Written Feb 5 - 11:21pm
(some posts are made from internet cafes some are made from my iPad and get posted as soon as it links up with wifi somewhere, I'll try to keep them in some sort of order... but no promises)
On my way in from the airport, I was driven in a taxi. The hard part about this drive was really the fact for 45 min we tried to talk to each other but had a pretty major language barrier between us.
He knew some English, and I know no Thai. I felt like that rude American. Here I am, in his home, unable to talk to him in his own language. It's an odd feeling.
I've never been good at learning other languages. Maybe it's the mind set that "I am not good at languages. I can't learn it." but here I am, unable to speak any of the languages of the countries (sans New Zealand), but some how it will work. I'll speak with my hands, I'll point more dramatically, it will be an awkward dance between people and cultures.
The other thing I've noticed in the past, and am glad I knew it before heading away this time, is how travelers are.
There is a type of traveler that doesn't expect the world to change for them, and openly accept that they need to change and respect the culture they are in.
I met 4 people so far in my 3 days away... all of them in this mind set, all of them I sat and talked with, shared stories of past travel, future plans... and all of them that I shared this intimate information with, I will never see again.
How do you get over that? How do you say... "Hey ____, it was great to meet you. You changed my life right now, have a great life"
Tomorrow I will meet the my new best friends. We will become so close, share so much, and feel like family. ...and in 10 days, 2 weeks or 3 weeks, we'll all move on to our next chapter in life, and likely never see each other again. But we will have Thailand...or Laos... or Cambodia and Vietnam...... The bond of travel partners is quite strong, you don't feel alone in the world. There is so much to learn from other people.
Now... it is finally time, to sleep... in a bed!
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Uploaded and sent from an iPad that's exploring Southeast Asia. Please try not to mind the typos and spelling errors. Autocorrect does some funny things.
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