Jetsetting
(The Fray - You Found Me)

Back in the cold winter of 1980, a young 4 year old Vietnamese boy arrived in cold, snowy Regina, Saskatchewan.

That was the last time I was in the eastern hemisphere. Growing up in a middle class family we never had much money to go on vacation. The furthest I was able to go was a 24 hr drive south to Dallas, TX. Ironically, I didn't step on a plane again after arriving in North America until my early 20's when I met a girl who was also living in TX.

Now while most of my friends are very "worldly" and have travelled all over, I've always kept my feet grounded wherever I called home. Mostly out of necessity. And it wasn't til the last few years that I've had a chance to expand my horizons with opportunities to travel for work, vacation and special occasions.

A few years ago I travelled to Hawaii for one of my best friends' wedding. I've been to California, Florida, Vancouver, Jamaica and Cuba for vacation. I've been to Arizona, Minneapolis, Massachusetts, New York and California for work. Next month I return back to the eastern hemisphere after 25+ years. I head to Johannesburg, South Africa for work in November and then shortly after that I head to Thailand for a 3 week belated honeymoon.

For most people, travelling to new countries and experiencing new cultures is exciting. For me, I find I'm somewhat indifferent to the experience. I don't know if it's just a matter of being so sheltered all my life or if I just don't have any legitimate interest in travelling.

So here are the top three things I like about travelling...

1) spending time with friends

The best part about spending time with your friends is that they make you forget about the things that stress you out. You can throw out your everyday inhibitions and fake work facades and be normal around them.

2) not worrying about time

How many times in a day do you look at your calendar to figure out where you have to be, who you have to see and what you have to be doing? Most of us live such a fast-paced, time oriented lifestyle that requires a lot of effort and organization to maintain. Whatever happened to just going with the flow and coming in with the breeze?

3) enjoying new physical activities

I'm an active person and I enjoy physical activities that are mentally stimulating. If I can't lie around and let time pass aimlessly, then I'd like to be involved in an activity that challenges me physically.

And the top three things I don't like about travelling...

1) planes

I have a fear of flying. Wait, actually I don't have a fear of flying. I have a fear of crashing and dying.

2) site seeing and touristy activities

I've lived in Toronto for almost 25 years and I haven't seen 90% of the tourist sites here. I can read about history and see pictures of architecture and monuments. I don't need to see it for myself just to say I was there. If the experience is just to say you've experienced it, then is the novelty really worth the effort? I'm not one of those people who needs to take pictures standing in front of old buildings and monuments.

However, what I find interesting about people taking these kinds of pictures is that they're capturing 2 different periods of history with one photo. The history of them travelling and the history of the building/monument they're standing in front of. Here's something interesting to do the next time you're travelling -- carve your name into the building or monument you're in front of and take a picture of it. Then show your children/grandchildren the picture. If they ever travel there when they get older, they can take pictures of your vandalism and capture 3 different generations of history.

3) rigid agendas

The reason you're on vacation is to get away from meetings and appointments. Don't set an agenda that requires you to run from site to site to get in everything you want to see. It quickly becomes a chore and your vacation turns out to be just another regular appointment in your calendar.

So right now I can't say I'm overwhelmed with excitement to travel to either S.Africa or Thailand because I haven't really planned out any activities that would interest me but I am however glad to have the opportunity to a) travel to the other side of the pond and b) share the experience with Sonia. Hopefully on these trips, I'll be struck with the proverbial travel bug and come back excited for the next trip.