A Traveler Thought

After spending 4 weeks (end of December – end of January 2009) traveling around the beaches in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, there’s one thing that keeps tickling my mind.

I met a lot of interesting people during my trip. Some of them are tourists on a short trip, some of them are on a two months holiday, some of them are on a year holiday (!!!) and.. some of them are… the residents of the islands (meaning: they were on holiday, but they loved the island too much then decided to stay!)

I envy those travelers who are on a year holiday. Isn’t it amazing to be able to travel for a whole year? Just traveling. Going from one island to another islands, one country to another countries. Countries hopping for a full year round. How cool is that? I want one, too!!!

And… I also envy those who decided to stay on the island in the middle of their trip. Some of them were planning to stay only for a few months, but ended up staying there already for a year, two years or even 5 years! That’s a very brave decision, I must say.

Some of my friends say that I’m a free spirit person. But I think, am nothing compared to these people! Talking to them, I could tell how free their spirits are… and also their way of thinking. I find it interesting how someone can just decide to stay in one place in the middle of going somewhere, for forever??
At first, I thought, there must be only young people who do this kinda thing as they have all the time in the world. They don’t really have to think of the career (as they’re still young anyway!), family (come on.. if you’re in your early twenties, would you think of settling down?), investing money (ok… forget about investment), etc.
But then I was wrong. Some of them aren’t young anymore. Some of them are actually in their mid thirties, late 30s or even 40s. Hmm.. that make me feel better, to be honest! That makes me think that maybe I shouldn’t really worry too much of all kinds of things. Investment? Who cares of investment. The investment industry isn’t doing so well anyway this year. So, might as well use the money for something else. Something more fun. Like… ehmm… living in an island, perhaps? 😉
Family? I personally believe that everyone has to be responsible for their own lives. I have the tendency to worry too much of my family (read: mum and brothers). But I think, all of them are grown-up people and all warriors have their own war to fight for. Right? So, I also have my own and shouldn’t worry too much of the others.

And now… the thought of living in an island always running around my head these days. Taking up the dive master course, then living in an island, somewhere, for a year… must be nice, huh? There’s nothing wrong for taking a 1 year break, I keep on telling myself as I’ve never done it. In my country, there are not many people taking a loooong break only for traveling. Being one of the citizens who live in the capital of the 5th most populated country in the world, one could become so competitive, in which “spending” a few months for doing “nothing” would be considered as a “waste” of time by the society!
But I have a different way of thinking. It’s definitely not a waste of time. In fact, a person can learn a lot from traveling. Learn from other people, other culture, the nature. That’s why I love to travel so much. Can’t get enough of it!

Hmm… so.. shall I take a year break and live in my chosen island? … *tempted… tempted*!
(ps: i already know which island I want to live in for my break… can u guess?) 😉