This vagabond life is a strange existence.
There’s no daily routine, deadline, or ritual to mark the passing of time. We have very few obligations in our horizon: occasionally we’d arrange to meet new and old friends, going to a couchsurfing meetup or some free events when we can. That’s about it.
We wake up when we want to, or need to – if there are buses/flights/trains to catch. We sleep when we feel like sleeping. Fortunately we tend to have the same sleep cycle and we are both realizing we don’t quite like naps. Which is too bad, since daytime in Asia during this time of year is a miserable sweltering hotbox. We could use some siesta while the world around us baked in the heat.
We punctuate our days with meals (2 or 3 times depending on how hungry we feel) and sleep. We set near-term ‘goals’ consisting of places we want to see, food we want to try, activities we want to do. But I notice that these goals are inconsequential. When they fall through for one reason or another,we just say “oh well” and move on. We don’t get upset when the bus takes forever to come. We are getting pretty good at waiting and withstanding long bus rides.
We should have been more upset about our Vietnam plan that got derailed because we forgot to double-check Gabriel’s visa entry date. But we just chalked it down as lesson learned and quickly figured out an alternative plan. I also learned that airline and immigration took no-show at the gate (after you’ve cleared immigration and technically ‘left’ the country) as a serious matter. I was assigned a chaperone who had to be with me at all time until I clear immigration. It sounds like people have used this tactic before to evade immigration.
It’s easy to be sucked in into this passive existence; letting yourself be enveloped by the new sights, sounds and smell – this unknown rhythm of life. I can see myself letting go and just let life drift me along. Am I moving sideways, forward or backward? I don’t know. At least it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
So far we’ve met two people who are on a similar journey. One guy from Nepal who’s been on the road for four years and another guy from Argentina who started last year. Both carry the “this is so amazing I never want to stop traveling” bug. Made me wonder if we’ll end up being like them.