Roaming the world
When I renewed my passport back in ’97, I set a goal to have every page of the passport stamped with foreign custom stamps by the time it expires in ’07. With 11 out of 15 pages fully stamped by foreign customs, I guess I am a bit behind. I wanted to travel the world with my passport pages documenting the day, month and year of departure and entry. The passport is a diary of where I have been in the last few years without the pictures and the stories. When I look at my passport, it reminds me of the weeks I spent in Barcelona on business, the many times I’ve been to Paris, London, Canada, Mexico and the misc. cities of Europe, as well as my ’97 trip to Hong Kong, the year it was returned to China. The visa for China made me remember all the days I spent in 4 and 5 star chinese restaurants in which I found the quality and standard of mainland cuisine to be subpar with the US. I bet China will be different next year when I intend to go back. I didn’t like Thailand when I first went in 2000. I think it was because I hated being shuffled by the tour guide from place to place. Being on tour was like boot camp, with no freedom to browse the streets as I please, dine where my curiosity takes me and enjoy the fruits of my own planning effort. Sleeping in and abstaining from the tour proved not to be an option. Having taken that vacation was like not taking vacation at all. I returned home feeling more tired than when I left. I just made my second trip to Thailand this month. It was a self-tour and I fell in love with the country. So much as changed from five years ago. This time I also went to KoSamui island where we stayed in a 1700+ sq villa with private pool, gazebo and jacuzzi overlooking the ocean below. I think it will be the best lodging I will ever stay in and unless I become a millionaire, I’d probably never come across a vacation home so spectacular again. My first trip in 2000 didn’t take me to the floating market –it was there this time that I acquired a few souvenirs and gifts and got to practice the skill of bargaining. The only downfall to my trip was the hike up the mountain to visit the Namuang waterfall that caused me to become victim to the bites of malicious Thai mosquitoes. I have the "red bean leg" to prove my defeat to the hungry insects. Where will my next trip take me? The dream vacation would be to buy an open- ended ticket that will take me wherever my adventurous spirit desires. I’d like to go from one foreign city to another and experience it’s culture, food and nature to my heart’s content. But at the end of my vacation, I am always glad to come home to sleep in my own bed and to see the smiling loyal face that greets me nearly every waking moment – my dog’s.
