travel: the act or a means of journeying from one place to another
Wanderlust is a magnificent thing. A passion for travel is something that many proclaim, but more often than not it is the act of arriving or being in a new location that people enjoy the most. While most stories and photos come from the destination, there is a lot to be said for the act of travelling itself. Transformations and lessons most often come in the process of getting from A to B, or in the unplanned waiting late night in airports or sweaty, dirty bus stations. There is a certain meditative state that is reached in the places we go between the places we plan.
Sometimes the enjoyment of a location is heightened by the effort taken to get there: 12 hours on a bus, three plane rides, an overnight boat. The sand between your toes and the sun on your face is somehow more pure in these instances than if you just hopped on a one-hour flight that departed and arrived on schedule. Your shoulders might sag beneath the weight of your pack and your neck might cramp from the awkward angles of sleeping on benches, but you also might find comfort in the best companions a traveller can hope for. Provided you can locate a stray power point tucked behind a seat and charge your devices, a quality playlist of dependable tracks can get you through just about anything.
When my passport got stolen in Malaysia, or when the smell of boiling blood sausage made me gag at 2am at a roadside cafeteria in Thailand, or when the air-conditioner broke in the cramped mini-van on a forty degree day in Laos, or when my flight flashed down and down the screen with seemingly endless delays in the Philippines, there have been songs that have held the threads of my sanity together.
Wherever you might find yourself, waking or sleeping, lost or found, happy or sad, excited or homesick, here are some friends to accompany you along the way.
IMAGE: Wikimedia