Travel Light

Traveling light is traveling in style.  You breeze through check ins and head straight to your destination upon arrival. You are one happy person squeezing through the public transport system, saving a lot of money.

Some tips:

1.  Plan very well, analyze the nature of your trip.
2.  It pays to wash clothes.  What is a 10 minute washing compared to an eternal lugging in of oversized luggage?
3.  Traveling for a week, a month or even months sounds the same to me:

         A.  2 pairs of pants (the first pair is worn on day 1)

         B.  2 lightweight clothes 

         c.  4 tops (shirts or blouses)

         d.  2 leggings

         e.  underwears 

         f.  microfiber towel

         g.  sarong

         h.  toiletries. & laundry soap

         g. camera

         h.  traveling adopter.

4.  wear the bulkiest clothes and footwear at the airport or in long journeys.

5.  Maintain a good disposition.  Be happy!

Respecting the Place

The 'mainstream' traveler visits places to fulfill their bucket lists.  Others get lucky to find a good airfare deal at the right time when their credit cards are not yet maxed out.  However, there are those lovers of adventures who just can't get enough of cultures and peoples.  They hop from one place to another simply to look for the right mix and the right blend of thrills.  To which category you belong to is not my topic here.

I would like to talk about respect of the place.  Of course, there are those social norms that you can't do without especially if the laws of the place demand it.  When the show of flesh is frowned upon, I hide behind my shawls and my loose clothes to play it safe.

Another point that tugged my mind is on the issue to splurge and how much?  When the exchange rate is too low, one gets the 'false' notion of being a millionaire. When poverty reeks to the point of shock, how much tip do we give to service providers?  What about gifts?

What about the norms to observe in visiting houses and villages?  Normally, I go visit these places only when am ready and is genuinely interested in meeting others.  I need to be fully present, breathe into the newness of the place and culture and to be sensitive to what they want to show.  Being invited to someone's home is an honor.

What about photographs?  I don't click much in my travels.  I am prepared to store memories in the heart.  While we may have our own dream photographs in mind to take, I normally ask permission to take photos.

The best way to ensure 'unobtrusive' travel is to be with a local.  They give you signs when rules can be broken and what norms to truly follow.

Visiting places where climate change is so real

CHILDREN EVERYWHERE  (our official welcome party)

ADAPTABILITY since water could be just everywhere, even the pigs are secured.  They stay with humans sometimes...

I went to a densely populated isle...  Where climate change is lived and where the people normalized this occurrence. 

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT.  But this is nothing when the waters come rushing in.  The king of the island is simply the tides.

THE WATERS...  At least, the waters were not murky.  The ocean tides closed in.

NORMALIZED.  The kids welcome the water with glee (and all other creatures living and non-living). The microbiologists say otherwise.

ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY.  The lady washing her clothes beside the house pig while another kept them company.

WAITING.  Mother and child looking at the water...

Greening your household

Everything in Australia is big. The land area is so vast and the houses are just BIG. When you eat out, you brace yourself to generous portions and horrendous bills awaiting. Yes, am two months old here but I am still into the conversion mode which prevents me from buying anything.

The age made such a big deal on the carbon footprint made last Christmas and it made me feel upset about how slow my project is taking place. However, it gave me the push to work more for next year.

An average Australian household has a carbon emission of 1 ton in a month. The low population rate of the continent is no excuse for such a high emission of carbon in the atmosphere... 'after all, we breath the same air in the same planet.

This leads me to the conviction that carbon offsetting is a logical idea in all these footprints. Next year, bear with me as I go blogging on how green you are and whether or not your household is green already.

We owe it to ourselves and the earth's future to be vigilant. We should do our share of solidarity in all of this.

Over a nasty hang over…

(7th January 2007)

I woke up knowing that early part of my sleeping (or how it came to be) can’t be put into logical patterns. There was a lapse… I was drunk. I woke up with the young people looking at me with concern. I winked to confirm my being undead… I stood only to rush to the nearest coconut tree. I dumped all the solids that I munched on the night before. I rushed to the toilet to dump more of the liquids taken. I was truly wasted.

The first words uttered was “history is made… it is my second time to puke after a drinking spree”. The worst is yet to be. The dismantling of my innards just started. The microbes in my tummy revolted. They shouted freedom and rushed outside. Even a good cold mineral water was refused entry by the newly recruited vigilantes.

I slept and never allowed myself to move for fear of another rising foment, of having more revolutions rushing out. I continued that way until I went home. There was Beng, a youth leader who was really at my side taking care of me.

At home, I sought refuge to my room only to visit the comfort room. I slept until my state of euphoric inebriation went down. My first solid food was taken in at 5:30 PM. It was also the time that I asked for a good massage and a soothing vaporizer. It was another time to sleep.

I was woken up by a rainy Monday. I decided to take a morning off. I had an extended sickness. It was a chance for me to mull things over. A review. Why do people get drunk? It is when they get overconfident. I drank too much. I did not eat a decent meal before that (a good sandwich was what I took the day before --- hmmm would that count?). Yes, I overdid it.