Travel The Hangar Travel Thread

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Howard Moon said:
good stuff, its an awesome looking place! cant believe its 3 hours away and ive never been
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I bet the fact that it's only three hours away is exactly why you've never been. It's why a lot haven't been.

It's so close, and I suppose, quite similar to Australia, so people always take it for granted that they will get there eventually. And keep putting it off in favour of more exotic destinations.
 
so, to long term readers of this thread, some would know i've been attempting to write a travel memoir (find it awkward calling it a book as im not exactly a writer)

ive been stewing over this thing for near on 4 years, its my own Chinese democracy. The thing i have been really struggling with is an ending. Its easy enough to cobble together a bunch of stories, but to give it a narrative and a flow and an ending that dosent sound cheesy or cliche is something ive really struggled with.

With my son double breaking his leg thus handing me a couple of months of long service leave i took the opportunity to finally try and finish this thing. After around 5 aborted ending sequences i have finally settled on one - damn its hard to do without sounding cheesy/knowall/elitist/idealist/travel snobist!

Anyhow the narrative of the story has my passport expiring and me being upset about it, recounting the tales as i flick through the passport - so the ending has me reaching the final stamp while aboard my flight home (original i know) and trying to some up what my travels have done for/to me.

Im kind of ok with it but could use a second or third opinion i guess!

guess i could post it here if anyone wants to try run their eye over it? would be a longish post though 2500 words maybe, maybe cant even post that big anyway.
 

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ok here goes! (eeeek)

As I flick open the final passport page I see an exit stamp from South Africa. Here you find me sitting in a cramped garish yellow economy seat of my Singapore Airlines flight to Melbourne but I’ve somehow still got a smile on my face. How could I not? Sitting uncomfortably at 30 000 feet in the strange compressed air haze; reminiscing about the past ten years of my life through each and every ink mark on this Passport. I’m up here in a form of life limbo. Behind me lies ten of the best years of my life, ahead of me lies a pregnant fiancé and the start of a completely new life. I know I’ll be swapping travel bags for eye bags but I started travelling for the adventure and to explore the unknown, which I assume is totally what being a father will be to me. So bring on the next challenge!

It’s easy to be revisionist about your travels, as time goes by your experiences all meld into a haze of greatness; the more time passes the better your experiences seemed to be. I am going to make sure I always keep them in perspective and always remember those horrendous sleepless nights in the tropics lying on flea bitten mattresses under humidity so thick that it weighed you down. The only thing getting you through the night was the prospect of the fan oscillating your way on its endless squeaky semicircular journey.

Its times like those you yearned to be back at home in your own bed. Or the times you lugged 20kg of backpack for half an hour along a road toward a hostel that was supposed to be walking distance which was now a factory. Or those times that inadvertently you didn’t feel safe or put yourself at risk. These are pursuits you undertake when the only person you need to care about is yourself. Do I really want to continue this kind of lifestyle when I have a progeny to care for? When I started this book I was devastated to be losing my passport but maybe it is coming at the perfect time. Maybe that volume of my life needs to be a closed book so I can start on the next.

Besides we could go back to each of these countries and try to recapture the times we had there but they will never again happen. You can revisit the country but you can never get that moment in time back again. This passport has been a moment in time to be locked away. Times to be looked back on and think that was fun, I’m glad we did it but never again!

I suppose this is where I am meant to say that travel has formed me, made me who I am. But has it? Has it actually given me anything other than an awesome pub trivia pedigree? Or a set of stories that have non travellers eyes glazing over within seconds of them beginning? Well if there’s one thing that a long haul flight gives you it’s time to think so I’m quite certain that by the time we touch down in Melbourne I’ll have thought about it in every possible detail and will have a succinct answer to tell everybody when they inevitably ask that question at my home coming.

I have always had this theory that a boy has two defining periods in his life; life changing moments if you will. The first arrives about the age of 13; and no, it’s not puberty. It’s the first time he ever hears Led zeppelin or Pink Floyd. He just sits there in awe with a gaping jaw as a whole new world of possibilities opens up to him. He thought music was just what his parents listened to on the radio, but now there is this!

There is no turning back as the boy cuts off the first tethers from his parents and goes off alone on search of real music. He obsesses over it, learns all the bands and their songs and their back catalogues. Mum was right to keep the Floyd or the Zep from his son, because this is the beginning of the end of their little child. Psychedelia opens the mind like no other!

