Most people don't go into deep reflections after they travel. Then again, most work-a-day career people have not transitioned into a place where travel is a central part of their lives. As Wife and I have pursued this passion for travel over the last 13 years, we have tended to come back from each trip with a range of thoughts, reflections, and revelations. We've reflected on the actual travel process and our preferences related to it. We've analyzed what we liked, and didn't like so we could adjust what we would do in the future. Our travels have affected how we look at our life as a whole, and what we might want to do over the last years of our life.
When we began this trip, I wanted to do a refresh of my photography. So I decided to go back to posts from prior trips where we'd worked with photographers. This morphed into rereading every travel post I've made since we started this era of travel! It has been quite enlightening. Our ability to forget the past, or maybe our need to forget the mass of past detail in order to have enough brain power for the present is rather amazing. As I reviewed all the past 'navel gazing' posts, I was amazed at how rather consistent we've been. Sure we've changed due to aging's reduction of capabilities. But, the major themes that have weaved their way in our travel experiences have stayed relatively constant.
So with that revelation to start with, let's start gazing at that navel (breathe in slowly...fill your lungs...let your breath out slowly...watch it leave you...)
While Looking for Xanadu, It Really Is About the Process
When we started this long-travel lifestyle, our initial focus was on how to do things. There was a lot written on the mechanics of what worked and didn't work related to going to and from places (air, train, car, packaged, accommodations, etc.). As we become more experienced, we focused more on our physical ability to continue doing things the way we had as we aged (see next section below). Then Covid hit and we made a major shift exploring if we even wanted to live in the U.S. at all. Ultimately, we found that wouldn't work for us. But we did want to find places where we could stay for longer periods. To date we've only found one, El Campello, Spain.
We are still looking. This trip didn't unveil any winners in SE Asia. But ultimately, it is as much about the process as it is the result. It is the process that takes us to new places. It is the process that keeps us active physically and mentally. Yes, we do hope to find other places we can go and 'just hang', but it is not the end of the world if we don't because it is the entire process that keeps us going.
We Haven't Actually Changed That Much. We Just Go Slower
As I mostly make blog posts about what we do as opposed to what we don't do, you would read the entries from this trip and conclude that Wife and I haven't changed that much at all. We're running around. Visiting this place and that. Doing our photographic thing. Learning. Dealing with various challenges associated with getting around in a different culture.
But that's not really true. Because the number of those active days compared to the number of rest days has completely reversed. Whereas even as late as 2022 we might have spent 70% of our days doing stuff and 30% resting and recuperating, on this trip we were spending at a minimum 50% of our time with rest days. And we are both good with it. It's what we need to do if we want to continue traveling like this.
And we are showing restraint during our days out. For example, when we visited the Big Buddha on Phuket. Earlier versions of ourselves would have absolutely climbed to the upper level. Wife and I both said, "No way," this time. It was going to be too hard on our body.
Traveling With Family - The Challenges and the Rewards
Over the last year or so, there has been a growing group consciousness among our children and ourselves that our time together is short. Not to be morbid, but their is the reality of the age one is. This has led to a much more active intention to get together. As the family is spread over the world, this implies finding ways to travel so we can be together.
But as I'm sure anyone with family would understand, there are a host of coordination issues dealing with different communication styles, personal preferences, and values. This naturally leads to challenges and tensions. However, I think, overall, we, as a family, handle these relatively well. It is not that people don't get frustrated or loose their cool. It is that I think we've learned how to move ourselves back from these situations and recognize them for what they are.
And I will just say, from a personal standpoint, seeing my girls, their husbands, and children as much as we can is still a priority and a joy...even with the challenges.
Why We Love Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, calls to us in way that many other places (like Austria for example) do not. It certainly is not because of the weather. I mean we are happy to miss out on winter weather back home, but temperatures in the 90's to the 100's with blazing sun and high humidity is not exactly ideal. So what's the attraction?
Well, first is the overall vibe. And with this I'm not quite sure how exactly to describe it. But there is a general friendliness and acceptance.There doesn't appear (at least in our experience) to be a lot of jealousy and envy that one gets going to certain cultures. It is just a comfortable environment to be in. There is a positive energy (at least to us).
Second, we have found it (at least for the places we visit) incredibly easy to get around and get chores like shopping done due to the ease and reliability of the Grab rideshare and delivery system. Knowing this system, which is the same in Thailand and Malaysia, our two primary visit locales, means a minimum of 'figuring things out' when we return.
Third, the food is amazing. It is rare for us to have a meal we think is really bad (though you do deal with cultural differences such as the way the butcher meat leading to pieces in your food that you scratch your head trying to identify).
And fourth, and not least at all is the cost. Everything, and I mean almost everything, is a fraction of the cost in the United States. Wife and I for the 10 days we were in Johor Bahru spent one quarter of the amount we spent in Margaret River for the same period of time. Since the air transportation cost is about the same as going to Europe, we can make our travel budget stretch much further going to SE Asia.
Why No Winners This Trip?
Our two test locations were the Rawai area of Phuket, Thailand, and the city of Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
While we liked our home in Rawai (it was way quiet and the pool was just what we wanted), Phuket, in general, and Rawai, in particular, were simply way too touristy. Even getting across the main street Rawai was a challenge and there was virtually no where to just take a walk.
JB actually had the walking that I had hoped to find. And we had great walk to conveniences in the way of supermarkets and restaurants. The problem is the city is not that attractive. We'd hoped facing the Strait that separates Malaysia from Singapore would provide that waterfront cityscape ambiance we love (like what El Campello has) if we're going to stay in a location for a while. Instead the water front was just drab.
Confirmation of Just How Important Travel Is to My Well-Being
I have commented on this many, many times in my past navel-gazing posts. Travel keeps us going. It forces us, in a positive way, to stay flexible, to be upbeat attitude problem solvers. It puts us in situations where we are on our feet and moving much, much than our day-to-day life does at home. Yes, we have to be much more conscious of our overall physical abilities, and be super careful on our trips back to home to not get exhausted and sick. But both of us have had major therapeutic recoveries from our travels...Wife recovering from her blood clot and foot injury, me from my massive asthma attack and gout flare-up. In both cases, our trips proved to be the environment that allowed us to work our way back to strength.
But Don't Underestimate the Power of the Home Bed and Shower
Having said all these positive things about our traveling, I must admit, home has something that is quite essential for our well-being as well. Our beds and our showers. Our beds have been tweaked over the years to give us the best support for all our physical ailments, and the quality and quantity of the hot water our showers provide, is a luxury you truly appreciate after experiencing the seemingly innumerable variations on hard beds and pillows, poor bedding, and showers whose water flow can be erratic, low, and tepid. And I miss my wine too!
Conclusion - Keeping on Trucking
So we have every intention of keeping this life style going. We know it's going to end. Some event is going to take away our ability to travel like we do. It is inevitable. But we thought some of the things we've already experience were those events. They haven't been. So ElderFleet Command has the Eldership still active in service and has new missions being charted as I write this post. Stay tuned.
