Vagabond Vagrant

There is always a general feel of a suspension of time when I’m travelling. Other than the obvious morning/night factors, one suddenly ignores the importance of dates, of days. It matters not that you’re travelling on Sundays or Mondays, except when you have to deal with officials of the country, such as in Laos when we had to pay an ‘overtime’ fee of 5000kip when we were exiting the country on a Saturday.

There was also a sudden isolation from the world’s ongoing events – like a mental bubble wrapping me tightly that made me incredible ignorant of what’s happening out there. I read no newspapers, watch no television (though I’m not entirely excluding television, I only watch telly – Thai B-grade dramas, dear god, without subtitles – whenever there happens to be a television wherever I’m sitting, be it in a guesthouse’s lounge, or at a shabby shack of a restaurant), and therefore, in a way I’m like a vagabond vagrant.

Essentially a vagrant, as Chris jestly called me as such yesterday on MSN.

Of course other than the country’s own political events that were made very obvious to us, such as in Thailand right now where elections are ongoing and they have posters and flyers posted everywhere, and a van with loudspeaker going around lambasting political messages in Thai, we are hardly aware of whether bombs are being launched somewhere in Israel or not. Lively political commentaries in Laos (as per the van with loudspeaker thing) is nearly non-existent considering that there is only one dominating party, and it’s a communist country.

Occasionally I forgot why I ever started travelling, but it always came back to me that experiencing another’s culture, meeting fellow travellers and to whom we made small talks with, wandering through cities and towns and villages and enjoy ourselves was why we did it in the first place – even if it means that we’re not visiting monuments and temples that were supposedly nice, but if we don’t like it, why force ourselves through a tour-like pace?

Backpacking is probably the best way ever to travel, there is no need to visit farms and plantations and factories (yawn) or temples (double yawn) if we don’t feel like it. In tours, there are always itineraries and time limitations that it’s annoying to not be able to do it your own way at your pace and liking.

A vagrant. Never really thought of it that way, but the way I’m travelling right now, I’m similar to a vagrant. Though of course when relaxing and entertainment during our travels come into question, I always have my handphone, my iPod (and Siew’s), and a nice book to read.

And speaking of book, just bought The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho from a second-hand bookshop. Looks relatively new, costs only 260baht, but after 30 pages of reading it, the writing and pace is a little dull.

Though vagabondage can’t be entirely fun if it stretches on to my entire lifespan. A month or two of wandering around through new never-visited places would be sufficient to break life’s dreadful monotony, because everyone has to have his or her foot planted firmly somewhere in the world and eventually.. settle down in our flow of life.

But as for now, it’s time for adventure, as the movies, comics, and books say.