of passports

went through my old passports and journals. Stamps from immigration reads;

Medan/ Surabaya/ Jakarta/ Bandung/ Makassar/ Manado (Indonesia), Singapore, Bangkok/Phuket/ Koh Samui ( Thailand), Brunei, Manila/ Cabo/ Mindanao (Phillipines), Auckland/ Wellington (New Zealand), Sydney/ Brisbane/ Perth/ Canberra (Australia), London (England), Los Angeles (U.S.), Brussels (Belgium), Dubai/ Abu Dhabi (U.A.E), Vancouver/ Nova Scotia (Canada), Delhi/ Bangalore (India), Dhaka (Bangladesh).

There might be some places that I have missed out but bottomline is that I’m lucky and grateful to have been able to travel to those places, some more than the others. Debating and work has carried me not yet around the world but good enough for now. I wish to travel more and experience new places and swim in the different cultures and learn what i can from the locals there, in terms of way of thinking and living. Missed out on Berlin, Geneva and Amsterdam when i chose to quit the service. My big boss told me he had those trips lined up for me…owh well, no regrets. Maybe i’ll go there someday. InsyaAllah..

Wanted to work for National Geographic before and had pondered whether Lonely Planet do offer people jobs just to travel and write reviews. But i learn something from a French Ambassador i got a chance to know. He told me that traveling should not be your life, but should be the enhancement of your life in your country. he said that if you lived on your life on the road, you will miss out on a lot of important things closer to home that would matter more to you. travel he says to expand your horizons as much as you can but as means of learning about yourself and your importance to world. Travel he says to learn about people of those places as means of understanding their chain of thought to help you form your own.

i remember those words not as vividly as i would like to have. never met him again since i was 17. 10 years has passed since that day. I wonder how he is. has he indeed retired and roam Africa with his family as he had planned? i chose to think he has, he seems like the type that would.

you dont need that much money to have comfort. people wants the best when they travel. i just want comfort i.e. a place good enough just to sleep. even a normal B&B would do. dont think i have ever spend much on travel. most money goes to food and tickets for entry of places or travel when im there. haven’t traveled much outside nowdays. I wish i could resume soon. Contemplating whether i should accept my relatives’ invitation to spend Christmas and New Year in the States. dont have that much leave days allocated by the company….but i know i would love the experience there. decisions, decisions, decisions….to go or not….my current passport runs out in 2 years, still have lots of pages to fill….