From Don:
Changes – part 1
Alison has been an adventurous spirit all her adult life, me not so much: I immigrated to Canada from the U.K. when I was in my early 20’s and basically never went anywhere else apart from occasional trips back to England, and holidays in the United States.
All that changed after Alison and I married: we began taking six-week vacations every other year to different parts of the world: England and parts of Europe one trip, then Australia, the Cook Islands and North Vietnam for the next. Three weeks in Paris, a quick trip to Mexico. At that time even six weeks on the road seemed a long time to me. Once we became nomadic the trips kept getting longer and longer, stretching into months at a time away from our home base in Vancouver, even though we no longer had a home there. But there was part of me that was still treating these adventures as vacations: time away and then back “home” again. It was during our time in Vietnam, in 2010, that I first began to understand why people travel, and the traveller in me first began to awaken.
Our current venture involves a six-month trip around South America. For the first month or so I was still feeling that six months was a very long time to be away from “home”, but then on October 27 this year while we were in Piriapolis, Uruguay something shifted inside of me. Here’s what I wrote at the time:
I’ve loved the time we’ve spent in Piriapolis: lots of good food, good exercise and plenty of time to relax. I keep thinking about coming back to stay here for a few months, but then I think I’d get bored and stale if I was in the same place for such a long time. Also, it’s a very long way from Vancouver, so that probably wouldn’t work. It seems strange to me now in a number of ways to think about settling down to live in one place again: I really have become a nomad, at least for the time being. There’s nothing in me that wants to maintain a home or mow a lawn. The longest we’ve stayed anywhere in the recent past was in La Manzanilla and though I really needed most of our time there, I was also very ready to leave by the end – itchy feet. I still haven’t been anywhere, apart from Vancouver, that I could envisage as a permanent home.
At this point in my life, seventy-one years old, I feel and act much younger. I don’t think about my chronological age very often because it seems irrelevant to who I am and how I feel, and I’ve pretty much stopped ruminating about my various health issues that all seem to be manageable with a combination of allopathic and homeopathic medications. I’m healthy, I’m in a loving and supportive relationship, I have some dear friends, and I’m getting to see more of the world than I could have ever imagined seeing. Life is good and I feel very grateful for everything I have received and continue to receive. I’ve become a nomad, and right now I can’t imagine being anything else.
Changes – part 2
We’ve been on the road, nomadic, since September 2011. For the first two years the pattern for our travels was that we would decide the general area we wanted to go to and then Alison would begin to suggest some of the things we could go to see there. Her philosophy of travel was always “We’ve travelled all this way to this wonderful place, and there are all these amazing things to see and do here, so let’s go.” I was always reluctant initially to jump into any new adventure, partly because of money worries, and partly because of my fears that something bad might happen. But then eventually I would usually agree to go. Things slowly began to change when we were in Oaxaca in July this year. My backpack was stolen while I was having a good time watching an open-air performance. The biggest lesson of that event was that I needed to let go of an old teaching from my mother that it is not safe to feel joyful because if you do there’s sure to be sorrow just around the corner. That was the beginning of making a conscious decision to take the risk of enjoying the events we attended anyway, and then seeing if anything bad happened afterwards. What I soon discovered was that usually nothing bad happened, or if anything unexpected did happen it wasn’t because I’d enjoyed myself.
We went to Patagonia at the beginning of November this year. Before that we were in Buenos Aires for three weeks, and I was still a little hesitant about going to some of the places around town that we’d been warned about, like La Boca. But then something in me changed as soon as we got to El Calafate, the jumping-off town for seeing the glaciers of the great Southern Patagonia Ice Field. Suddenly I was the one wanting go on a new adventure every day: there were so many fabulous things to see and do, and I didn’t want to waste a second of our time there. We had 20 days in Patagonia and apart from taking two days off to recover when we both got colds, we were on the go all the time, and I loved every minute of it.
I like this new me: enthusiastic about life in a way I’ve never been up until now. I’ve got more life in me now than I had when I was in my 50’s, and I’m looking forward to even more great adventures as we continue our travels through South America. It ebbs and flows but the biggest thing is that I now experience a level of joy in life, in travelling, in exploring, that was never there before. As often as Alison these days I’m the one that says, “let’s go!”
PS from Alison: When we first started travelling even the mention of Africa brought a direct and emphatic no from Don. These days his response is sure, why not?
Photo of the day: Don at Iguazu right after our crazy boat ride into the falls
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted.
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2015.
The link to this post doesn’t work. It says “page not found”.
Lee
LikeLike
WP had been a bit weird today. What’s really weird is that you could ‘like’ and post a comment on a page that couldn’t be found. And Sharpey ‘liked’ it too. Before I published it I tried to view my draft and it kept saying Not found for that. To top it off the email I received saying you ‘liked’ this post also says that you blog at “Adventures in Wonderland” with our photo next to it lol!
Anyway thanks, glad you like this post.
Cheers
Alison
LikeLike
Way to go Don. Life is an adventure. Things to look forward to, things that excite us, keep us younger both mentally and physically. You are a model. –Curt
LikeLike
Thanks Curt,
The more I step into and face those places where fear resides the more enjoyable my life becomes. Don
LikeLike
Thank You for writing your own post Don. I think readers are very interested in the partner’s point of view. On our website, Travel To Little Known Places, T thinks very much like you!
LikeLike
Like Mr. T I’m usually the silent partner in the blogosphere. I took a look at your website and enjoyed the photos of your travels in China but couldn’t find any photos of Mr. T. Is he also the Invisible Man? : )
LikeLike
He is a little reserved, and prefers to remain less visible. Perhaps with your example, he might become a little more open and even do some writing – he’s an excellent writer himself. There is one picture of him on a zip line through the jungle on the Welcome page.
