After almost 9 months of traveling
around, visiting old friends, making new friends, exploring amazing
places, being surrounded by numerous languages, it is time to put the
backpack away for a while. Time to settle down a little and enjoy
life in one place, where they speak English, have fixed prices on
everything, and stop all those long “chicken” bus rides through
windy roads. To some, Australia is just a continuation of travels as
it's another country, but for me, it's a stopping point. I'll be
living in Melbourne, paying rent and working for the first time in a
long while. It's time to get some structure in the life, and work,
and make money again to stock up for the future. The funds are
running mighty low!
I'll miss the life in Morocco, which
has been amazing. I've had lots of great adventures here and have
started a carpet export business through a manufacturer in the
seaside town of Essaouira. That's right, I'm taking expensive, one
of a kind, handwoven carpets with me to Australia to test the waters.
It's an unexpected, new venture, and should be a fun experience no
matter what happens. If it works out to be a good deal, I might be
doing more of this, to fund the travels and visit Morocco again.
Good vibes there with the right people.
Plus the little things in Morocco have
been adventurously fun, such as the Grand Taxi. The Grand Taxi is a
huge fleet of old 1980s or 90s Mercedes Benz sedans that they pile
two passengers in the front seat and 4 in the back. They run on set
lines, and only go when completely full (or if you pay for multiple
seats) and are quite entertaining to travel with. It's the cheap and
fast option of travel and gives you a local view of Moroccan life.
I'll also miss the Moroccans and their
tea, how each tea pot must have way too much sugar, and that each
glass has to be warmed first by pouring tea in each one, and then
back into the pot. This also mixes in the sugar with the hot tea, so
it serves two purposes. Remember to pour as high as you can to get
extra foam on top for proper mixing (no joke here).
By the time this is published, I'll be
in Melbourne, in a time zone way ahead of almost everyone reading
this. I'm taking the slow, cheap way of airline travel, using
frequent flier miles to ensure maximum satisfaction on a 4 airplane
journey taking 44 hours today, not including getting to and from
airports. Fun times ahead! All part of the adventure, of which I
stocked up on Moroccan food as snacks: mandarins (.25/kg), apples
(3/$.50), peanuts, dates and the classic peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches. Bring on the flights!
***Posting now after 2 flights.
Spending the night here at the airport in Barcelona before flying to
Singapore. All good so far, with light meals and fresh juices on
each flight. And only once did my suspicious carpet package have
undercover police come after me.
 | |
| Flight #2 |
 |
| Flight #1 |
No comments:
Post a Comment