on anticipation

Tomorrow morning I am off to Vietnam! I have, as usual, done almost no research about Hanoi- if it wasn't for Jenny I would have been completely unaware of the existence of Halong Bay, which I anticipate will be the highlight of the trip. It's a strange time, the day before a trip. There are last minute purchases to be made, papers to be printed, things to be double checked. It's generally busy, and I am usually quite the fan of heading for a big night out before heading out on an adventure. Although as I get older and had once midadventure in Sweden and a close call in London last year, perhaps it is better to just relax. But time seems to crawl by once the last minute things have been done. I should be savouring these final moments of tranquility alone; instead my mind wanders toward the more mundane aspects of the trip.

For the record, I am more excited about this trip than any I have taken in the last four years, save my for ill fated New York misadventure. I feel like I did when I took my first trip onto the European continent. And like that trip, place doesn't matter so much. I could be going to Shanghai, Chiang Mai, Malaysia or the Phillipines and I would feel the same. Vietnam and Thailand happened to just offer convenient (for the most part) and cheap flights. Probably no one who reads this knows or would remember, but my first European foray- the whole grand continent at my doorstep, and where did I go? My cheap flights were booked in and out of Turin! Turin (which I loved) and Genoa- how hilarious in hindsight. The trip did end up including two more famous and amazing places- Florence and Cinque Terre, but that was not planned at the start...

Excited but also so aware of the aspects of travel that are often forgetten during the mouth watering days beforehand, and more often than not ignored when reflecting on the trip and posting photos on facebook. Things like a terrible airport breakfast after a LONG bus ride at 7 am tomorrow. The possibility of a delayed flight, and the question of the quality of our accomodation in Hanoi, although we did follow a friend's rec who was there just a short time ago. Thinking about things like the aching minutes between actually landing on the runway and being able to explore the city- 10 minutes or more to taxi, five minutes to deplane, at least 15 minutes for my visa/passport control... you get the idea. Travel is rightly thought of as one of the most rewarding things we can do, but so much of it is the idea of travel, rather than the reality. I'm almost blatantly ripping off Alain de Botton on this point, and anyone who wants to read something wonderful and insightful explaing travel far more eloquently than I ever could MUST read The Art of Travel. I dislike the word valuable to describe nonfiction, but in this case it applies.

Oh yeah, and it's about 40 degrees in these countries right now. That's celsius people. Not pleasant. Yet despite all this, I remain Andy Dufrense when traveling. I hope. Or rather more accurately, I believe. I believe something is to be gained from travel; it is not just a time to turn off your brain and sit numbing yourself on the beach. (Note: when I am fifty or have small children, I may feel entirely different about that statement.) But for now, I look to travel for stimulation that is not present in my daily life, even if my daily life is already abroad. And off the top of my head, I can think of three absolutely perfect experiences I have had while traveling. Those alone are worth the thousands of dollars, pounds, kroner and now won I have flushed away through my twenties (but what twenties they have been... 30s, you already have a TON of catching up to do...)

So is a reason travel is so wonderful is that I can feel in a matter of minutes while reflecting nervous, excited, bored, creative, hopeful, worried and nostalgic before I have even left. What other thing that we do (I don't intend to compare this to things like family memories or the birth of a child or anything) gives us not only satisfaction, but a whole range of emotions and perhaps some greater self awareness. My feeling as I finish writing this is something else entirely. I am humbled and grateful; James is on Itunes and my thoughts happily drift to London and concerts and pushing our way to the front and dancing our asses off at the Roxy...