Friday, May 13, 2005
Backpacker
"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
- Miriam Beard
On the wall of my room, there is a map of the world. I bought it when I first came back from the U.S. It covers nearly the entire wall, and is always threatening to fall down from its weight. On it are marked various crosses in different colors, each representing a place which I've been to, yet to go or am going to. Looking at these places, I can say that I have certainly travelled the off beaten path. Some of the more interesting spots marked on the map includes Timor Leste (formerly East Timor), New Caledonia and Johannesburg. Not your typical Decemember school holidays destinations.
It is unsure when exactly the traveling bug really bite in ernest. However, to satisfy that human urging to clearly identify a starting point, one can certainly point to a two month period in 1999 and safely say, "This is where it began." That is not strictly true because I am pretty sure the rough plans for my dream trip certainly began its gestation in my head when I first read about the crusades in secondary school. For that matter, I vaguely remember talking about a backpacking manifesto with certain classmates outlining our definations for backpack, acceptable accomodations and activities as well as daily budgetary limits. But two things stood out for that trip in 1999:
1. It was the first time I traveled on an international passport.
2. It was the furthest I had been from Singapore then.
That was a beggining and as beginnings went, it was a good beginning. I was in a foreign country, exposed to new things, experincing new sights and exploring my nascent photographic needs. I had funny experiences and tragic ones in the same place, occuring within minutes of each other. I seen things which I had only understood on a conceptual level from what I had gleaned from books, but was woely unprepared to take in in real life. That in particular, struck me hard, as a young man still trying to find his way in the world.
More on this in the days to come. ¶ 10:51:00 am
- Miriam Beard
On the wall of my room, there is a map of the world. I bought it when I first came back from the U.S. It covers nearly the entire wall, and is always threatening to fall down from its weight. On it are marked various crosses in different colors, each representing a place which I've been to, yet to go or am going to. Looking at these places, I can say that I have certainly travelled the off beaten path. Some of the more interesting spots marked on the map includes Timor Leste (formerly East Timor), New Caledonia and Johannesburg. Not your typical Decemember school holidays destinations.
It is unsure when exactly the traveling bug really bite in ernest. However, to satisfy that human urging to clearly identify a starting point, one can certainly point to a two month period in 1999 and safely say, "This is where it began." That is not strictly true because I am pretty sure the rough plans for my dream trip certainly began its gestation in my head when I first read about the crusades in secondary school. For that matter, I vaguely remember talking about a backpacking manifesto with certain classmates outlining our definations for backpack, acceptable accomodations and activities as well as daily budgetary limits. But two things stood out for that trip in 1999:
1. It was the first time I traveled on an international passport.
2. It was the furthest I had been from Singapore then.
That was a beggining and as beginnings went, it was a good beginning. I was in a foreign country, exposed to new things, experincing new sights and exploring my nascent photographic needs. I had funny experiences and tragic ones in the same place, occuring within minutes of each other. I seen things which I had only understood on a conceptual level from what I had gleaned from books, but was woely unprepared to take in in real life. That in particular, struck me hard, as a young man still trying to find his way in the world.
More on this in the days to come. ¶ 10:51:00 am