Then moment two happens sometime in the late teens/early twenties. The young man who only ever went on holidays with his parents goes on a first overseas trip alone. Again his mind gapes open at the possibilities! For all this time he thought a holiday was a week down the beach with the family, now there’s this! Literally a whole world of possibilities! With this second moment the boy casts aside the last shreds of reliance on his parents (unless he runs out of money) and is his own man. When he comes back, If he comes back; he will have learnt his first set of teachings that didn’t come from his parents or school.

Of course not everybody has these two life steps, there are a whole lot of people who for whatever reason have never left the country (or have never heard of Led Zeppelin) and they are perfectly happy. This gets me to thinking what I would be like if I had not have travelled, this may be a clue to assist me getting closer to an answer to my question; has travel made me who I am today?

I struggle to rip open the top of my second bag of airline peanuts with my greasy peanut fingers as I ponder this one. This miniature can of cola is nowhere near enough to quench my rasping thirst up here, Maybe I shouldn’t have indulged in those Singapore slings upon boarding. As I sip my beverage from its miniature glass, serviette still stuck to the bottom it occurs to me that it’s easy to become insular if you have never left your own country. All of life’s problems exist within your own countries borders, or even your city. Seeing the little starving boy in Africa on the TV is a problem that’s way too far away and way too difficult to even ponder, it’s just easier to block it out and wait for your TV show to return from the ad break.

Nationalism doesn’t sit well with me. Nationalism is like a cancer, it separates people; by this I mean it makes you less likely to take an interest or care about the plight of somebody just because they were born over the other side of an
imaginary line from you. It seems a bit rich to chest beat and support the spit of land you happened to be born on with the passion and vigour of your football team. We are all people, all citizens of the world. I’m all for patriotism however, by all means be proud of your country as I am proud of mine.

I’m not suggesting erasing the national identities of countries, I’m against a one world system ruled by a tyrannical government as much as the next conspiracy nut; I’m just an idealist who believes we are all equal. Just flesh and blood. John Winston Lennon sang it best: ‘imagine there’s no countries; no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man’ Or maybe Einstein too had it right: Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. I think travel can only assist in opening one’s eyes to these opinions.

Once I’d travelled I had this epiphany and realised how small the world really is, we are just in the corner of a global community. Any countries problem is a world problem and we all have a responsibility to care and do what we can. As an extension of this I believe I have become a more tolerant person courtesy of my travels. How can you not have respect for all people when you meet them on your daily travels and realise we are all just the same? The system has somehow made it feel normal that you can feel alone on a planet containing 8 billion people, but if you strip back to your basic human emotions we are all just brothers and sisters.

Before this descends into a cliché fest I’ll end by saying travel has also allowed me the feeling that I think I can get myself out of any situation. After squeezing ourselves out of some of the things we did abroad, anything that life can throw at me now is no problem. So it seems that thanks to travel I have become a more tolerant, resourceful, open minded person. I guess this means my question has been answered, Travel hasn’t made me as a person but it has made me a better version of myself. I am still the same portrait but instead of being in monochrome I’m now in vivid colour. Before travelling I had never written anything longer than a shopping list so this book in itself should be evidence enough of personal growth.

I finally relax and try to put myself to sleep in the pure relief at getting this life poser out of my mind. As the out of proportion plane on the Singapore airlines route map hovers over the Bay of Bengal I wrestle with the small blanket to try and cover my toes, my mind races at a million miles an hour as it fights for sleep. Have you ever wondered the difference between English and Europeans? Europeans are so confident and sure of themselves, they have been for two thousand years whereas the English are always out to prove that the little boy can match it with the rest. This is reflected in a simple way. Have you noticed that the English finish sentences or demands with a questioning yeh? Even though they are telling you something they are still asking for your vindication. Whereas a European ends their sentence or demand with no? “I am a very good looking man, no?” he says no, and it’s your duty to prove him wrong.

That right there is the triviality that goes through my mind as I try to sleep on a long haul flight. I hope we get there soon, my back is in agony and my brain is in knots! I give up on sleep and get to thinking again; the inflight entertainment doesn’t do it for me, too many options. Too many options so I just end up flicking through them all instead of seeing one right through. This is poignant and reminds me precisely of my life at this very moment. If there is regret that I have it’s not owning my own home; I’ve basically flicked through parts of movies for the past ten years instead of sitting down to one and watching it properly. Maybe If I had I would have my own home with a white picket fence for security as we speak; instead I have ten years of memories that a simple head knock could instantly remove.

