Happy new year

Here ends another full year. A year that proves one can make a lot happen when you take time and give yourself the means to do so. When you believe in it.

One year which proved unknown should never be scary. The unpredictable often brings us way further than all the plans we could have made before.

One year, twenty countries later, everything still has to be done. Starting point : the certitude happiness comes from small things in each and every day way more than in all the world's gold.

All is still to do is wish 2013 will be better than 2012.

To all, a year full of happiness, discoveries, trips, small and big. Most of all, a year full of projects.

To all who made 2012 the best year of my life : thank you!

Mystery in Bangkok

This moment caught on video is full of mystery. With my friend Tom, in Bangkok, I stopped in a temple we couldn't find on any map. We still don't know to this day the name of that place. Near some wax statues, these little coins machines probably have a reason to be. We are still searching. Hoping Tom brought himself some good luck with this coin he invested...

If someone can tell us about it...

The nomad is not sleeping

The nomad is back. Got some rest. But is not sleeping. Can't sleep, in fact. More, his senses are fully awake.

A wise person said you only come back from a trip to leave again. I'm joking! Know nobody who said that. But it could be true.

I said it : I could leave again tomorrow, in a week, in a month. But I will leave again, that's for sure.

Just the time to shake my weary legs and my flight is booked for my next destination. A "rebound" trip, like in relationships, for two weeks. Because "rebounds", they never really last. They are made to forget, to turn a page.

Still, I'll rebound in the vice capital, Las Vegas, in the middle of casinos and rich hotels. Vegas? Really? After a round-the-world trip?

Yes, Vegas! To escape toward the Grand Canyon. To get a tan (!) in Death Valley. To say hi to a couple of Californian friends. And to throw a log in the fire of my traveling interest.

Already, my head is spinning. My brain is finding some plans A, B and C. Sees itself on another continent for a long holiday. Brainstorm before the hurricane of realisation.

If, South Africa? If, India? If, Spain? If, another round-the-world trip? When is the next lottery jackpot given away?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you who follow my blog. Thanks for reading about my adventures, to pay interest, and to help building them sometimes.

I wish you all some very happy holidays.

Four months later

The blink of an eye, and four months are gone. Four months since I walked through the doors of Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport to jump back into normal life. Four months to catch my breath as much as I can.

Everybody says it is hard to come back from a holiday. It is even more difficult to come back from traveling. And the difficulty can only be as big as the trip was.

All in all, the obstacles didn't come from where I expected. Of course, of course, there is that urge to get on the next plane to "anywhere but here". Of course, there are all those memories I hang on to and I don't want to let go, scared of forgetting.

There is also all those unbearable "Time heals everything", almost as disturbing as those "You're still young, you'll certainly live more trips like this".

Yes, but...

Truth is, there is a mourning process. Saying "one lost, ten found" never made things better. Time never fills the holes left by those we are mourning.

Same!

There is a real pain. Not a physical one. But still a pain. A pain the body will remember. Like the couple of pounds we lost along the way we're putting back on. There is a questionning, the need to find back my marks, or to find new ones. And there is a need for a lot of time to breath freely again.

Four months and it's starting to get better. But it will never be the same. I'm starting to get a clear head, but still getting that call for traveling. The best remedy for the blues is using what we've learned on the road. Learned to live with the unexpected. Learned to accept not knowing what tomorrow is made of. And allowing ourselves to change our mind three times a day.

In four months, we work out our resilience. True : it is not nice to lie. But when people ask if the blues are gone, they really don't want to hear us say no. The people, they want to say "dust yourself up" or "get over it".

With time, by chance, I kept in touch with the people I found on my way. And I know I want to keep them in my life for a long time. I know now it is possible.

Four months later, at least, I started to move on. And if I haven't broken the mold completely yet, I'm not giving up on breaking it for good.

Everybody will say "I Love You"

One often asks if I missed people when I was traveling around the world. How I was keeping in touch with the people I left behind from the start. How often I would get news from home.

It takes a part of detachment to leave. I met people who went back home before they got the chance to go to the end of the line the drew for themselves because they got homesick. They couldn't bare the distance, the loneliness or the differences. One needs to do it when the little voice inside tells them to move on.

At the risk of hurting some sensibilities, I never missed anybody. Because I was taking on something way bigger than I thought. Because I was ready, also, and by unprogramming ourselves from a life we put aside, we deal with the present and what it has to offer. That didn't keep me from feeling far from home when bad lucks happened.

With Facebook, Skype and other e-mails options, I could keep in touch. Even if the time difference, sometimes, was not helping. If I rang the "computer phone" more often in the beginning, I found myself searching for time to do so as the trip was going.

For those who need valuation, leaving helps people to figure out how important we are to them. The "I love you"s and the "I miss you"s will never have come that often. Sometimes, leaving helps people not to take us for granted. On the other hand, it helps to make a natural selection in the acquaintances.

After leaving, everybody will say "I love you". Even some strangers we catch on the way who become precious friends. "I love you" (not in a "lover" way) comes easy while wandering.

WiFi, good or bad?

A Huffington Post article (What WiFi is doing to Backpacker Culture) made me think. Was asking myself some questions. Does wifi in hostels, or everywhere, in fact, change the travelers habits? Worst : is it a threat to backpaker culture?

I started going in hostels before wifi was everywhere. You would pay for a 15 minutes internet connexion and move on to do something else. We would play cards with stangers to kill some time. We would socialize because we had nothing else to do.

With time, it became almost impossible to travel without a compter or an iPad. So what?

In Valentina Jovanovski's article, it is written that hostels are more and more full of people doing nothing but looking at their computer screen. True. I am one of those, sometimes. Because it is a simple way to book a flight, a train ticket or a hostel. Because I want to keep in touch with friends and family. Or simply because I don't feel like talking to strangers. So!

If it's true that it doesn't help with human relationships, wifi is definitely an asset. A hostel without wifi is a hostel that is stuck in the past. And nobody wants to stay in the past.

So what is it we can do to encourage people to talk to each other? Nothing! Almost! Because it belongs to everyone to choose how they want to travel. With or without a computer, if one wishes to socialize, he needs to want to do it. Still, in some places, common rooms are so nice that people will start chatting anyway. Huge rooms with a small amount of seats are too common. Choosing a small hostel is usually a better bet.

I don't feel guilty to be connected 15 minutes a day when I travel. I prefer meeting strangers than sending e-mails to those I'm trying to take a distance from. And if I don't find any good mate in the hostel, I'll find them somewhere else.

The challenge will be to socialize those who watch movies in streaming mode or play games online all day long when they travel. There is alway an exception.

So go read that article and share what you think with me.