Anne's blog travel 06-07

Wednesday, February 21st 2007 Bangkok

Well, time certainly does fly. A few people commented that "Wow, I was already on my return trip to Australia" when in fact I've been away for close to 4 months. 16 and a half weeks. That's a third of a year. The photo on the left was taken by Michele maybe only a week or so after arriving in Doha, before we got volunteers and certainly before the centre opened. I'd only been gone for a very short time then.
So what has it been...5 countries... Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Vietnam with the obligatory stops in Singapore. And yet I do feel that there is more to come this year.

What strikes me most in looking back is that we are amazingly adaptable people. All of us to various degrees. Some of us choose to forget. We like our stability and hence we often feel what we give up more than what we gain in the balance. In leaving Vietnam, I was so conscious of what I was leaving behind just as I was when I left Africa in 1998. And I wasn't looking forward to coming to Bangkok and yet, since I've been here, I've enjoyed being here. Life is often balanced. We lose something, we gain something and yet because we know what we are losing and not yet what we are gaining, the former seems bigger. I was sad to leave Qatar and yet I knew that my experience there with the Games was over. We have no way of hanging on to these situations.

Reality is that the only constant thing in life is change. The only certainty is that nothing stays the same. And so we gain at being adaptable, receptive and even to welcome change. We all have occasionnally stayed on a path too long and suddently realised that we forgot why. I have anyway.

I may sound a bit philosophical today but I often am on the eve of a New Year of the end of a phase or period. It seems important to reflect back and see what has changed within me. What have I learnt? Before I get caught up in another whirlwind of things to attend to.

I guess what I feel most is that my trip has shown me where I've changed over the years but also that anything is possible. It saddens me that we don't all have the same opportunities. I can sit here and say that we can create our own reality and do whatever we want in life and yet, there are some people in Vietnam or in Africa and many other places that wouldn't quite see it that way. Yet, I still believe that we can be victims or creators, bitter or enthusiastic.

I have no real idea of what comes next for me but I'm ready for it whatever it is. I'll write before I leave tomorrow but want to thank all of you who have been following me throughout my trip. It's been like traveling with my friends and family. Thank you.

Love
Anne