LikeLike
His face, Shirley, his face! What about his face? : )
LikeLike
ROFL… too funny! Well, that could be a challenge. He’s a bit camera-shy and a fairly private person as well, but he is coming around…. albeit slowly….
LikeLike
The smile on your face says it all…
LikeLike
There’s nothing like taking a freezing cold ]shower under a thundering waterfall to awaken more life in me.
Thanks,
Don
LikeLike
Love the photo. Absolutely full of joy and life!
LikeLike
Thanks Chipper,
There’s nothing like feeling close to drowning but not to get me appreciating life a lot more.
Don
LikeLike
Fabulous photo 🙂 love the singlet too!
LikeLike
Ganesha is my guy!
Thanks Annie,
Don
LikeLike
Shows how good my eyesight is! I thought it was a Buddhist deity ha ha!
LikeLike
Not surprising; the Ganesha on my tank top is all golden and sitting in a Buddha pose.
LikeLike
You two rock!
LikeLike
Thanks Cindy! 🙂
LikeLike
Fantastic post, Don! I love hearing about your emotional and psychological journeys every bit as much as your geographical ones. Your writing is very engaging, so it’s a pleasure hearing from you once in a while.
LikeLike
Thanks for the great feedback Kelly. Don
LikeLike
How lovely to find a partner to open your horizons. BTW: you look younger than your age. Got some nice bicep action going on there. Hugs to you both. xoxo
LikeLike
Aw, you say the nicest things Paulette. Hugs to you from us.
LikeLike
How good to hear from you Don, and your shift in thinking about letting go and truly living this nomadic life without fear.
LikeLike
When Alison and I began our nomadic journeys two years ago we thought that it was all about the outer journeys, when what we’ve become increasingly aware of as time has gone by is that’s it’s at least as much about the inner ones. As Tony Parsons always says “We’re just being done.” Thanks for you comments.
LikeLike
Way you go Don! I love to hear your side of story as I hope it inspire my husband to go on more adventurous nomadic life once we hit the road, as his reservation is always being not that fit for a long period travel.
Nina.
LikeLike
You can tell your hubby from me that the more I travel the fitter and tougher I get. I’ve also learned through hard experience to travel smarter: to take with me what I need in the way of over-the-counter medicines and prescription medications to help me stay healthy on the road, what to eat to stay healthy, and what foods to avoid if I can possibly help it (sometimes there’s no choice).
Each time before we go on a long trip we go to a travel medical clinic in Vancouver to consult with a travel medicine specialist who advises us on what immunisation shots we need and what anti-malarials and other drugs we should take with us.
Finally I should say that we began by going on relatively short trips of up to six weeks in duration, and even they seemed long at the time. Now we’re on a six-month odyssey around South America which seemed like a long time to be on the road when we began in late September this year but now I feel like we’re coasting comfortably along.
As I said in my post Alison was the one who encouraged me to be more adventurous, and now I bless her for that.
LikeLike
Wow what a life you had to live with…i love your own post and I love your T-shirt too…Ganesha…Jai Ganesha..
LikeLike
Thank you Alisha. Both Alison and I count our blessings every day for this wonderful and amazing life we’ve been granted. Jai Ganesha indeed!
LikeLike
Don, It’s so great to hear from you! And thanks for sharing your shifting attitudes and perceptions about travel and your nomadic life. Your joy and enthusiasm are infectious! 🙂 All the best, Terri
LikeLike
Hi Terri,
Thanks for the kind comments. I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to live such a wonderfully different life at my age. 🙂 Don
LikeLike
Don and Alison, a pleasure meeting you tonight! Wishing you the best on your travels and definitely research Colombia… it’s a magical place.
LikeLike
Likewise Jake, we really enjoyed meeting you and thanks for the Columbia promo. Don and Alison
LikeLike
Don,
You look and sound like Lance Armstrong before the doping scandal. 🙂
Love the realizations. I need to bookmark this post and read it every year. {{{hugs}}} Kozo
LikeLike
Thanks for all the kind words Kozo, even if Lance was doping before the scandal broke. I do not use drugs of any kind. My body is a holy temple slightly ravaged by the effects of wind and weather! P
{{{Hugs}}} Don
LikeLike
Wonderful and inspiring write 🙂 And your photo, really really energetic and colourful amidst the nature.
The Ganesha – I was wondering what exactly was it until you said “Ganesha is my Guy”!!!
LikeLike
Thank you so much for your kind words. I love Ganesha
LikeLike
I’m so behind on reading all of your blog posts (and on writing any myself!) While I’m throughly enjoying catching up, I just had to pause to say: you two inspire the hell out of me. Happy travels and I look forward to more!
LikeLike
Hi Mo,
How lovely to hear from you and to get your kind comments.We always enjoy hearing that we inspire others: thanks for the feedback.
Cheers from us,
Don and Alison
LikeLike
Slowly but surely making my way through your posts – not necessarily in chronological order! I was reading about your time in Patagonia today and wanted to let you know my upcoming post (in the next day or so) is about our most recent trip there, this time to Chilean Patagonia. Isn’t it a fabulous place – both Argentinian and Chilean?! We went back twice within a year; we simply could not get enough. Love, love, love your blog and your photos.
LikeLike
Thank you for reading! and for your lovely compliment. Patagonia is extraordinary. What a place! I look forward to reading your post. You have some pretty fabulous photos yoursef! Love the one of the Chinchero woman.
LikeLike