The sky is blue, the water blue but the only thing blue about me is the teacup steaming by my breakfast pastry. The hostel resident dog is standing at attention thinking he might get some extra sympathy from a naive tourist. Not today pup.
While I'm sure i am a little naive i am really more than a little unsure what to do with my days. I had read that this happens to most people when the first start vagabonding. I've been so used to going and doing the past few years and now that i have nothing to specifically go to or things that need doing, i have frequent bouts of anxiety about that.
Now i know i might seem like the dog moping for sympathy. poor Nick. stuck in sunny Brazil. Somebody tell him what to do! My pal Lindsay said "Update your damn blog!" in a recent FB comment. Thats not a bad idea.
So today I was about to depart for Ihla Grande, a tropical island eco preserve 3 hours south of Rio, but alas the weather report says nothing but clouds and rain the next 3 days, and I am to head to Bolivia on Friday with a few travel, so i guess i missed my chance. Afraid to go there in the rain as 25 tourists were buried in an avalance last January during heavy rains. Thats a rational fear, right?
Its not like there's a lack of things to do in Rio, though. My favorite past time so far is to grab my goofy Ipanema touristy beach towel and slather sunscreen on the bod and catch some rays on Ipabema Beach just down the block from my hostel. If all else fails, if i come up with no other activities, why not just lay on the beach and while away the day.
Honestly this has been the most relaxing part of my trip so far. That's when it finally sunk in that i really am on the road indefinately, and while there's no reason why i should lay on the beach all day, there's also no particular reason i shouldn't. Now that was a revelation, and one that instantly made me realize just why every year millions of North American's choose to spend their entire vacations doing just that, flying to sandy, sun drenched, palm tree lined crescent beaches the world over. A quick google check reported 1,800,000 U.S. citizens flew to the Caribbean and the same to Mexico in 2010 already!
[Discovered a new favorite band the other day that I can't recommend enough. They are from LA and are called Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's. A so called 'hippy musical enemble' led by 31 year old Alex Ebert, former known as Ima Robot. They have a cast of about 15 total musicians and have a style that is part 70's rock opera and part sufjan stevensesque brass band explosion. His vocals are sung with ardent passion, the lyrics at times apocalyptic and at times very simple but also profound via the delivery. Like my two favorite's: Home and Jade. Listen to them here. Altogether lovely and inspiring- inspiring me to love other's and to keep my chin up. ]
One meets many people on the road, including, alas, oneself. So here we are again, eh? Pam says dig in; I say get drunk and dig in to someone else, preferably, someone pretty. Just kidding (they can be ugly). Okay, seriously, I remember the anxiety of travel, and the uncertainty about one's purpose and identity---outside of community etc our identity seems up for grabs, amorphous. To be expected and reflected upon and SHARED with others in person or writing. This is an appropriate, no, THE appropriate subject of travel writing. Write about what you find, inside and out. That's the real journey.We enjoy hearing about your travels, and the psychological road too. Bye for now nick nack james
ReplyDeletegreat seeing these updates from you, Nick! looks like you're having a blast. think i'm gonna need to fly out and meet up with you somewhere on your journeys...take care, buddy.
ReplyDelete-Tojo