All the amazing places in the world

‘The world is a book and those who don’t travel are reading only the first page.’ 

(Saint Augustine)

It was autumn 2007 and we were heading to Paris. By plane.

Not that travelling abroad would be anything unusual for our family, my parents always traveled as much as the political regime and much less globalized world at the time allowed; and having kids was no reason to change this. With a tiny old red car packed up to the ceiling with mountain hiking gear, camping equipment and of course all the beach kit, we have been cruising the highways, climbing mountain passes in the Alps until the engine cooked, and then bringing back that salty scent of sea as the car stood for a week under the pine trees by the coast. As me and my sister grew older, we swapped all the beach sand toys for mountain bikes, and even though we got a bigger car, it was never really less full…yet with my great Tetris-packing skill of my parents, we have somehow always fit everything in. I loved when we drove overnight, highways were peaceful, and I spent hours leaning against the window and watching the lights of other cars coming and then disappearing in the dark in the far distance. There was just something magical about it, and that sensation stayed in me, even years after.

It was a very independent way of travelling, sometimes rather adventurous, surely tiring long drives for my parents… but I would do all over again. When we were kids, it was somewhat unwritten plan, three weeks in summer and a week in winter….The duration, destinations and itineraries fluctuated as we were getting older but it still remained very solid family travel baseline, and I have always considered myself very lucky for that. I had friends who didn’t travel at all and i felt sorry for them. Equally, I had friends that were jetting around to all-inclusive holiday resorts. Very different world to me, and I was happy that way. We had some adventurous, exciting and fun times which looking back feels like a very rich childhood. 

But going back to that autumn 2007 and our trip to Paris. It was actually first time for our family to go on a purely sightseeing holiday (yeah, no mountain climbing this time!)….and definitely first time for me to fly. I remember being rather excited about the whole thing, something new, I guess. Looking back, it makes me smile, all the joy with the little screen on the plane, the thrill of being pushed back to the seat as we accelerated on the runway and nose stuck against the window when finally drifting in the air...  It was one of those moments…and we all have these in our life.

But really, this trip was memorable not only for that. There was actually one moment which - had we had a crystal ball at that time - may have shown a vague contours of my future life. And who know, maybe it is because of this significance that is stayed vivid in my memory even after all the time.

We were waiting for our gate to be called, stood by the side. Leaning against the handrails with my dad stood next to me, we were watching people on the floor below rushing around, all the buzz and all the stories these people have and journeys they pursue. There was something fascinating about this environment, something tempting but scary at the same time. It was this big world, connected, constantly moving, full of new and different people, languages, stories, places, destinations. I remember wondering how do all of them know where to go, how do they not get lost, how they seems so relaxed or almost mundane about this exciting life they have? We have been chatting about this a bit, and with our gate being called, my dad kind of ended on the note that if you ever do get lost in this world, there are always people to ask for help. I think that by 'this world' he meant the airport environment...but I stood there for a moment longer, just thinking about it, more in terms of the big world that was outside this departure hall, and outside of the arrival hall in all those other cities and countries that kept flashing on the departure board. I was imagining myself to be one of those, traveling around to those amazing places of this big world. Could I do it?

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

(J. R. R. Tolkien)

There was definitely something exciting and tempting about this, which at the time I probably just dismissed….  But it certainly came back to me a year later when I walked in the living room, sat on the sofa and told my parents about Canada. The following year I was pushing my full trolley through the airport of Toronto on my flight to Montreal, with a flashback of this Paris airport scene at the back on my mind, trying to compute if all this is really happening. Big girl in this big world…. and so little did I know at the time that this is actually just a beginning. There was clearly something about the travel that I really enjoyed but even with that I have never really expected things will take turn they did….it just all happened. My Canadian, Danish, Vienna and London adventures were slowly opening the doors of opportunity wider and wider….and my decision about Singapore was in a way as if I walked through a magic wardrobe in Narnia movie…to a completely new world.

As every place, Singapore has some really good perks, as well as some downsides. Obviously, travelling, or opportunities to explore are definitely one of the big assets of being based here. Primarily because of the location kind of in the middle you can relatively easy reach down to the Aussies and Kiwis, up north to sushi land and China wall, or west to India and Middle East. And of course, the whole South East Asia…which suddenly can make hiking in Vietnam, snorkeling in Thailand, or chill in Indonesian islands a weekend gateway. But also, Singapore is small, and given the climate remains about the same all your long, the number of activities is actually limited. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really nice places here but you can only go to Singapore Botanic gardens, Sentosa or Pulau Ubin so many times…. 

So just by relocating here - being totally oblivious to it when I signed the contract, and likely even when I was on the plan over here - I opened up myself to this colorful world of beautiful places that suddenly appeared to be only a couple of hours flight away. Who would not like that?

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that damn mountain.”

