Off the Couch and On the Road

I don’t think many have asked why the grass is greener on the other side, or understood that unique human ability to want what we don’t have.

Probably they just crossed a wooden bridge, looked back over to the hillside they walked from, pushed their spectacles higher up the bridge of their nose, nodded and mumbled, ‘Yes, yes. Definitely greener. Must write that down.’

The greener pastures complex is, I think, at it’s most defining moment when you’re overseas and alone, in countries where you can’t wander aimlessly down the street or hang out in a coffee shop, and where you have nothing but time to sit and think about the hillside on the other side of the bridge. It is interesting to note the things one does miss at this time (barring the obvious family and friends) - the once neglected car? Job interviews and suits? Washing and vacuuming? Cash machines and paved roads? Clean feet, like, all the time? Insane.

I have realised  it’s not a long term dilemma, usually the appearance of some newfound friends, being amongst hoards of tourists, an episode of CSI or emails from home eases the ache to fly home and start cleaning the bathroom. And then there are the moments you pinch yourself and find it amazing that you are seeing the very best of the world that is privileged to so few.

I have often replied to the question, ’so why are you travelling overseas?’ with a wink and a wry, ‘Oh, it’s cheaper than therapy.’ But perhaps I should replace that with, ‘Well, there was a wooden bridge I decided to cross…’

Yes, yes. Definitely greener. Must write that down.

-Sarah

Last time I was this sick, I was on route from Nepal to London - a harrowing 24 hour journey made all the worse by the deadened senses, the dull ache and the struggle to breathe that is the flu. I don’t know if it was the impending travel that my body disliked, but I was certainly feeling the effects, despite buying some ‘Bach’s Rescue Remedy’ which promised to ‘Restore that positive feeling!’ and ‘Comfort and reassure!’. Trust me, after days of cash machines freezing my cards, flight changes, hostels moving my booking across town and not telling me until I’d arrived very tired, very late; trying to sort out bungles with transfers and accomodation in Kenya (and those the least of my concerns) - I needed all the positive outlook I could get, hell I was gulping the stuff down.

My positive outlook and I spent dawn in London Paddington cursing ticket machines; mid-morning in Frankfurt practising swahili with the african security guard who was supposed to be drug testing my menthol chest rub; late afternoon in Cairo cursing baggage handlers who told me of my luggage ’six down, relax. It will come’ (It did, I didn’t) and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, dawn of the following morning, so tired I thought if I got mugged or lost I wouldn’t even care.

Thankfully it wasn’t the case - my driver was waiting for me at the airport and made sure I checked into my hotel safely, the hotel staff were lovely and even had a security guard escort me to the ATM and back when it was light, and I managed to sleep all day and felt a little better. Kenya was winning points all around.

-Sarah

There are worse places to be when you are sick than sitting or laying down no more than 5m from a bathroom for about 10 hours, so I didn't mind the flight or the transit at Bangkok airport.

In my ill ... [Continue reading this entry]

In the end, it was my body that told me it was time to leave Indochina. I woke up fine, relaxed, happy, so maybe it was the water I used to brush my teeth (though I had used tap water ... [Continue reading this entry]