The Roaming Two

Traveling by backpack is not as cool as it may sound.  In the past, we have done it for 7 months (Western Europe and Scandinavian countries) and then for a 1-month trip (Eastern Europe) and we remember the first few weeks being rather tough.  As we adjust from the desk job to this life our hips are sore, we have bruises, our feet are KILLING us, our backs ache, our shoulders are raw and our legs feel like jelly!

Oh, and that is just after the first day of venturing out on our own!!

But hey, we are “living the dream”.

It goes something like this …

Throw 45lb backpack on back, curse and swear at yourself for bringing 5 pairs of underwear instead of 3; throw 10+lb daypack on your front, rush to catch bus, reach destination, throw said backpacks back on and begin to find your way through a strange city to the $60 (CDN) room you booked on-line.  Only this city, Singapore, is 35C with 85% humidity before the rain and you know you are likely about to check into the most unrewarding room you have ever booked for $60.  After figuring out the metro system (a pleasure in Singapore), we reach our drop off station.  However, DOH, we forgot to get directions to the hotel from the metro station!

Oh my, we are out of practice.

We ask for help and start walking in the direction a friendly stranger told us to head towards.  The sun is beating down, it is 4:00pm, the asphalt intensifies the heat, the sweat is pouring off of us and those pesky little thoughts begin to emerge …

“Why am I doing this?  We are 48 years old, what are we thinking?  We walked away from awesome employment to do this? (Thank you so much Chris (Christine’s boss) for approving her 1 year leave of absence – not sure if I can make it that long).  Man it stinks here, I wish I was at home right now! I thought I loved the heat… but now I would prefer the cold outside and being curled up in front of a fireplace! I think my legs are going to buckle, why did I let myself get out of shape?” … and the thoughts continue …

But hey, we are “living the dream”.

Christine booked the room, because ‘yours truly’ (the Black Cloud returned in a different format) got sick again and decided to get a cold the day before we take the bus trip (the First Aid kit gets raided again for decongestants before my pounding headache turns me into a ‘whining snivelling little man’).  Oops, I left employment where I never used a sick day only to get sick twice when no one is paying for me to be sitting at home ill?

After 20 minutes walking in the intense heat with my head throbbing, snot running down my nose and knees wobbling, a new thought appears… I want to say, “Christine, why the heck did you book this room soooo far from the metro stop”.   I want to say it so badly! I feel like garbage and it would feel so good to complain, it would make me feel so much better… but 23 years of experience and a desire to sleep IN the bed this evening forces those evil thoughts to the back of my head.  I continue to smile while we are aimlessly trying to find our hotel in a very Asian part of the city and I tell myself, everything will be just fine, “I am living the dream”.

After 30 minutes, we find our hotel. We check into our room (the size of a walk-in closet in a Canadian home), the sheets are torn, they have a brown stain on them, the curtains are 100 years old, and there is no shower curtain so you just soak everything!  Mold is creeping across the ceiling.  There is a cockroach I need to take care of before Christine sees it – the main reason she needs me on this trip – and I am soaked from the 1mm wisp of hair on my head to the bottom thread of my undies and socks.

I tell myself, while killing the cockroach buck-naked waiting for the air conditioning in the room to kick in, “I AM living the dream”.

Regarding underwear… SAXX underwear www.saxxunderwear.com, incredibly popular in Canada, has a patented pouch system that keeps the male anatomy nestled nicely in a little package, preventing any swinging motion.  Canadian men can’t get enough of them!  They sell like hot cakes!  Christine thought it would be awesome for me to try them out for this trip and bought me 2.  I was thrilled and excited to now be with the ‘in-crowd’.  As it turns out, unless you like the feeling of steamed gonads (the outcome is great for the male ego), I say SAXX = ‘epic failure’ in the tropics and I have my eye open for a simple 3-pack of Fruit of the Loom tighty-whities (hey, after 23 years of marriage, I’m sure my CK’s have lost their ‘look at me’ appeal and Fruit of the Loom may be a nice addition to the family).  As soon as I can, the SAXX are being mailed home (clean of course) to mom in Alberta, Canada (moms are soooo cool)!

Finally, all too common statements by both of us (followed by a smile and or chuckle) have been…

I’m hot.

I’m soooo sticky.

Don’t touch me.

I’m so hot!

How can anyone live like this?

It’s so noisy.

Christine to Mark … “did you know you whine a lot?” Mark … “I’m a man, that is what I do best”.

I’m so incredibly hot!!

My ears are ringing.

Did you just touch me?

I think I smell!

My feet are on fire.

You are in my space.

My back is sore.

My feet hurt.

That said, the travelling is awesome and we are so fortunate to be doing this and experiencing it all with each other… we are… living the dream!

More photos coming as we find internet strong enough to load pictures.

Mark and Christine

xoxo

P.S. As we sit down to enter this post, mom Fillion emails to say that Uncle Joe has passed away in BC.  We celebrated his 80th birthday in Vancouver, BC in 2014.  He was an amazing man full of life and laughter.  His gentleness, love of music, playing his harmonica and spoons will always be remembered.  We are thinking of you.  A reminder that life is short and we have to live every day to the fullest.