Travel Talk

Drinking with a Dying Traveler

Greetings,

First off this isn’t about “drinking” like at a bar. I was having a watermelon shake while he was having a coffee. Now that that is out of the way, I enjoyed a drink today and got a glimpse into the mind of a world traveler who is sadly, dying. I first met him when I moved into the apartment complex, he was a nice guy. Always eating breakfast and pushing a shopping cart as a stroller.

If you read this blog, I may have mentioned I helped someone find a taxi one day as they were not looking well. That was ~3 weeks ago or so. Ran into him again for the first time since…  This guy is pretty incredible, he’s in his 80’s and has been to over 60 countries. He did it “back in the day” though.

He traveled when there were no guidebooks, when $5 a day was a realistic budget and the term “tourist trap” had hardly been coined. I mentioned I had gone to Pai. He told me was first there in 1981. I told him he wouldn’t recognize it now than as I have heard in the last 5-10 years it has totally morphed.

When he went there, he said it was just a hippy commune. You’d drive your motorbike until it got dark. Then just show up at some village and people would almost jockey to see who would get to host you for the night. They’d feed you, give you a warm bed and basically anything else you wanted in the area. He said it was true hospitality.

He’s been to every country in Asia except the one near Nepal whose name eluded him and I’m too lazy to look up. It’s saddening to see someone who was once a world traveler deteriorate so fast. When I came in he was old and not so well but when I saw him today he looked like a different guy. He’s now confined to a wheel chair and told me all about the struggle. I won’t go into further details of how his daily routine had changed but you can imagine.

As I left him I wished him the best, told him I was moving on and he said it was a good idea. When I first met him I told him I was going to hang out here for 2 months. He said a young guy my age hanging out here is plain stupid, “this is a good place to die”. So I wished him the best and he said good luck. Not sure if I’ll ever see him again.

What have I taken from this? Quite a bit actually… We’re not here for long people. Don’t worry what other people think about you or your lifestyle ever. The reality is… You can be hanging out and be “king kong” (whatever that means) in a circle of friends at some table. The next table over you’re a nobody. If you’re doing what you love and a somebody at some table that you enjoy, you’re living a good life.

Regards,

P.S: Outta here in ~2-3 days. Phase II about to go full throttle. You can’t see the world without, well, seeing the world. There may even be a 2 week “layover” somewhere I never thought I’d go and didn’t even know where it was on a map until recently.

P.P.S: Don’t forget about the Free Eurail Giveaway…

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