- The power of a wave and a smile – the international language of friendship
- Seeing crazy scooter stuff like 5 people on a scooter, 10 year olds riding scooters, scooters piled high with stuff, scooters with crazy attachments, people riding along holding their helmets under their arm!! The list goes on…
- Finding you are no longer surprised at crazy scooter stuff after a while, in fact you come to expect it
- Friendly children, babies in slings tied onto their mothers, mothers working with kids in tow
- Learning new languages and connecting with people, finding you can ‘talk’.
- Finding yourself talking pidgin English, missing words out and using the present tense way too much
- Getting somewhere under you own steam and seeing buses pass you, sometimes the same bus several times over a few days
- Going to ‘tourist free’ places and meeting local people
- Seeing red chillies laid out on a mat, drying in the sun
- Being independent – backpackers are often at the mercy of buses, tuk tuks and boats, all weary on arrival
- Living cheaply and being self-sufficient
- Trusting people
- Traditional hill tribe women eating betel nuts that make their teeth and lips blood red as they chew
- Not knowing where you are going to sleep that night, but not worrying about it
- Trying different food and discovering just how much rice it is possible to eat in one day
- Fresh pineapple
- Cows with big floppy ears standing in the road, reluctant to move and slightly put out at you being there on their road
- Learning about the world, people, their stories, politics and culture
- Feeling you can do anything, go anywhere, trusting your instincts
- Nice feeling you get when you feel comfortable in a country and find you have relaxed
- Being in tune with the weather, reading the signs and being exposed to the elements
- Seeing giant golden buddha statues and brightly coloured, pristine temples in the most unexpected places
- Beautiful, shiny green paddy fields
- Cycling for 5 hours a day = plenty of time and space to think
- Weight loss, need I say more?!
Tags: Travelling