Recently by email some of my home owner friends labelled me the moth, they say that I get attracted by the bright lights of life and am always flying towards them. I was at pains to prove that I am the opposite of a moth. The moth cocoons itself at home to become a new being, a better being. Whereas I spread my wings and fly abroad to better myself and to come back an updated model. Life without ambition is stagnant; it could also be described as a rut. Some people are happy in their little rut and I must confess it is slightly appealing to have a safe, sterile reliable existence.

But for some reason I find it exciting that my train could come off the rails at any moment, or my plane could drop from the sky. Instantly I feel the familiar drop in my stomach, we are losing altitude! My eyes quickly dart out the window, wings still there, engine not on fire, ahh; we have just began our descent. Time to buckle in for the last time in a while. Even after so many flights I still get nervous at take-off and landing.

Our plane touches town with a screech and I rub my sweaty palms on my thighs as I look out the window at the familiar yellow and black paint, antique tugs and ear muff wearing men but this time I know where we are. I am in Melbourne and its finally setting in, my exciting travelling days are over and my passport is done.

I sit on the train with my head bowed, depressed at the thought of spending evermore in Melbourne, just to make matters even more melancholy I place Sigur Ros onto my i-pod and leave my thumb on the volume button until it reaches max. I look around at the smattering of commuters in the carriage, all in their private personal miseries. Even though I don’t know them I feel their respective pains.

The train slows to the Flinders Street platform and spews me out; I look up the tracks ruefully envisaging the future mornings I’ll be doing this as a chore before work when I’m no longer living the dream. I trudge out towards the steps under the clocks with head bowed. Well here we are I think, back to mundanity! The dream is over. I take one step out and look up as the music in my ears reaches a crescendo of flutters and strings. A shiver rolls up my spine and my eyes well up as I see St Pauls in front of me and Fed Square to my right; and the MCG over there on the Yarra and the shrine up St Kilda road; Melbourne, I’m home! How I’ve missed thee! If I’m going to be stuck in any city this is the one for me!

When I think of all the things I took photos of during my travels it seems a shame that I neglected my own city all this time. The beautiful buildings and churches and parks, if they were overseas I would be taking photos of them but because I used to walk past these every day I guess they just blended into the drudgery. Just like Londoners walking past Big Ben without giving it a second glance I guess.

My depression has washed away instantly; I have not been in this city for an eternity, I’m basically entering a new city, a brand new city to explore. Especially with the way the hipsters are in Melbourne, a cool nightspot is only cool for a week til its rendered mainstream and for posers. So all the places I used to go to could be anything by now! I can’t wait to explore the city lanes and the new restaurants and bars. I’ve basically travelled to a new exciting city that I can explore and I don’t even need a passport or visa.

With this most exciting prospect in the front of my mind I zip my coat up tight around my neck to block out the bitter Melbourne winter and push my way past the faux Goths to my 96 tram. Next stop my pregnant fiancée Emma and my new life. I can’t wait to start our new lives and eventually start a new passport filling it with memories of our family and our new tales. Just try to get me not to smile on this one.
 
Howard Moon said:
open for any thoughts/criticisms although i guess the context of the preceding book may help!

just don't want to sound like something that's all been said before - if you know what i mean.
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Nice work mate. I'm guessing this hasn't been influenced by the overly descriptive editor?

Only thoughts is a personal preference is I don't like it when the word 'travel' is used as a noun, but not sure you have much choice.
So it seems that thanks to travel I have become a more tolerant, resourceful, open minded person.
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cheers mate

She was lost after 40 pages! Thank goodness...it's back to me warts and all now In the hope the personality aka writing flaws are endearing enough to get by

Good point on travel as a noun, never thought of it like that
 
Howard Moon said:
open for any thoughts/criticisms although i guess the context of the preceding book may help!

just don't want to sound like something that's all been said before - if you know what i mean.
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I wouldn't change anything really. Loved it.
 
Howard Moon said:
I’ve basically flicked through parts of movies for the past ten years instead of sitting down to one and watching it properly
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Great read. Thanks for posting. I know how hard it is not to be cliche when writing about traveling.

I can relate this the quoted part. Home (Melbourne) is the movie I could be watching yet I get too restless and feel the need to flick over to something different. I feel (or fear) that I will continue to travel until I meet someone and start a family, like you have. I don't think anything else would ever tie me down to Melbourne as I can't live here knowing what is out there. The fear of missing out. I don't want to settle here when there is country x or y that I haven't yet explored.

And even at 28 I don't want to settle down. Like you, the one regret I have is not owning my own home, but that isn't because I want to live in my own home, but rather that my traveling can't be funded by rental income.
 
