craft of travelling (part three)

c) i am beginning to love wandering.. of not knowing where to go and what to do.

many times, i have been left by myself. normally, my hosts would get worried that i won't find my way home and/or feel bad that they couldn't accompany me. i've been constantly reassuring them that i'm gonna be fine. i'm a big girl now. and as long as i can ask directions and there's a form of transportation, i'd survive. actually, there's something about wandering that is so freeing. no plans to follow. no path i have to take. no schedule i have to keep. everything is up to me.

i have walked several miles just pottering around the streets of guadalajara and san francisco. i have hiked hills and forests in california. i have crossed train tracks and bridges just to get a better view of sites. i have waited in numerous airports and have wondered if i had the right time when the DST changed. i have slept in several houses, taken showers in various bathrooms, and snuggled in different beds. i have taken 4 chinatown buses, too many subway n metros, and have lugged my huge bag around NYC through the rain.

craft of travelling (part two)

b) i have also gotten good at meandering and getting lost.

twice when i was in mexico, i took the bus and got lost. ha!

when it finally got dark and i still haven't found my way home after almost an hour sitting, i just decided to take a cab (and shell out 60 mexican pesos, which is about Php300). dang!

the second time i got lost was when the driver took an unannounced detour from its route. i missed my usual drop off point. what to do? wait for the bus driver to reach the terminal, take another bus to bring me back the same way i took.

*sigh*

craft of travelling (part one)

who says travelling is fun? it can be quite stressful and i'd say it requires a particular skill when you don't know what lies ahead of you: waiting at airports, meeting someone you don't know, uncertainty of getting lost. in the 11 weeks i have been travelling:

a) i think i'm beginning to perfect the art of waiting and meeting people i don't know.

- first time i arrived guadalajara was in the middle of the night. my school said there'd be someone to pick me up and he'd be flashing a sign with my name on it. after waiting for more than 30mins, i didn't see anyone with a sign. should i call the school? i don't have mexican pesos to call! could they probably have forgotten about me? what if this person came and didn't see me? suddenly, this guy comes up to me and asks if i am ms. cortez. yes, i am! thank God.

- of course, getting picked up is one thing, going to a stranger's house and staying with him for a few days is another. will the taxi driver know how to get there? is my host really at home? what if he gave a wrong address? what if he decided last minute NOT to host me? would we get along well? will the family like me as well? here's the address. i rang the doorbell twice and no one's answering. what if they're already sleeping? just then, the gate opens and i am greeted by jorge who welcomed me with a warm hug!

- on my trip to Boston, i met an Indian lady working in LA who's also travelling. we bumped into each other when she was asking for directions. i said i didn't know and was just a tourist like her. we instantly hit it off and had a grand time touring that we decided to meet again the following day to take a different trail. so i was there on the time and place that we agreed upon. 30 minutes passed and she's not there yet. i sent her SMS and called her mobile only to be greeted by a machine. this time, i thought it was just wise to leave and go about the trail by myself. even if i had to do it alone, i still enjoyed it. later, i received an email explaining why she wasn't there.

- ate cho and i agreed to meet in Hilton at 11am. but she said i should call beforehand because they might be pottering around the streets of san francisco. i didn't think it was necessary to call. i trusted her. so at 11am, i was there. 30 minutes passed. an hour. an hour and a half. maybe i should leave now. i've waited long enough. but where was i to go? i could take the bart and head home. or i could go wander around china town. i decided to get coffee and some biscuits instead. payphones aren't working. how am i gonna reach her? ah maybe i should just go back to the hotel. besides, it's warm and cozy there; they have a power outlet and their wireless signal is strong. i can just spend the day surfing. when it gets dark, i'll get a ride home through bart. i was enjoying my coffee and about to setup my laptop, when a female voice behind me screamed "Sharon!!! i told you to call me!!....." we exchanged pleasantries and i said that as long as she enjoyed her "cable car ride", then i was happy for her. i didn't mind the wait. which was true. i was already warming up to the idea of spending more hours at the hotel.

i have encountered a lot more and the bottom line is that generally, you just have to trust people. true, waiting ups your anxiety level-- what makes waiting stressful is the mind battle: will she come or not? should i wait some more or leave her? but if you learn how to go above this uncertainty, you just have this certain peace.

meeting new people is equally putting butterflies in my tummy: how would i know if that's him? what if he doesn't show up? will our personalities match or clash? what if we run out of things to talk about?

lessons learned: they normally show up. even if in the long run, our personalities do not match, people are still cordial and kind enough. silence is beautiful.

just a ride

after that 10-hr amtrak trip from fortuna (few miles away from eureka) to san francisco, i realize that America's train system sucks.

just for me to go to san francisco, they require 10 hours of my time. i leave fortuna at 7am, take a thruway bus that picks up passengers on almost every exit, and reach martinez 1.20pm. i wait until 3pm to take the train. i get on the train for 20mins, get off at emeryville. and take another bus that brings us to san francisco!

now tell me, who would enjoy that trip when you could travel straight 5 hours by car? just imagine the time i could've saved!

i am not complaining, though. =D it's just that i didn't have another option to get back home. and Uncle Sam ought to do something about the railroad system. am just glad that i had a blast in the redwood country!

let go

i fear that i might become attached to my new laptop again.

i lost my old one when someone broke into our house and stole it together with 4 other cellphones.

little pleasures in life:

- strolling along NYC and not knowing where to go
- Mexican musicians performing and singing on the T platform in Boston
- unplanned detour to Treasure Island: night view of San Francisco
- waiting at CSU east bay and surrounded by Music students practicing: trombone ensemble
- being put to sleep by classical music on altec lansing speakers
- hiking at Rohner Park and being towered by redwood trees
- getting some shut eye in an airport while waiting for my connecting flight
- being served fresh fruits in a stranger's home while recovering from the flu
- eating ice cream on a cold day
- wireless surfing in coffee shops
- discovering a new way of diverting from my usual route
- wearing bright colored above-the-knee peacoats
- crossing bridges by foot
- neck scarf on a chilly day
- purchasing airline tickets online
- witnessing hail
- munching on my trail mix while hiking
- strolling along parks in gdl and in the us
- drinking calimocho (red wine and cola)
- salsa dancing with local Mexicans
- chatting with French men in Mexico
- hearing a small church service in espanyol
- playing the piano and singing in Filipino for my Mexican host family
- sour drinks: Mexican Tejuino, Columbian Lulo
- skipping lunch to catch sunlight

what consumes you?

the downside of purchasing airfare tickets in advance is that it consumes you.

while still on vacation last December 2006, i already booked my 3-week getaway to Malaysia (covering peninsular malaysia, borneo--sarawak & sabah, and a side trip to Singapore and Brunei). lately, i wake up in the morning wondering what day of March it is.

then i realize: it's just January.

i fear i'm missing out on my 'now's just thinking of my 'tomorrow's. *sigh*

last week, Air Asia announced giving out 1,000,000 FREE seats. it is enticing.

but honestly, the thought of mapping out an October in Angkor Wat can be exhausting.