Why am I travelling?

Upon returning from my trips, especially when the fatigue starts to set in, I always try to remind myself why I was traveling in the first place.

Why do I really travel?

I do it for a number of specific reasons but I do it mainly for the road calls me.  Yes, it is the road that’s calling.  I always believe that it is not the destination by the journey.

My most recent travel was a 13-day backpacking through four countries in South East Asia.  Three out of four I have been to in 2010 and the newest country to visit is Thailand.

The route was: fly to Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo), then fly to Johor Bahru (West Malaysia), take the train to Bangkok (Thailand) stopping at Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth on the way, another flight to Chiang Mai (Thailand), overland to Vietnam via Laos crossing the river Mekong then spending nights in Luang Namtha and Mhuang Khuang (Laos) before finally crossing the Laos-Vietnam border to Hanoi.  That was a crazy trip for just 13 days.

I don’t need to see these places but I endured this route for the adventure it promises and also the opportunity to be reunited with some friends I’ve made in the past years.

I am past the idea of traveling to be able to have a photo with some great landmarks (I never was in that phase as far as I know).  Traveling has been my way of seeing the world by knowing what the people in it think about it.

My 2-week trip has been an enriching experience.  I get to understand some things about the country, get to try some food like frog legs and buffalo meat, got to talk to strangers with English, German, and sign language, and got to see how locals travel and many more. I got to see my friends, spend Christmas and New Year with some of them, share beer with them, and plan some things for 2013 with them.

So the fatigue is setting in.  I cannot get up from bed in the morning and I am too tired to think about work.  I am, however, happy with the trip and it is something that I am willing to do again.