just unable to get my head together.
The next day felt like it would be just the same until I paid attention to another girl surfing and then Chuchu magically uttered the words "Slowly, get up" and wham... I started standing on the board again! The board turning was still happening because of the way I have been positioning my body when standing and that again I started concentrating on and I had a few successful waves I caught which saw me go straight to land. Very very proud of me ol' bag of bones.
During the trip, I did a lot of thinking. I feel it's important to disconnect and just spend time with yourself, your thoughts and clear all the confusion and mess around whatever it is that's bringing you down. So so very important. I spent time portraying silence to the cat calls, ignored potential hook up opportunities and showed my game face to anyone out to piss me off. At the same time, I kept seeing how many people were randomly hooking up throughout the trip. I did find this one guy interesting, and that's because I found him amiable. But, yeah, I was older than pretty much every single person present and I didn't wanna kiss and not tell anymore. So I didn't wear a mask because I didn't need one. I was happy with present company and glad to have met kindred spirits who were as lost as I was and who were taking each day as it came.
You're never too old to learn something new -- my favourite takeaway from this trip. Yeah, people will always have one up over you but that doesn't mean you can't overcome your late entry into the game without practice. Take Stan for example... He is the latecomer to Tennis and yet, he made it for a few years, didn't he?
I'd get a couple of shaadi.com reminders about potential matrimonial suspects and looking at what was on "offer" -- and realising meeting anyone on my present circumstance is out of the question. Will leave the profile as is, for now. On the road from A-Bay to Colombo I realised again how much I preferred being alone rather than being forced into being with someone I wasn't inclined to be with in the first place. With this clarity in mind and heart, it hurt but it is what I want and need for my own sanity's sake. I will never compromise and will never settle for anything or anyone.
We all deserve better. I know I do. And I know you reading this do too.
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