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I was actually reminiscing about my previous blogs while standing in line at yet another roadside café. The monotonous bore of long distance bus rides makes it easy to reflect and think, like in the shower or just before you fall asleep. I chatted idly with my new crew of tripees we've joined on a tour from Athens to Split (Croatia), easily engaging in conversation as if old friends. While my talking companion stumbled on his words "been travelling for 3 weeks" my mind went back to my 3 week hump. A realisation occurred that I/we have come such a long way since we started and what must my adventures look like to those reading my blogs.
Has anyone seen a transition?
Have I gained any life knowledge/experience?
Do I know the effect I have on others???
It was actually Toddy Bakes' comment on Facebook that brought me to such questions (maybe a bit from Suzanne Collins), having known Todd for quite some years. I remember way back, way back when he returned from his Europe trip. At that time, travel seemed so wondrous, so large and out of my grasp that the thought of such travel was placed on the highest of pedestals. But now, here I am, climbing to the edge of such pedestals and realising what an achievement it is and having a new found acknowledgement of others that have come before me.
This brings me into the main focus of my thoughts over the last two weeks in which my blogging has been absent. (Sorry Em)
Friendship
"My highlight of the trip, apart from the engagement is?"
For those not in the know it which was the engagement of Adam and Claudia and of which our little highlight speech continued every night at dinner with our group from sail turkey.
So
"My highlight of the trip, apart from the engagement is?"
And could easily be one of many moments on our fabled sailing adventure. It wasn't however:
Backflips of cliffs above an underwater cavern
Book club sessions at the stern of our yacht
Hangover naps at the bow to Dean's impressive music collection
Sleeping on the bow at night under the Milky Way
Being able to jump over board and soak up the Aegean Sea
Skinny dipping after too many frothies
Retrieving the lost anchor from the sea floor
Smashing floor boards at Smugglers Inn
Snorkelling with turtles
Practising Turkish/English with the crew
Teaching everyone to play Bergerk
Scuba diving with newbies in open water
Catching mackerel off the boat using hooks with lures made from plastic straws
Getting my first pedicure
Drinking Kalimotxos (2 bottles of red and 6 cans of coke)
Or even watching Dean (Ipa) fall backwards onto rocks and ride shotgun with the skipper to the nearest Turkish hospital. . . . .
My drunken laughter rings out into the surrounding cove at Ipa's failed attempt at rock climbing.
"s*** man, you alright" I comfort
"Nar aye, think I hurt myself"
Closer inspection on board shows a gaping wound the size and appearance of a dried apricot.
"Holy s***" the girls fidget away and others dry reach
"Just a scratch mate" the boys respond covering our mouths and raising our eye brows
"This could get infected "our resident nurse reacts
"I'll piss on it" Adam states and then proceeds to retrieve his penis from his boardies, much to the astonishment of the girls not familiar with drunken male humour.
Plugga (Brenton) pipes up
"I think this is the cure for your gayness" . . . . . . A long pause ensues before a resounding chorus
"NAAAAAAAAARR. . . T" everyone laughs.
A good highlight but not, THE highlight
The highlight was making new friends.
But hopefully something more than just a fleeting moment of conversation with someone on a day tour or bus ride or chat at a pub or dorm room. Our group spent 24 hours for 7 days together and it definitely allowed us to see into the real personas behind their faces. To get past the usual travel questions to connect on different levels with a variety of different people with different experiences.
People of trust and integrity, to be alongside people you'd believe to pay back a lent 100 or to babysit your house while you're out for a long weekend. I think I enjoyed the sail the most because of this.
I don't have a large circle of friends but I believe the ones I do keep are because of the similar reasons. Hopefully the people I meet recently can join this circle, some mightn't think it but I'm actually quite shy.
Maybe turkey has brought this confidence out in me, a country I had no real idea about. A place I have greatly underestimated, I can see now why others travellers have a love for this country. It has to do with the people-unassumingly friendly.
Is this one of the true meanings of travelling? To meet people adequate for your inner sanctum
There is a poem gemma found for me once, by William Yates. The man's words engraved in my flesh, maybe he can shed some light on this train of thought.
Think about where man's glory most begins and ends
And say that it was, that I had such friends.
What is happiness if it's not shared with others?
Very true, not just for my current friends but for the new and future ones. I can't wait to get back home and enjoy the familiarity of the people I know, but turkey has given me a fresh breath of enthusiasm for the next part of this adventure.
- comments
Diddles My friend, cam-padre, teacher, student, Cheif Dad Apprentice, newly found acquaintance... Mr Benny Bennassi! What you've jut compiled there managed to bring a tear to a glass eye. For Ben's family, friends and recently discovdred travel buddies, his performance, generosity and all round good "bloke-ed-ness" shone through on this trip. What a guy. I have a man crush.
Margaret Watson I have no idea why Ben is a Mechanic, he should be a writer, or a journalist, he is definately is not doing his calling that is for sure.