Thanks for the confidence boost lads!

I was reading an article about a guy from perth who wrote a travel book and made an e-book on amazon, nek minnit hes top 3 on the best sellers list (above bear grills) and got picked up by print book stores.

http://www.busseltonmail.com.au/sto...being-above-bear-grylls-on-the-amazon-charts/

might just go down the ebook route and see what happens. Ive got this fanciful notion if i tell all my social media friends and family and former travel mates all at once they might all buy it and it could fluke the list for a week haha

ill keep you posted, happy to throw you a few pdf copies anyway for being guinea pigs
 
camsmith said:
Great read. Thanks for posting. I know how hard it is not to be cliche when writing about traveling.

I can relate this the quoted part. Home (Melbourne) is the movie I could be watching yet I get too restless and feel the need to flick over to something different. I feel (or fear) that I will continue to travel until I meet someone and start a family, like you have. I don't think anything else would ever tie me down to Melbourne as I can't live here knowing what is out there. The fear of missing out. I don't want to settle here when there is country x or y that I haven't yet explored.

And even at 28 I don't want to settle down. Like you, the one regret I have is not owning my own home, but that isn't because I want to live in my own home, but rather that my traveling can't be funded by rental income.
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its a tough one!

i mean we knew exactly what we were doing when we upped and left but i maintain that if its in your blood, nothing will stop you, a shitty trip once a year wont suffice.

So i knew we would come back and have certain regrets but i also knew deep down that if we did wait and buy a house first... once that first domino falls you are pretty much stuck.

there are some things you need to do while you are young and able, some experiences wont be had later in life.

I suppose best case scenario is to figure out while in school that this will happen and find a career accordingly!

To be truthful. as i tried to explain if i cant be travelling i suppose the bonus of not being a home owner is still being able to move house, move suburbs and have new experiences, like moving house is the pits i know that, i hate it! but its exciting and moves the rut around atleast...
 

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So, basic cab ride from Fiumicino to central Rome is basically the greatest, most hellraising rollercoaster ever.

Also I could have literally handed over Morgan Freeman's passport and it would've been stamped.
 
Lord Nicholson said:
So, basic cab ride from Fiumicino to central Rome is basically the greatest, most hellraising rollercoaster ever.

Also I could have literally handed over Morgan Freeman's passport and it would've been stamped.
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So people are not lying when they talk about how terrible Rome drivers are, huh?
 
George Washington said:
Why didnt you take the train? From memory it's a direct link.
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It was late, I was tired, and I bought a truckload of books in the UK so everything was heavy.

* kindle

Doss said:
So people are not lying when they talk about how terrible Rome drivers are, huh?
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Terrible? They're geniuses. They manage to operate in a world without rules and not die or kill people.
 
Been on a road trip from San Francisco, right through to the yucatan peninsula in Mexico for the last 3 months. If your looking for bad roads and worse drivers, take a drive in this part of the world. Been surfing, diving and drinking and its been amazing. Time to start heading north again, up to Holbox, Campeche then hug the east cost and inland to St Louis Potosi for a peyote binge then into the states in a week or so.

Last night i found a flight from New York to Norway for $150 USD. Naturally, i booked them without thinking. Now ive got 25 days to make it from Playa Del Carmen to NYC, just a lazy 5000km. Nothing too serious.
 
Spud Patrol said:
Been on a road trip from San Francisco, right through to the yucatan peninsula in Mexico for the last 3 months. If your looking for bad roads and worse drivers, take a drive in this part of the world. Been surfing, diving and drinking and its been amazing. Time to start heading north again, up to Holbox, Campeche then hug the east cost and inland to St Louis Potosi for a peyote binge then into the states in a week or so.

Last night i found a flight from New York to Norway for $150 USD. Naturally, i booked them without thinking. Now ive got 25 days to make it from Playa Del Carmen to NYC, just a lazy 5000km. Nothing too serious.
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i trust tulum was your favorite spot and the chicken bus was your preffered transportation?
 
Was actually down in Tulum today, dived a couple of cenotes in "El Pit" and "Angelika". To be fair i have previously travelled South America extensively maybe 6 years ago and central about 3 years ago and it's fair to say that this part of Mexico may as well be considered South Miami now. It's blown up, prices have blown out and with the AUD, CAD and EUR so amazingly s**t at the moment, the majority of "travellers" here are Americans, which is cool what ever, but we all know how that ends up. FREEDOM!

