Life is suffering- Mon 12/29/08

Dear All,

There seem to be three basic types of long-term traveler. The fundamentalists, the rational seekers, and the lifers.

The fundamentalists feel that if the country they are living in or traveling through has not recently been bombed to smithereens or is still seeded with land mines then it has been overdeveloped and it is time to move on. I have met people who buy tickets to countries just after some tragedy has struck because they know that this is a sure-fire way to get away from "tourists". I think that I would prefer to hang out with tourists than trauma victims, but I can see the need to get away from "it" all in an ever-shrinking world.

The rationalists are open to anything but still care about being able to get decent medical treatment if the need arises. These fine folk are a very committed lot but we are an endangered species here in Bali where the bulk of foreigners are either here for a few days or here for a few decades. We pretend that we live here and though some of us do end up staying, most know that they are going to leave at some point for other places or to return home.

The lifers have set up shop for good so the only thing to do is to work at developing this place into one they feel at home in. They have houses, businesses, local staff, the whole nine yards. It's going native in style...hopefully not colonial style.

These days I am falling somewhere in-between the rationalists and the fundamentalists. I'm rebelling against the lifers because I feel too damn comfortable here. My days are developing a tinge of the mundane. This is in large part because I live in an awesome house now. When you are staying in a bungalow without a kitchen and rooms to spare, you are constantly reminded that you are somewhere different; somewhere not home. Nowadays, I feel like I'm living in Bali and not just here to develop my cooking skills. This is strange to me.

When we travel do we really want the comforts of home? If I did...well then, wouldn't I have just stayed in New York? That is not to say that I seek suffering and gross accommodations. It is to say that a little too much familiarity and one could start questioning the whole enterprise.

There is something to the idea that too much comfort is not a good thing. When we fall into this trap, we start taking things for granted, which is just a hop-step away from devaluing them. I am starting to feel normal about ducking to avoid hitting my head on the banyan vines that hang over parts of my morning commute. I'm starting to think that it is perfectly normal to see 80 year old women walking down the street with 8 foot sections of palm trees balanced on their heads. The roads (God help me) often make sense now. I hesitate to leave Ubud because the hour drive to the coast often seems like too much of a hassle.

What the hell is that all about? How can I be anything less than amazed all the time? Have I overdosed on the unusual? How do we strike a balance between too much comfort and being 'out there' for too long? How do we do this when we are on the road and the whole point seems to be experiencing new things and experiencing the familiar in new ways?

This could be why the fundamentalists are constantly looking for the next harsh terrain, the next risky adventure. They are probably, like me, a little terrified that the awesome and the exciting will become the 'not that exciting' or the 'I remember when I thought that was awesome'. They don't want to become a fixture in a foreign landscape. A little further from home but fundamentally the same as everyone else.

Love,
Alex