(Jack Kerouac)

By the nature of my role I get to travel a fair bit for work. It is something that I really enjoy (at the moment, ask me in five or ten years!) and what I have never really expected to do ...certainly not this early in my career. There are trips where the stamp in the passport has only little to do with actually exploring the country, you stay in a very luxury, yet sterile hotel environment, see a bit of the city from the taxi..and trust me, meeting rooms are pretty much the same anywhere you go. But I was also lucky to spend weekends on couple of places, which is always really nice and gives you a chance to see a bit more of the real, everyday city life, or even escape the city into the nature a bit. It never is as if you’re traveling on holiday, and those who did some themselves know that it is tiring, hard work and not about champagne on the plane, fancy dinners or chilling in the hotel spa… I don’t complain, would be silly if I did because it is all a great experience…and who says otherwise is only lying in own pockets. It is an insight to a world that was completely alien to me but been very eye opening and incredible learning!

And then you have the whole cost of this, and I don’t necessarily mean the monetary one. It is the cost to your body which is being regularly stuck into a metal tube in the air for hours and then popping out on the other end with biological clock screwed because of the jet lag. It is the cost to the environment, the carbon footprint of all this... I do sometimes question if all the ‘good work’ I am doing - or trying to - really outweighs the impact of the travel that is related to it….but then, firstly, how do you calculate this, when you sometimes work with abstract thing like awareness, knowledge building, trust or relationship that do not necessarily have a ‘carbon impact tag’? And secondly, I think you have to believe in positives of what you are trying to achieve...and if this feeling or belief one day changes, it might just be time to move on….

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

(Muhammad Ali)

It is very different to travel for few days or weeks somewhere and then retreat back to your familiar environment you call home, and to travel while living abroad. And of course even when we plan a holiday, and have the dates in our control, there can always be something that crops up when we are away but when living abroad you just need to accept that there will be things you will miss, events that you won’t be able to attend and moments when you’d wish to teleport yourself back, but it just won’t be possible. It is maybe a human nature to always want the best of everything, and clearly if we all could travel, but in any moment just wave a magic wand and teleport ourselves back, who would fight against? But maybe it is the beauty of it all, that unfortunately – or fortunately – some of those beautiful places in the world are not at our doorstep. Travelling can take you there, but at the same time it inevitably takes you away, and sometimes very far away, from ‘home’. I am deliberately putting ‘home’ like this because I think it could be anything from family, friends, the place itself, the routine, work…anything that is precious and settling for you. And yeah, you probably head off for a week skiing in the beautiful snowy Alps, then come back, and now wondering what is all the fuss about, right? Well, then imagine that you, like me, live in Singapore. You can go for a long weekend to Thailand, and then next weekend spend in Bali, and then for the next public holiday book a trip to Vietnam…amazing, right? It is, I agree! But you also need to accept that you are missing on your grandmas 80^th birthday, friend’s wedding, or just a get together and board game evening with chat and wine…not always because of the date clash, but mainly because of the distance. And of course you can fly back but there is still only so much 16 hours travel you want to do, or can fit in your holiday allowance (which is low in Singapore). Oh, and let alone the fact that with the timezone difference flying to Prague for a weekend (Leave Friday evening, back Sunday evening) would mean you can spend there about 5 hours.... It might sound obvious, and a bit ‘so what’ maybe, especially if you haven’t really experienced this ‘being far’. It definitely isn’t meant to be a whinge, I really do consider myself lucky, it is just something to keep in mind when you’re scanning through the ‘amazing’ photos from my weekend getaways…..there is always a trade off!

My Canadian adventure was really the first time when I traveled on my own and even after all the years – and many more solo travels since – I don’t think it is for everyone. And if you are not into travelling on your own, don’t see that as a weakness. It is just different, same as we all are. For me, it was scary at the outset I guess but once you do it once and learn you can do it, it feels good. It has its own appeal, mainly because everything is entirely up to you which makes things sometimes much easier...and sometimes much harder. The best of course is to have a choice – if you want to travel with someone, do it…if you want retreat just for yourself, just escape solo… but as we all know that rarely works this way. 

Lately, I often travel on my own. I am fine that way I guess although it is not always the way I wished for... Sometimes it is nice to share the adventure as it enrolls, rather than just retrospect through pictures or over the phone. And the sunset is always prettier, when you watch it with someone...
But not everyone is prepared to be dragged around the mountains, and waking up at 3 am on holidays to chase sunrise... so then it becomes your call - are you going on your own, or rather not at all?

Everyone has a different answer, and there is not a right or wrong one. But if you have read it all up until here, I assume you all know which one is my pick.

‘This world is an amazing place….so many beautiful things to see! And you should enjoy it as much as you can.’

One person told me these words when I was leaving Prague last time, in January this year. Sadly, that was the last time I have seen this person before he died. Upsetting....yet a nice little memory. And maybe we all should be living up to these words.... because this world really is an amazing place!