Anticipating My Next Trip

About this blog

In reminiscing about my last journey and adventure to South East Asia, there are a few things I perhaps should have both included and not included in my Travel,Blog note book,... for, it really is the photos taken and the notes hurriedly jotted down, that are the raw materials of which to create, stories of events , people and places as I find them.

My previous note taking and digital photos snapped, were more or less edited, but for the whole, my travel notes remained pretty much verbatim, without too much journalising. However, besides note taking and photographing,it is often the actual anticipation of the event of travel itself that adds a sense of excitement and especially for me, becomes even more exciting as the final departure date approaches. The closer the day,..the more euphoric the feeling. Although, I know my next trip out of Australia is still some months away, I have already pre-booked some of my flights., The course is set and so now there is no turning back. Every thing I do from now onward, is in preparation for this next adventure. Hassles at work will come and go. Other opportunities may present themselves in such a way as to persuade me to postpone things, but short of losing my arms and legs, I will not bend. Travel really is my passion, and telling others my anecdotes connected to people places and situations is what I love doing most. However, the one thing I should mention about my previous travels so far is that, I have seen far more of other country's cities and inland areas than I have of my own. This suddenly occurred to me early one morning whilst traveling home from work on the local Sydney Rail Service. By chance, I had begun chatting to two young American travelers, who were on their way to South Africa and beyond via Australia. In the course of our brief conversation, they mentioned that their travel itinerary included places in Australia, I had never been or probably were never likely to see, unless I made an effort to do so. Yes, it had occurred to me that I had seen far more of other countries geography and culture than I had of my own. For this reason alone, I have decided to include, as part of my next journey, a trip south along the southern coast road, following the Princess Highway, then southward again across Bass Strait to the historic Isle: Tasmania.. As Australia is so huge , it will not be possible to see it all, but at least I will be able to say, I've seen some of what's there, the real Australia that is and not just the capital cities but some of the coastal fringes. All this is a few weeks away yet, and there's a job to be held down first, extra money to be earned and saved before most of this becomes a reality. However, just the thought of boarding that flight, or a series of twilight train journeys and of leaving work and worries behind, even for a relatively short time,... has already begun my adrenalin pumping. Mentally, I have already planned a route I shall be taking..., give or take the odd kilometer here and there that is.. or the mode of transport, which on previous journeys has also varied... but always has managed to get me there and in one piece. This time, I feel train travel will make up quite a bit of my journey as it had done before in Vietnam. The longest rail journey probably will be in Australia as well as other shorter destinations such as Thailand. Just typing these thoughts and conjuring these images, is enough to begin me reaching for my back pack and firing up the laptop computer, searching the Internet for the cheapest available flights and travel deals.. All this will be, possible with enough planning and of course as previously mentioned funding. I know from my last experiences whilst visiting the Philippines, (please read previous blog ) that due to time restrictions and budget that, there were many places and 'fiestas' that I would have liked to have seen and people with stories to tell, that I just did not get to hear and that I promised one day, I would once more visit and form my own opinions. These will be gleaned from my own experiences and not just those of travel guide books ( although some are excellent ) or others who may have just driven through a villiage without taking a good look around and met the real people who live there. Nor just by visiting the tourist spots, although I may go there as well, but by places and people further away off the beaten track. These are the places I hope to reach and people who can tell me what it is like for them to be living there and at that time in their local history. Finally, I find it helpful as well as entertaining to compare, what I have actually anticipated,or imagined,as to what eventually happens on my journeys. This is usually done by submitting the very last travel entry and comparing it with the first. By doing this, it is a way for me personally, to assess not only how much fun I have had, but how much I have learned through traveling and meeting different people from varying climates and cultures. Sure I'm not 'Margaret Mead' but I just want to go to the different places and see for myself, and in this way hopefully share with others my 'subjective experiences' by way of hopefully putting together, an entertaining travel blog story. Ok then, lets wait and see what happens.