Regarding my Absence

I’ve been absent from writing here for a bit. It’s not that I’ve been lazy or slacking off – well, maybe a little, depending on one’s perspective. It’s just that we’ve been travelling, and I blogged the trip. I wondered for a while whether anyone would notice or not, and was pleasantly surprised when at least two people not my mother wrote about it.

For better or worse, it’s encouraging enough to make me start again.

My original intent was to keep this up at the same time. After all, newspapers and all the other media is available online now, so I figured I could skim through, get the highlights, think about my topic and still stay on top of current events enough to have something to say.

I discovered it doesn’t work that way, though. The allure of the Palaces in Thailand, or the ruins of Angor Wat in Cambodia proved to more of a draw than the local newspaper. The longer I was away, the less I found that I cared about the local issues which seemed so important – and are, in their own way – but which are for the most part irrelevant in the greater scheme of both life and the world.

This is one of the reasons that we travel. It helps you put things in perspective, it gives you the opportunity to take a step back and recognize that it’s probably not the end of the world if your candidate isn’t elected, or a rezoning happens up the street and it bothers people.

Instead, you have a chance away from all the normal routines to sit and contemplate, to feel the ebb and flow of humanity as you enjoy your morning coffee or tea. You get to see the routines of others as an observer, and then to decide whether or not you should adopt some of their practices or examine similar ones in your own life and make adjustments.

Somewhere we picked up the phrase that, “Travel is an enriching experience, particularly when viewed with the benefit of hindsight.” We’ve had a little over a week of “hindsight” now, and wouldn’t change a thing about it. Even the “disasters” of travel – like plugging your shaver into a 220 outlet the second day out, or being unable to link your phone up to the local telephone system, or having a reaction to something you ate that you can’t seem to shake all just becomes part of the adventure, especially when examined from your own bed with your own blankie.

So I’m back, for good or ill, until the next adventure takes us away from home.