I Had Salad For Lunch AGAIN Today

 

Liz: Do You know what I felt when I woke up this morning, Delia? Nothing! No passion, no spark, no faith, no heat, absolutely nothing! I think I’ve really gotten pass the point where I could be calling this a bad moment. And it just, it terrifies me. Jesus, this is worse than death to me. The idea that this is the person I’m gonna be from now on?!

Delia: You know what? This happens to people. They fall in love in their 20s, they get married, they do the granit counter top, white picket fence thing in their 30s. And somewhere in there they realize ‘this is not for me anymore’. And so they fail, they fall down, they hurt like hell, they straighten up and march their bruised asses to the shrink’s office. They can’t just check out.

Liz: I am not checking out. I need to change.

Delia: You have a support system here, Liz. You have friends and family who love you.

Liz: And do you feel my love? For you? My support for you? No! There’s like nothing! I have no pulse! *sigh* I’m going to Italy.

Delia: Italy? Why Italy.

Liz: What did you have for lunch today?

Delia: I don’t know. Salad?

Liz: Exactly. I used to have this appetite, for food, for my life. And it is just gone. I just want to go someplace where I can marvel at something. Language, gelatto, spaghetti.. something!

Opportunity Costs

“The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.”

 ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
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Opportunity Costs.  A crumby business related degree, four years of my life that I will never get back, and fourty grand later... Wow. I am a rockstar. And this is pretty much the extent of which I learned... probably because it was the only business definition my itchy feeted self could apply to a desire to travel... that of: "opportunity costs."

With only five weeks until departure, my thoughts are a whirlwind. Already my emotions are a mix of frustration, fear, excitement, regret, curiosity. Why? Well, it all really comes down to this very concept: opportunity costs.

Ten years ago, a much younger version of myself found herself sitting in an introductory economics class. Here is what my younger self has chinese whispered to my present self:

" Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen). It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone who has picked among several mutually exclusive choices.^"
Put more simply, the opportunity cost is also the "cost" (as a lost benefit) of the forgone products after making a choice.

For example, if I desired to watch each of two television programs being broadcast simultaneously, and did not have the means to make a recording of one, I could watch only one of the desired programs. Therefore, the opportunity cost of watching Dexter could be not enjoying the other program (such as Prison Break). If I record one program while watching the other, the opportunity cost will be the time that I spent watching one program versus the other. In a restaurant situation, the opportunity cost of eating a gourmet burger might be trying the pasta dish. The opportunity cost of ordering both meals could be twofold: the extra $20 to buy the second meal, and my reputation with my peers, as I may be thought of as greedy or extravagant for ordering two meals.

How in the name of god does this relate to our upcoming adventure you may ask? Heading out on the adventure of a lifetime, every day becomes a Saturday. Afternoons spent lazing at the beach, the ambition of the day being landing that perfect fruit smoothie, discovering a sixth sense with the plethora of sights, smells, and sounds, a nap in a flower garden, giggling with the local children and watching their faces light up when you take them to the nearby candy stand to buy them a treat their parents could never afford to buy them, partaking in local song and dance, checking in to new exotic rooms... lingering stress free days ahead.

But of course all of this comes with a price***. I know this. I have been here many times before. While leaving a life of routine and luxury for a world of mosquito nets and filth can be an invigorating and humbling experience... one never does truly forget the comforts of home that they have chosen to leave behind to make room for a backpack way of life and travel adventure. The costs as I see it:

1). My bed. I once described this beauty as a marshmallow heaven cloud. After three years spent rotating between an assortment of floor mats, closet air mattresses, and bunks, I remember feeling as though I had died and gone to heaven when I landed this beaut. She is beautiful, she has been good to me, always there for me, and three years later- I will miss her. Muah! She does not fit in Murkle, and so Cornwall will welcome her.

 2). People, friends, roomates, a love/hate water bottle affair with a kitten named "Gretchen", a sledding down stairs ice cream eating partner from first year & a "little sister":

 

 

3). Papasan LOVE:

 

 

 

4). Rideau Canal. Good times. Bad times. Cold times. Good times. Who needs meditation or over priced gym memberships when you`ve got this at your front step?

 

 

5). Murkle. I hate her. She takes me to point A to B... and heck, I for the first time in my life, I don`t need to walk there. I love her. (ps. this was NOT my parking job! wahhh)

6). A Modern Bathroom. With proper modern toilet.... and sigh... gulp... sink!

 

 

7). Job Security. This is perhaps the scariest thing to  throw to the wind. Times before, the jobs I had were ones that I would have gladly said adios to. This past month, I reached temporary status at work and have been enjoying weekly massages as a result. With a buffet of positions once at my fingertips, I turned a blind eye to them. Will they still be available to me when I get back? It dawned on me the other day that in two short weeks, the balance of my bank account is destined to only go in one direction from here on in... and that direction is down... eeeeek!
 

 

8). The ability to bake my own stuff & the convenience of a kitchen at my fingertips. Eating out of boxes gets old.

 

 

7). A closet full of clothes and somewhere to put new purchases.

 

A Bucket List for India!

A one way ticket has been purchased. A 1229 page guidebook has been borrowed from the local library. My passport is en route to the Indian Consulate in Toronto. The final decisions and plans are being made as we prepare for the subcontinent that is India.

I can't remember how it came about that India suddenly eased its way into our plans. Nor do I remember the exact moment when our sister Angela decided to join Marcella and I for 8 weeks in Asia. But that is one of the most exciting things about travel: most often, well intentioned/ laid out itineraries can take a complete 360 degree turn. Sometimes, for the better, as I expect our two new additions to our Asian adventure will prove in time.

Southeast Asia has never really interested me. Maybe it is because I have spent too much time watching human trafficking and Filipino guerilla documentaries. It could also be that I have always had pre-concieved notions of it being a continent overpopulated with highly disturbed Western men seeking cheap thrills. Or that I once had the pleasure of hearing a first-hand account of how a man had his kidney ripped out of him while taking a bath in his hotel room. Therefore, I think I might have been the one to suggest India. I wasn't entirely sold on only visiting SE Asia. I have wanted to go to India for a long time, but never wanted to travel there alone. I always felt that the culture shock and extremes of humanity would be too difficult to bear on my own. I also knew that Angela had a desire to visit India as well. When it was decided that Angela was going to be joining us, I might have suggested that India be included.

So, with only a few weeks left before departure, I have been learning more about and researching India, and as always, have made many lists.........

My 10 Personal Musts For India:

1. Visit the Taj Mahal (I know, I know, how original, but I really want to have my picture taken Lady Di style!).
2. Take part in the health, yoga, bicycle, and beach culture in Goa.
3. Have a "Sleeve tattoo" done completely in henna.
4. Explore markets. I want to purchase and wear authentic colorful saris and bangles.
5. Watch the sun set, then stay up all night and wait for the sun to rise in some part of the countryside (I try to do this at least once in every country that I visit. It is one of my favorite things to do).
6. Indian cuisine is my favorite ethnic food. I plan on eating as much of it as I can, hopefully without falling victim to Delhi belly.
7. Ride a camel, camp in the desert, and sleep in the sand dunes somewhere in Rajasthan.
8. Visit Mumbai because it is the Bollywood capital and I am a nerd.
9. Visit one of the tiger parks in Madhya Pradesh.
10. Take a gondola ride along the Ganges River and a boat ride through the lakes in Kerala.