The day after Boxing Day marked a full month since I started travelling, November 27th to December 27th. It’s starting to sink in that this is my life now – living rough and always on my way to somewhere else, but also constantly exploring and seeing something brand new every day. I don’t regret a thing, but it is a dislocating lifestyle change that takes some adjusting to.
It helps that I’ve always been a bit nomadic. Since I left home for university at 18, I’ve never spent more than four years in any one place, so this trip is like a condensed version of the last ten years of my life. So the sting of something like spending Christmas overseas is softened by the fact that my family hasn’t done a traditional Christmas in years (we usually do something in November or January instead, to save on flights).
That’s not true for every backpacker, though. I spent Christmas Eve this year at a waterpark with a couple people who I’d met at the hostel, and you could hear the homesickness nobody wanted to talk about in the air as we chatted about Christmas traditions and messages from home.
A waterpark is a pretty effective distraction, though. It’s hard to think about home when you’re being dropped down a near-vertical waterslide.
As a kid I remember reading a book by Diana Wynne Jones (I think) about a boy who gets cursed to eternally wander through different universes. Every time he comes back to a place, decades have passed, so every person he meets is someone he’ll probably never see again, and because of the curse he has no choice to keep moving on. I think about that book every so often on this trip – although it’s been so long since I’ve read it that I’m incredibly fuzzy on the plot details (I think it turns out to involve something about the god Prometheus?).
One of the things I remember liking about that book is how the boy eventually gets so experienced in wandering through these worlds that he starts mentoring other people in how to navigate the same curse. I mention this because one of the things I’ve enjoyed doing here in Penang is sharing with other people what I’ve enjoyed about the city and making recommendations. I’m far from an old hand, but after a week and a half here I’ve gotten a decent feel for the city, so I can show people around the major attractions and make some new friends in the process.
But of course, the flip side of quickly making new friends while travelling is that it’s not long before you have to say goodbye to them. I’m no stranger to goodbyes, but the speed of backpacking life makes them almost surreal: People I’ve known for barely a week get warm wishes like I’ve known them for years, and vice versa. The internet closes the distances easily for people that are going far away, but it’s such a big world to get lost in. Despite our earnest wishes we all know the chances of casually crossing paths again are slim. So friendships begin intensely and end poignantly.
I don’t mean to be so melancholy. Despite the bittersweet tinges, this month has been the experience of a lifetime, and I’m incredibly fortunate that this is how I get to end what has been a difficult year for me. Any time I want, I can open up a map of the world and start planning out where I want to go next. I can say “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there!” and start booking tickets to actually go there. And that’s a great thing to look forward to.
Here’s to an amazing new year.
Harmon Moon 