2 Months On The Road - What have we learned?
We have recently passed the 2 month mark on our trip. On one hand, it feels like a lifetime ago that we left Sydney and last saw our friends and family. On the other hand, time has been just flying by. So we decided to take a moment and look back at these two months and reflect on what we've learned so far.
So...How does it feel?!
For us, the best feeling - not surprisingly - is the freedom that comes with doing whatever we want to do, whenever we want and not having to be anywhere. Sure, there's that natural pressure of wanting to make the most of wherever we are, but if we feel tired or if the weather isn't the best, we can simply afford to have a day off and do nothing.
Having all your belongings for a whole year fitting into a single 7kg backpack is also an extremely liberating feeling. It also means that we simply can't go shopping (for budget and baggage reasons) and the act of packing and unpacking is becoming very natural and efficient. Every item, big and small, has its place in the bag and we don't lose much time looking for things in it.
Our good, old backpacks
Lastly, but no less amazing, is that we're often struck by a feeling of almost disbelief - are we REALLY doing this?! I can't believe we have a whole year off! It's a great feeling.
Tasks & chores
What we've come to realise during so far is how tiring it is to be constantly on the move. We are always planning the next leg, the next day or the next activity. Even simple, everyday tasks like going grocery shopping, cooking a meal or choosing where to eat often requires a fair amount of energy. Where's the nearest supermarket? What bus or train do we need to catch to get there? What's the conversion rate for this country? Where does the frying pan live?!
We are not complaining at all about this life, but things we usually do on auto-pilot back home are not so natural on the road.
As close to a supermarket you'll get in India
Another big chunk of work goes towards housekeeping tasks, mainly budget reconciliation. We use an Expense Tracker app to log every single expense we have in any given day so as to ensure we remain within our budget and also forecast for the more expensive parts of our trip, such as Europe and USA.
On top of that, we both have our passions and things we like spending time on: this blog (which turned out to be a very time consuming task!), photography, reading, learning new languages, yoga, meditation, some rare workouts here and there. Far out, think we need another day off...
Alex working hard doing some planning
Social life
The social aspect of being on the road has been a bit sad or frustrating to us so far. Whenever we meet someone - fellow travellers or locals - we inevitably land on the same generic chit-chat every time: where are you from? How long have you been travelling? Have you been to X or Y? Understandably, it is very hard to get past this initial stage of conversation and really get to know someone. We've had amazing times with great people but, with a few exceptions, it's proven to be really hard to make real connections in short spaces of time. Having said that, though, we've gotten to meet a few amazing people who we hope we'll meet again on the road, be it in their hometown or back in Australia.
Some strangers we got to meet on the road... ;)
Cultural differences
This is a broad and delicate subject. I feel like we're only scratching the surface here, but we both like paying attention and even immersing ourselves in the local culture of the countries we visit. Some of the differences are screamingly visible, especially when you visit India and Japan just a couple of months apart. Sense of personal space, pushiness level and friendliness vary drastically between countries, which in turn made us try and exercise acceptance a lot more. I used to get very irritated when someone would cut in front of me on the streets or talk over me, but I came to understand that these things might not be offensive or even rude in some countries, so all I can do - especially as a tourist - is to accept that's the way they are and I'm not going to change anything (and I shouldn't, even if I could).
Getting to know the locals in Nara, Japan
Our Favourite Gadgets
When your whole life's belongings are reduced to a single backpack, everything we carry needs to have some importance, otherwise no point carrying it, right? A few items / gadgets do stand out as being particularly useful (or even life-savers):
1) Blow-up Neck pillow.
When Alex got us this, I thought to myself "here we go again..." - but I was happy to be proved wrong. This Kathmandu blow-up neck pillow is not only very compact, but it's even more comfortable than its normal counterparts. They have spared us from some severe neck pains in overnight trains and flights.
2) A good rain jacket.
When you only have 2 or 3 days in town, if the weather turns bad, you don't want to be stuck at home. We both have our packable rain jackets, which have allowed us to go out and enjoy the day even when it's raining, and also was an essential item in our ABC Trek in Nepal. We have found rain jackets to be a lot more practical than umbrellas, not just for their compact size but to keep our hands free (especially great when cycling!).
3) Eye mask and earplugs.
For the light sleepers such as Alex, these two accessories saved her from a bad night's sleep in hostels or trains. Simple, small but very useful.
Summary
So... are we different people already?! As much as I'd like to say so, no, I don't think so. We have definitely started changing our perceptions, being more receptive, acceptive and grateful. I also like to think we have also been a lot more aware and present, enjoying every day as they come. But to say that we've became different people in two months would be presumptuous. We're working towards it, though!
Here, another temple.