Got a car here, i always found that especially Mexico, buses were the main cost of living over here. Ive got a good friend ive caught up with all around the world and in a spur of the moment move, after being back in Australia(After timing my run to see us in the 2nd round of finals last year.....) for 6 weeks i found a flight to San Fran for 800 return, booked it and my mate said he'd drive down from Canada and pick me up, start the road trip. Moving tomorrow up to Uxmal to see some more ruins which should be some form of culture. Really looking forward to the states now.

Got the flight in 3.5 weeks from NYC so we atleast have a timeline now. Just going to park the car up and hope it gets stolen, insurance money would be great right now.
 
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Spud Patrol said:
Was actually down in Tulum today, dived a couple of cenotes in "El Pit" and "Angelika". To be fair i have previously travelled South America extensively maybe 6 years ago and central about 3 years ago and it's fair to say that this part of Mexico may as well be considered South Miami now. It's blown up, prices have blown out and with the AUD, CAD and EUR so amazingly s**t at the moment, the majority of "travellers" here are Americans, which is cool what ever, but we all know how that ends up. FREEDOM!

Got a car here, i always found that especially Mexico, buses were the main cost of living over here. Ive got a good friend ive caught up with all around the world and in a spur of the moment move, after being back in Australia(After timing my run to see us in the 2nd round of finals last year.....) for 6 weeks i found a flight to San Fran for 800 return, booked it and my mate said he'd drive down from Canada and pick me up, start the road trip. Moving tomorrow up to Uxmal to see some more ruins which should be some form of culture. Really looking forward to the states now.

Got the flight in 3.5 weeks from NYC so we atleast have a timeline now. Just going to park the car up and hope it gets stolen, insurance money would be great right now.
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i think i was there in 08 so i guess it was a while ago, the beach cabanas were still like $3 a night or something stupid. But i never was around for spring break so didnt see too many americans. I heard they were all in costa rica and the belezian cayes back then.

I reckon Bolivia is the great jewel of sth america, gets so little press but loved it to bits.
 
Bolivia is by far the best backpacker appealing destination and my favorite country in the world. So diverse. Food sucks, but the activities are incredible. Salt flats, death road, san pedro jail, route 36, potosi. It's got it all, that and some great party hostels.
 
Spud Patrol said:
Bolivia is by far the best backpacker appealing destination and my favorite country in the world. So diverse. Food sucks, but the activities are incredible. Salt flats, death road, san pedro jail, route 36, potosi. It's got it all, that and some great party hostels.
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glad we are in agreeance!

but every half bit tv show has a bolivia special now, the jungle, they drive the death road, across the salt flats - itll catch on i suppose.

Hows that S$%t hole Uyuni..... we nearly got stuck there on a petrol strike, had to bribe our way onto the last bus. I was getting heart flutters at the thought of being stuck there a week!
 
Howard Moon said:
glad we are in agreeance!

but every half bit tv show has a bolivia special now, the jungle, they drive the death road, across the salt flats - itll catch on i suppose.

Hows that S$%t hole Uyuni..... we nearly got stuck there on a petrol strike, had to bribe our way onto the last bus. I was getting heart flutters at the thought of being stuck there a week!
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Haha, dude what year were you there? Think my first venture into South America would of been 2007/2008

We got stuck in Uyuni for 3 days waiting for a suitable group to do the 4x4 tour with, it was taking so long we ended up jumping in with 6 Israeli's and it was a nightmare, I've never heard so much complaining! To bide some time, we did a couple of horse riding treks, i think down in Salta across the border we had this awesome day expedition in Cafayate now that was unreal! I forgot about Ruenebarque as well, where we attacked the amazon on a 7 day trek, now that was some hard work.

I actually did get stuck in La Paz as all the bus drivers went on strike because yes, you guessed it, the tried to introduce alcohol testing for the drivers! Coming from a country like Australia you forget how backwards a lot of Latin America, and esentially most of the the third world us. Makes it all the more interesting though.

As far as backpacking go's, South America is the pinnacle. I'm a bit over the whole chicken buses, lugging back packs. I generally go places and live these days. Last year was Thailand, this was meant to be Mexico but im not feeling it. Think i'll head to Cambodia then finish up in Indo, unless of course our boys are up and about and the yearly pilgrimage back to Melbourne mid September will be back on the cards.
 
Yep It was 08 too, we came from San Pedro, up over the mountains in a 4wd, then over the salar ect and reached uryini to find the strike, reckon it was June. Same strike?

By this point we had refined our travelling to a day pack each so I didn't mind busses still. Spent a lot of time in san cristobel in mex tho, such a backpacker spot hey
 
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