Into the Great Unknown, Again

Tomorrow morning we leave for a month - well, 24 days, but whose really counting - in Europe and North Africa. Travel is definately a bug that I caught young, and its something that I can't quite explain how. We never went anywhere far flung on family vacations, usually because we couldn't afford it either financially or time wise. I was always the kid reading the folk tales from far off places instead of contemporary childrens fiction, which in the '90s was dominated by Goosbumps and Sweet Valley High. Since my first trip abroad in 1998, this will be my seventh international flight to three new countries.  Once I get back from a trip, the wanderlust is sated for maybe a month, and then I'll be already idly planning the next trip. It has become a matter of pride in a way, being able to refute others misinformed comments about the world at large and point out where their own cultural biases lay. Anything from belief in elves in Iceland (you can't prove that they don't exist!) to Ethiopian Orthodox fasting, which for the devout totals 250 days a year, the world is full of diverse practices and beliefs, and it would be beneficial for us to be exposed to these different ways of seeing. It encourages you to reevaluate all that you deems as natural and inalienable and see just how much we take for granted.





Gilbert Chesterton

There are many great and inspiring quotes on the web about travel, but one that seems to speak to me is by the English writer Gilbert Chesterton: "The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." How true it is that something a simple as a free potable drinking fountain can be overlooked on your way out of the country and rejoiced over on your way back in. To see the land you live in a little differently, not as an outsider persay but to see how the rest of the world sees you. It seems like as one from the United States we always expect the worst from the rest of the world, and are fittingly not surprised when a dictator comes to power or an internal sect of people are oppressed.  The rest of the world, on the other hand, expects the best from the US and are disappointed when we fail to meet the high expectations, such as the debacle that is Iraq post-Hussein, or Guantanemo - the infamous black stain on our human rights record.

We were in Egypt in February 2009, just after the inaguration of Barack Obama. Everywhere we went people would ask us questions about politics trying to get a feel for how our new president was viewed in country, as they clearly had disdane for the previous one.  They would ask questions about Sen. McCain, and would tell us how happy they were that Obama won the election and that Americans had come to visit and that not all muslims are terrorists. They had this sense of renewed hope in the United States, like we had been knocked down in their esteem and had now been catapulted back into the stratosphere. When we asked questions back about how they felt about their president, Hosni Mubarak, they had an enigmatical answer - he doesn't make war and we like that. If the best you can say about your leader is that he doesn't provoke the neighboring countries, there are clearly some other issues afoot.

This impending trip promises a whole new lot of surprises and memorable experiences. I, for one, hope to see goats in trees, and drink copious amount of mint tea.  I'm tempted to go to a hammam, but so far no takers in the group and I don't want to go alone. We've been planning this trip for almost nine months, so keeping my expectations at bay has been tricky. Nothing is worse that spending all that time and money to be thoroughly disappointed due to your own overshot expectations. That's how Venice was for me the first time. On the second go around, because my experience had sunk it so low, I had a wonderful time. So we'll see. Let the latest journey begin!