Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Two weeks since an update, but that's largely because they've been quite normal weeks. At the moment I'm avoiding doing proofreading because I've just hit one of those student essays where every sentence has sense-crippling mistakes in it. Usually because the student is trying to show off - a telltale sign is that they start each sentence with "naturally" or "moreover".
Naturally, this means the rest of it is gibberish as they attempt to use educated language. Moreover, because they struggle to understand formal writing they think that being incomprehensible is a prerequisite. Furthermore, overuse of the passive tense means it is often unclear what the meaning of the sentence was intended or at least poor grammar is resulting.
Although I haven't been travelling for a little while, I've met someone who has. Responding to my couchsurfing profile, a Singapore fella called Alvin got in touch. He's been cycling around Asia since early December, coming all the way through Malaysia and south Thailand, over to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in Vietnam, then through Cambodia and into the north-east of Thailand. He was naturally passing through my town on his way to Khon Kaen, the main route north into Laos. We interviewed him on Seamus' radio show (upload coming soon to youtube, my radio debut - except for a shoutout from my pal Tom on Bradford radio). We have a broadcast range of 40km, making us the most widely broadcast English chat show in Thailand.
Alvin was a lot of fun and brought a great attitude, but as with most travellers I started to doubt his methods. The 'realness' of his journey was compromised by a constant struggle to stay safe and fed, and while he had a lot of special experiences sleeping in temples and being invited to share food with people, I think the practicalities of life would wear me down. I shared with him my £2 an hour rule (recently upgraded from £1 an hour because I have slightly less time, at least in a cosmic sense, and slightly more money). Basically I calculate the cost of transport relative to the time it saves me - so a plane costing £20 more than a train has to save me 10 hours to be worth it. It works pretty well in Asia and avoids massive wastes of time, while also saving cash. It probably wouldn't work in England because everything is so expensive, you'd just end up walking everywhere.
You have to respect the guy, though. He's cycling around Asia at the tender age of 20, speaks less Thai than me, and has only one change of clothes. He hasn't paid for somewhere to stay for over a month, usually setting up a tent inside the grounds of temples or in petrol stations (because they have showers), like an Alan Partridge who's fallen on even harder times. What I respect most is that he isn't doing it for any special purpose. It's not a voyage of discovery, he's not taking black and white photos or doing it for charity, he just had a few months spare. Any European doing this trip would have dreadlocks and set themselves up as a guru, sleeping their way through gullible gap year backpackers as he imparts his wisdom. Maybe he'll read this and change the whole dynamic of his trip though, I could have just ruined something very pure as he reflects on having ridden nothing more than his bicycle for 3 straight months. Don't do it man - you could become a real guru if you abstain, and then they'll come to you! Maybe… it sort of works for Claire's Reiki-touting Del Boy uncle.
This week it's back to Bangers to sort out visa stuff so that I can go to Laos and China the week after, so probably a fairly boring week as I clear my desk and try save the pennies. We're staying in a sweet-ass resort for the conference (it's in the 'splurge' section of lonely planet, so must be at least 3 star), so need to have some spare cash. As a wise guru once said, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
- comments