WhyNotFoto Around the World: September 2012

When you've been on the road as long as I have, sights and experiences can start to blend together. As I have mentioned in other posts, certain experiences will always stick out (Petra, gorilla trekking, Great Wall of China, Great Ocean Road, etc.), while many other sights and experiences simply become a jumbled collection of, "Oh yeah, that was a good time/beautiful sight/delicious meal." With each passing day, it is becoming increasingly difficult not to become more and more jaded, and backpacking alone only adds to the difficulty. I met up with my friend Scott and his girlfriend Julia last night in Belgrade, and it occurred to me that in the absence of a human traveling companion, the cities and sights have become my everyday companions. And in that regard, if I see a waterfall, mountain, old town, or bustling city that doesn't measure up to similar experiences had previously in my backpacking career, I am having to fight the urge of thinking, "Some friend you are," when walking away from those mediocre experiences at the end of the day.

I am very aware of the fact that the way in which I travel doesn't allow me to truly get to a know a city, and I often wonder if I should modify my style to fully appreciate each destination I visit. Life as a backpacker, just as in real life (home, work life), is all about first impressions. Does an employer take a chance on someone who doesn't give a good first impression but is more qualified for the job than a lesser qualified person who gave a better first impression? Part of me feels as though I should invest valuable time and money in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and Kuala Lumpur in the hopes they eventually win me over like Istanbul, Dubrovnik, and Ljubljana did upon first sight, while the other part of me feels as though I should simply hop on a bus and give another destination a chance at winning me over with a memorable first impression. Am I cheating myself more by not thoroughly exploring the less impressionable city and everything that it has to offer or am I cheating myself more by spending more of my valuable time at these less impressionable cities when I could potentially be having greater experiences in other new and undiscovered parts of the world? It is a Harlem Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals mental tug-o-war I constantly play with myself that ultimately leads to the same conclusion. Globe Trotting always wins (I swear I just thought of that analogy and hadn't for weeks been saving that delicious literary morsel for this particular moment).

What I have learned from other backpackers, in regards to their feelings about some of the places I have visited, is that my first impressions are usually pretty accurate when assessing the desirability of a particular destination. To that end, would it then be worth spending more time in the destinations which made memorable first impressions? Perhaps. But in a world where I am a solo backpacker and companionship is often found in the form or the next great city or natural wonder, why not just hop on a bus, globe trot, and try and discover your next new best friend?

BONUS MATERIAL:

-It may sound crazy, but I feel more alone walking in a city with thousands of people than I do when hiking alone in a forest.
-Even though travel abroad can be romanticized, don't forget to explore all the wonderful places your own home country has to offer.
-I just can't wrap my head around a white man with dreadlocks.
-Biting your tongue is more difficult than it sounds.
-Sharing Ipod ear buds with your significant other for more than a few song verses is silly. You look like conjoined twins. Just download that song to your own Ipod. Not that difficult.
-Watching little kids ride their bikes so fast that it makes their parents run to keep up, especially when those parents might be a bit overweight, makes me laugh.
-How is it that Croatia and Slovenia love their pork in the form of ham and smoked versions of ham, yet I have yet to see 1 pig?
-I have proven once and for all that it is possible to stand your socks upright without support if you wear them for say a month or two without washing them...picture to follow.
-Much in the way I wasn't happy to pay to use the toilet in Turkey, I was equally annoyed at having to pay to have my luggage stored on my bus trips throughout Croatia.
-Don't assume that just because you step foot on a local bus with all of your possessions that the driver will stop and drop you off at the international bus station just because it is a scheduled stop on his route. After telling him you wanted to stop at the bus station, about 1.5 miles after he drove right past it, you might be lucky enough for him to stop the bus right there and let you off, but it also might be 430am and you might also be dealing with a pretty severe hangover from a bar crawl that ended only 3 hours earlier. But you are probably still fit enough and heroic enough to get to the bus station in time for your 5am bus, albeit drenched in sweat and newly annoyed at the revelation of having to pay for luggage storage...on a flippin' bus.

Pictures here are a bit out of order chronologically. Probably doesn't matter to anybody but me though.