Halfway point ALREADY! L
All too quickly I find myself writing our 6 month summary,
where has time gone? Well I guess you know where if you’ve been keeping up to
date with our blog. So it’s with a mixture of sadness and being extremely grateful
that I am able write this update…
I checked back on the last traveller update we did around 2
months into the trip and to be honest, not a great deal has changed other than
we still haven’t really learnt to slow down. Comparing ourselves to other traveller’s
we’ve met, we still seem to storm through countries and places and pack our
days full. In 6 months we’ve managed to visit 8 countries and 25+ islands! But
I guess that’s just the way we like to do things. We still LOVE clean Laundry,
especially when all the items are returned and are still in one piece. And
Glenn still misses West Ham. They’ve had one of their best ever seasons and he’s
only managed to see a handful of games on the TV. His fellow W.H fans have
asked him to stay away for next season, he’s a bit like a lucky mascot in
reverse!
So I’m going to write this update slightly differently to
the last, here goes:
With the obligatory 20-25 days annual leave we got when
working we were both fans of organised trips as it enabled you to see a great
deal of a country in a short space of time, not have to think for yourself and
you (sometimes) made great lifelong friends who share the same interests as
you.
However, you do miss out on so much traveling in an
organised group. The Joy/terror of arriving in a new place without a clue what
to do, nobody speaking your language, no idea what meat you are ordering,
getting on a bus and hoping it takes you somewhere in the vicinity of where you
need to go. Doing it yourself really brings you up close to a country and its
people. We’ve had some of our best experiences of the trip through having more
interaction, dealing with problems and making spontaneous decisions. I’m not
saying we would never do an organised trip again as it really does have a
place, but careful research and DIY we think makes more lasting memories. Some
of the differences we see between Tourists and Travellers. Now I’m including
package holiday makers in the Tourist bracket too so nobody take offence!
Tourist v Traveller
·
Tourists drink colourful expensive cocktails in
swanky bars
o
Travellers drink the local brew, usually in
dimly lit seedy holes with questionable cleanliness and prepare themselves for
the chemical hangover they will get in the morning. A guy we met summed up
local beer for us by sharing this joke: Comparing
local beer to a Thai Ladyboy, it looks like a beer, it tastes like a beer but
in the morning you wake up feeling like shit with your pockets empty
·
Tourists bring branded expensive large bottles
of toiletries with them, use the contents liberally and then leave most of it
behind when they return home
o
Travellers rely on the tiny dissected blocks of
soap that hostels call ‘free toiletries’ and will steal anything from a hostel than
isn’t tied down. They share deodorant and learn to eek out anything they need
to purchase. It’s amazing how long a tube of toothpaste can last!
·
Tourists also bring along handy pack size tissue
with them
o
Travellers ran out of those months ago! You can
easily spot a traveller when they open up their pack and there is a toilet roll
at the top! Liberated from previous hostel.
·
Tourists wear white clothes, WHITE!
o
If there ever was anything white in a traveller’s
kit bag it has long since met its demise. Whilst white has the reflective
qualities to ward of the sun rays, it can’t sustain more than a couple of wear’s
before washing and won’t survive being taken around the back and beaten against
a rock and returned to you vaguely clean
·
Tourists wear matching colour coordinated clothes.
o
Travelers go through a daily process of sniffing
t-shirts, pants and shorts and then wearing whichever smells the least
offensive. The clothes sport various holes, missing buttons, rips and tares
from said laundry rock. The result is you usually look like a catwalk model for
Oxfam
·
Tourists seek the Sun
o
Travelers seek the shade!
·
Tourists stay in swanky or midrange hotels,
sometimes with a pool, always with hot water and with a bed you can actually
sleep in
o
After lugging your bags (Glenn not Shell) up
about 6 flights of stairs as there is no lift you are happy if you find: A door
that locks, a loo and a sink and if they are there, one that flushes, doesn’t leak
and when you turn on taps, brown water doesn’t squirt out. Hot water is pure luxury
as are beds you can actually get a good night’s sleep in. I nearly knocked
myself out when I turned over in a bed one night in Nepal! As for sheets, just don’t
inspect them too closely. Cockroaches become familiar roommates.
·
Tourists travel by whatever mode of transport is
most convenient, luxurious and scenic, usually in air-conditioned bliss!
o
Travellers take the most hated overnight bus.
You can never EVER sleep on these things due to the discomfort, noise, smell,
bad noise and bad driving. Taking an overnight bus to save a cost of a hostel
is a farce, you usually arrive disorientated, exhausted and grumpy and then
spend the rest of the day trying to catch-up on sleep in the hellhole you’ve just
checked into. The most feared is the
mini bus, you reach speeds only usually achieved by Concorde through treacherous,
mountainous windy and bumpy roads, overtaking when the driver fancies, not when
it’s safe. They are cramped, usually no air con and in Laos, we even had one
where the isle had stools so as to squeeze in a couple of extra passengers. WE
HATE AND FEAR THE MINI BUS!
·
Tourists eat off food stalls and from Hawker
vendors because its adventurous and fun
o
Travelers eat off stalls as it’s a necessity!
However we are fortunate that if we fall ill, we can postpone travel plans,
unlike the poor tourist who has to stock up on Imodium, leave the white shorts
in the bag in exchange for something safer and then hope for the best. We’ve
both been very lucky, Glenn had a bad 24hr bout in India, we both had grumbles
and sweaty upper lips from the Komodo tour in Indonesia and I had a weird 24hr
fever thing, not bad for 6 months we think.
·
Tourists buy souvenirs and trinkets for themselves
and loved ones
o
Travellers buy toothpaste and conditioner and
exchange outdated travel books with outdated information and the last owners suspicious
looking gunk dribbled all over it.
·
Tourists (generally) tip
o
Travellers tip? Tip my arse! If that’s ever happened it’s
because we didn’t count the change correctly!
·
Tourists chatter and laugh together enjoying
sharing the day’s adventures (apart from the package tourist who in about week
two just seem to sit opposite each other at the dinner table staring forlornly
at their drinks.
o
Travellers have been together morning, noon and
night, they have exhausted politics, the economy, issues in the middle east,
should UK be in/out?…. Moved on to more important topics like favourite films, actor,
music, one hit wonders, colour, number, cartoons and other childhood
programmes. After the daily discussion on bowl movements and status of not so
clean clothes, they usually sit in companionable silence, spotting other travellers
they can engage with or reading, researching and catching up on their blogs!
·
Tourists may find themselves in place they love only
to leave too soon.
o
Travellers are able to change plans, stay put, experience
the culture and enjoy the people!. That’s
why we love traveling and being travellers J
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