Travelling

There used to be a time when this was second nature. When it seemed so easy and I did it just about everyday, sometimes just about every hour.

And then things happened, like they always do, and I started posting less and less and then, not at all.

If you look at the posts, you will know doubt see that the posts were dwindling at the start of the year and then they just died down. Yes, of course I've been busy, but then this hardly ever is an adequate excuse, is it?

Clearly, things happened in my life which made posting not only less important, but difficult, and I make no excuses for it.

But Jac just told me she's in bed these few days with nothing to do but read blogs, so I make an exception.

So.....
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Hi Jac, Hi Hi,

Remember the old days? When possibilities abounded and the future, although fraught with pitfalls, was mysterious and hidden from us. I guess you traded in the exhilaration of having myriad possibilities for the fulfilment and security and stability that certainty brings.

I, fortunately or unfortunately, have not been able as yet to make such a quantum leap (or, as I once expressed in fear to you, plunge). I do think that some things should never change, however.

Remember how we used to travel? Just a short distance away from Singapore and the atmosphere felt different. That allowed us to put our worries and problems aside just for a while to look at the world with a different perspective. It seems just like last night when, after a sinful round at an ice-cream joint at Bangsar, we made a pact to change our lives when we returned to Singapore. Although I don't say it, I am so proud of you that you kept to your side of the bargain. I, on the other hand, just stagnated.

But I was on travel. I am glad to see that even after your... encumbrance, you still continued to enthrall readers with your journeys to distant lands and places, notwithstanding that there was a slight, yet perceptible change in the disposition of the posts - where once there was an unadulterated sense of adventure, of possibility, your posts now celebrated the stability of enjoying the view with your CCB and, when he wasn't around, a tinge of yearning to be back in Singapore.

And now, even that may all change if what you have been working towards comes to fruition (darn, what an apt word). So let me just maybe post an excerpt of what I wrote recently to your sister (am I allowed to say who she is, or what she has become?) when she recently asked me for my opinion. (For it seems that she too, is about to embark on an experience that few have ever had). Specifically, she asked me for my thoughts on what could be done to solve what was wrong with the world. And to sum it up, I said:- Travel.

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What can be done to change the world and its ills?

Firstly, I think an open mind, a sense of humility and a realisation that we do not always have the right answer. Sometimes, we will even need the courage to admit that some things which we have believed all our lives may be incorrect, or at the very least, not the sole truth.

From that can emerge a respect and appreciation for differences, be it one that stems from culture, history or religion. As well as a curiosity to think about the world and analyse it without pretending that we will ever understand it fully.

And travel – it opens up the mind and gladdens the heart. And by travel, I don’t mean just physically. There will be those of us who are fortunate to be able to see in person the beauty of so many different places in our globe. But nobody will be able to see every inch of the Earth. Which is why it is so important that all of us, even those who can’t physically travel, must always let our minds travel, to go to different places, to wonder how life is on the other side of the world because even at this very minute there are people living very different lives from us. We must have an innate curiosity and sense of wonder, a feeling that the world with its myriad number of cultures and peoples is a diverse place which is greater and more complex than any one person can ever be. Indeed, it is so easy now in the age of the internet to let our minds travel but sadly, so many of us build fences to entrench ourselves even more firmly within our snug cocoons.

The minute we stop travelling, we anchor and limit ourselves solely to our immediate environs and run the risk of losing the sense of anticipation and hope of seeing a more beautiful world, as well as the awe which comes with the realisation that for all we may achieve or feel or do, we are but a small part of a wondrous miracle in the vast universe.

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So Jac, whatever happens, do not stop travelling. Whether it be on your own, or with someone, physically or with your mind. Whether it be geographical or temporal.

(Speaking of which, I have often indulged myself by engaging in journeys to the past. While that allows one to relive and be grateful for happy and fulfilling memories, maybe it's time to journey henceforth in the present and into the future. And to create new memories. Lest my only abiding memory when I look back later at the rest of my life be one of reminiscing of what is already past. Wish me luck).