Getting used to Canada is a hassle.
No Tuk Tuk drivers to bargain with, no friendly local Thai to return my smile, and no attractive backpacker or local ladies around.
Everyone I meet seems to be fascinated by the fact that I actually took time from my comfortable Canadian life to travel in a different country. Is it so difficult to imagine yourself traveling? Sure you might have to get used to the language barrier, smells, scams, and the occasional mafia but if I can do it anybody else can do it.
I am not a different person in any aspect. I am just a regular guy that used to have a regular job with regular western desires (money, girls, power, girls, etc...). Please don't give me credit for spending my money on a trip that I wanted to go on.
After describing some of the places that I have been to on my journey and telling them stories of my experiences there the usual reply that I receive is "Wow, I wish I could do that". The truth is everybody I know can do what I did and probably more. It does not take a prodigy to travel in foreign lands. I've met ladies (who are BTW very admirable and brave not to mention hot) who risked rape, murder, robbery, and many other none pleasant things of travel to experience India - known to be one of the toughest places to backpack.
Please quit telling me that you wish. As I have quoted in my past entry "You are never given a wish without the power to fulfill it".
As for my stories, perhaps I should charge $$ as I am currently out of a job...
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Oh Canada..
Back home after 23 hours of flight, 10 hours in transit, and 3 crappy movies.
Things haven't changed much since I took off to SE Asia 2 months ago. Everyone working the same job, everyone with the same blank look on their faces, everyone slaving away for their piece of the "American Dream".
Why do we work the same job that we dislike?
For family? So that they can have the little piece of scrap left of you after you give yourself to the will of your betters for 8 hours?
For Happiness? Every country that I visited in SE Asia as very little middle class. And even though I would claim that the general populace is happier than the average north american, the happiest of the bunch was always found far from "civilization"; far from cities, in the remotest parts of the country with barely any material goods other than a home, food grown from the earth, and the water that either comes down in rain or hauled away from nearby rivers. Same people, same needs, different standards. Their smiles were the most kind, generous, authentic, self giving, audacious, and warm enough to melt the polar ice cap. They are happy by just being happy. Most Canadians I know have to tell themselves that they are happy.
For money? Is money the be all and end-all of our civilization? Must we give up our God given rights in order to make money?
For $24 an hour I gave up my freedom of speech and forgot the fact that I am honest and authentic. I was let go because I called 1 customer who was in fact lazy a "lazy ass". This was on the second day that I arrived in Canada.
I am free.
Things haven't changed much since I took off to SE Asia 2 months ago. Everyone working the same job, everyone with the same blank look on their faces, everyone slaving away for their piece of the "American Dream".
Why do we work the same job that we dislike?
For family? So that they can have the little piece of scrap left of you after you give yourself to the will of your betters for 8 hours?
For Happiness? Every country that I visited in SE Asia as very little middle class. And even though I would claim that the general populace is happier than the average north american, the happiest of the bunch was always found far from "civilization"; far from cities, in the remotest parts of the country with barely any material goods other than a home, food grown from the earth, and the water that either comes down in rain or hauled away from nearby rivers. Same people, same needs, different standards. Their smiles were the most kind, generous, authentic, self giving, audacious, and warm enough to melt the polar ice cap. They are happy by just being happy. Most Canadians I know have to tell themselves that they are happy.
For money? Is money the be all and end-all of our civilization? Must we give up our God given rights in order to make money?
For $24 an hour I gave up my freedom of speech and forgot the fact that I am honest and authentic. I was let go because I called 1 customer who was in fact lazy a "lazy ass". This was on the second day that I arrived in Canada.
I am free.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Luang Prabang
The most relaxing city that I have been to on my trip so far..
Luang Prabang still has the french colonial atmosphere with the baguette sandwiches and awesome cups of coffee in every single cafe. The coffee in Luang Prabang is unlike any other coffee served in any other part of the world. It is so strong that it is served with a water chaser so the caffeine does not damage the drinker's stomach.
I came here to stay for 2 days and ended up staying for 5. Never in my life have I spent an entire day just chilling at the local cafe reading news paper, drinking coffee, and watching the locals and the tourists go by.
It's as if time refuses to add the usual urgency that one can feel in the big cities of developed countries.
I fell in love with Luang Prabang...
"You are never given a wish without the power to fulfill it. However, you may have to work hard." - Illusions
Luang Prabang still has the french colonial atmosphere with the baguette sandwiches and awesome cups of coffee in every single cafe. The coffee in Luang Prabang is unlike any other coffee served in any other part of the world. It is so strong that it is served with a water chaser so the caffeine does not damage the drinker's stomach.
I came here to stay for 2 days and ended up staying for 5. Never in my life have I spent an entire day just chilling at the local cafe reading news paper, drinking coffee, and watching the locals and the tourists go by.
It's as if time refuses to add the usual urgency that one can feel in the big cities of developed countries.
I fell in love with Luang Prabang...
"You are never given a wish without the power to fulfill it. However, you may have to work hard." - Illusions
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