It is the traveller only who is foreign" - Robert Louis Stevenson
Ok, I was going start this off with some strange philosophical question, but then stopped myself because no, that's just not me. I'm more, how would you say, sarcastic.
Enough of the rambling... This one is another, "I'm not sure why I started this, but I'm going to continue with it anyway" blog. Although its probably pointless, methinks nobody reads this anyway, or cares either. But oh well, I do enjoy the occasional post about nothing. I usually begin these types of blogs with reading most of my previous posts, and saying to myself that my grammar will be better this time around. Which it usually isn't. I've never been good with words, give me numbers, and I'm your person. They laugh at me at work because I can remember a lot of numbers, and I know pi to about 60 digits. But that is easier than having to write an essay or something like that. Which makes me wonder about my thought process in starting this blog-y thing in the first place?
Now onto the actual travel part of the blog... drum roll please.... I have plans to go.... nowhere. Well not yet anyway. Wow, that's boring. But certain things get in the way like needing money, and needing a job to get that money. But I'm starting to get that travel bug again, which can only be good. At least from my point of view. I think its hearing that people are going on winter vacations, or just came back from a vacation, or are in Hawaii at the moment. Its not fair, I wanna leave too. Although I do have a good job that I do enjoy, so that's good. But what I would give to like, win the lottery or something and just travel. In the past day, I have changed the background on my computer at work to Adwoa (my princess), looked at most of my Ghana pictures (under the guise of looking for my Adwoa picture), read a lot of my emails back an forth to people back home (from when I was in Kumasi), and read quite a few of my posts here. Yikes.
Funny thing though, in the past few weeks, I have noticed, and tried to stop myself (with very little success I might add), that I have apparently started to speak with a British accent for some reason. Don't ask me why or how, I don't talk to anyone from Britain or anything, but I'll be saying something and realize after that what I have said came out with an accent. Its gotten to a point where other people have noticed to, not just me. Maybe its to much Monty Python, but I just don't think that's possible.
I seem to get to a point in every post when I know its not long enough, but I don't know what else to do. And that point is right now. Can you have an entire post of just rambling about nothing, because that what this seems to be. On second thought, how about some travel tips? Ok... that's what your going to get.
-don't get to worked up while travelling/in airports, it doesn't help much and all you do is stress yourself out
-if the guy beside you on the plane seems too friendly when you first meet, he probably is too friendly, stay away from him. This doesn't include everyone mind you, but from past experience, it does happen
-just because you are somewhere new, doesn't mean it is unsafe/scary
-learn some of the local language while travelling, the locals are usually happy about it
-while sitting on a bus, travelling for 6 hours in Ghana, don't sit at the front, you can see everything that the driver almost hits, its best to sit near the back, and pretend its all good
-while in a taxi in Kumasi, do sit in the front seat, this coming from someone who is an introvert/shy, you get to talk to some awesome taxi drivers and...I don't know... its just better
-be careful taking taxi's at night, don't do it by yourself and if possible, avoid the ones that will travel way over the speed limit, with no headlights, passing other vehicles in the pouring rain while travelling up a hill...not that that's happened to me or anything.
-enjoy the looks you'll get when you get back home and tell people what you did, only to have them tell you your crazy
-If you go to get into a taxi at night time, and just as the light turns on as you open the door, you see 3 cockroaches (like those big ones they used to have on Fear Factor) crawl back under the seat, don't mention it to the others getting in the taxi, ignorance is bliss
-enjoy being called "obruni", you'll miss it when you get back home
-when you get back, don't act better than everyone else, but still be very grateful for what we have here
-don't be afraid to haggle with taxi drivers, catch a tro-tro by yourself, or haggle for the right price when buying pretty much anything
-eat new food
-pay attention to what they tell you at the health clinic before you go, but at the same time, use your head. There was a list of quite a few things NOT to do when travelling to abroad, and when I got back, I had done most of the things on the list (what foods to eat/what foods to avoid, where to eat, etc)
-buying food off of the side of the road can sometimes backfire, but you can get some of the best tasting food there from the friendliest people
-do not take pictures of people without their permission
-enjoy making some of your stories sound way more unsafe then they actually were, its can make people think you're even more crazy
-do some site seeing, don't be afraid to sleep in a tent, alone, in the jungle, 10 minutes away from anyone else, and the closest thing to you is the warthogs and antelope you can hear right outside your tent
-you need to be able to sleep anywhere, they will be some long journeys and to make them pass faster, you have to be able to sleep on the bus, sitting up, squished beside people you don't know.
-get comfy shoes or sandles, your feet will thank you
-and most of all, enjoy every minute of the trip, even the bad times, it makes the good so much better.
Wow, that was a longer post than I was planning. And just the same as I end a lot of my posts on here... That's all I got for you now, and I'll probably be back at some point. Probably the next time I get the travel bug, and maybe this time I'll actually go somewhere. That'd be awesome.
