I'm in the final days of an incredible 11½ months travelling through
I'm looking forward to...
- Cheese
- Bread that hasn't been deep fried
- Fresh crunchy salad
- Wearing jeans
- Anonymity
- Hanging out with my family in
- Speaking English with everyone...and them understanding me perfectly
- Having friends around me
- Set prices in shops
- Digital radio (Especially BB7)
- No smoking in public places
- Watching films
- Borrowing books from libraries
- Wearing skirts, dresses and other pretty, girly clothes
- The Guardian
- Hot showers and baths
- Cooking my own food
- Significantly higher cost of living (My toothpaste cost me US$0.43 – How much was yours?)
- Reality TV
- Junk mail
- People being unfriendly
- Drunken rowdiness (unless it's my own)
- General hum-drum
- House cleaning
- Our over regulated society (As Liam and I sang, "There are too many rules in the West.")
- Feeling prudishly shocked by Western women in skimpy clothing
- Lots of cars on the roads
I won't miss...
- Getting stared at
- Having little kids look over my shoulder all the time to see what I'm writing (yep, including right now)
- Being asked "Where from?"
- Banging my head on low doorways
- Having to be ultra careful about water (Microbes from a wet plate can really ruin your day)
- Being asked how much everything I own cost me (Response: "I don't know it was a gift.")
- Rubbish and poo on the streets
- Mosquitoes
- The "Om Mani Padme"song on repeat
- Spitting and the hacking sound that precedes it
- Delicious curries
- Walking past lush green rice paddies
- Glasses of milk tea for US$0.08
- Riding on top of buses
- Genuine, friendly locals
- Mangoes
- Buddha statues
- The joy of finding a really special guesthouse
- Feeling like a celebrity and seeing people's faces light up in surprise when they see me
- Terraced farming cut into steep hillsides
- Noodle soup in its many beautiful incarnations
- Shampoo in single serving sachets
- Parle-G biscuits
- Street food
- Walking barefoot around temples
- Being able to eat out every single meal
- Vibrant religious festivals and ceremonies
- Animals out and about, taking themselves for walks and hanging out in the street
- Tailor-made clothes
- Markets!
- Meeting amazing travellers from around the world
- Tasting exotic fruits for the first time
- The Muslim call to prayer
- Overnight train journeys and waking up somewhere new
- Swimming in warm sea and snorkelling
- Feeling intrepid at land border crossings
- My own child-like wonder at the newness of the world around me
4 comments:
Great list!! We can help with the cheese and films (and the being with family part)! Maybe we should take a trip to a cheese factory for my birthday :-)
Great list and a insightful look at what was pleasant for you during your time away and what you could have skipped.
We're looking forward to hanging out with you too, Fay... in jeans, munching home baked bread and cheese, and hiking to a movie. :O)
I don't think the childlike wonder will leave you. I think your ability to look at the world (even pre-Asia) in your intelligently inquiring manner is part of what makes you YOU.
I write this munching on a Parle-G. It would be nice to have a copy of The Guardian though...
I hope you're enjoying being home.
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