The Worldly Traveller that I am.

I want to talk about Alex Alexander today. I’m sorry, that’s the only name I know. Hahaha…

Ok. He’s a Alex from Nepal originally from England who’s May’s friend who worked in a monastery in Nepal teaching English to monks. That about covers all that I know about him… not extensively at least.

He’s 19 years old, 1 month 10 days older than me…and the differences between us two 19-year-olds are as wide as the Atlantic. Alex from Nepal has been to, well, Nepal, India, Thailand, Singapore (ok, I’ve been there too… but judge it based on the number of countries that he’s been), Japan, France, Australia, stays in London and sometimes in the great US of A, was going to New Zealand and wants to go to Tibet, South America, Morocco etc etc. He amazes me.

Can you imagine the experiences that he’s gained? He’s done everything that I could only read from storybooks and watch from Travel Discovery and Adventure and dream from the Bank of Melanie’s Dreams. It’s insane. It’s crazy. I’m damned envious.

Here’s my point. He’s a guy. I’m a girl. Never in my entire life, until I hit the age of 30 would my parent’s ever let me travel all alone (yes, he traveled by himself) and even if I could travel then, it’d be too late. The novelty and excitement and stamina that you had when you were a 19-20 something-year-old would be lost forever. Girls have always had it harder. Don’t do this, don’t wear that, go out with a group or else you’ll get kidnapped, raped, murdered and dumped at the side of the road. Yea, girls always get the worse-case scenario. Not that I have anything against advice like that. It makes sense and probably has saved many a girls’ lives. What I’m trying to say is that I YEARN for the kind of freedom that a boy would get.

Second point. I’m asian. The asian mentality has always been,

“Study. Work. Make money. Hoard it in the bank. Pass it to your kids. Watch the cycle reiterate”

There is just no time for play, for discovery (other than discovering which bank gives you the highest interest rate, or which job pays the most). It’s always study first, play later. Asian mentality. Not that I have anything against that either. It’s just that I would prefer to take some time off for myself and not rush into anything, like uni for instance. A gap-year, like what Alex is doing now would have been great for me… I’ve even proposed the idea to my mom long ago, but all she said was,

“Don’t be mad.”

Yes, to jeopardize your education is a hint of craziness and must be crushed instantly from the abscesses of the consciousness. The sooner you enter university, the earlier you finish your course, the faster you get work and join the rat race, the quicker you earn cash. Thank god I’m in marine biology. At least it’s something that I love to do.

Point 3. I’m an only-child. No way, and I mean, no way in hell would my parents let their one and only, apple of the eye, precious little baby darling out into this wide world, to travel, even though it may be with a group of friends. Nope, nada, no way, mai non. Not gonna happen. There’s always a perverted traveler out there preying on young women travelers. And once again, you’ll be trapped, kidnapped, raped, murdered and dumped, but this time, at the side of some foreign street where they’ll bury you in some unknown graveyard and no one will ever come and visit your grave. The worst case scenario all over again. The feeling of protectiveness over an only child is great… you people with brothers and sisters will never imagine or even come close to it. So stop thinking that being and only child is THE best. It’s not… ok, maybe sometimes it is. But only when the loneliness does not get you first.

So there you have it. Why I’m envious of Alex Alexander from Nepal May’s friend who’s traveled nearly the whole world and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to match up to him.

*sigh*

It’s true what they say. You can’t beat watching Everest from your bedroom window in some guesthouse along the many trekking trails in Nepal compared to watching Everest from your couch with a glass of coke and a bag of chips on Discovery Travel and Adventure.

May’s lucky. She’s watched Everest from some guesthouse along the many trekking trails in Nepal. LUCKY GIRL!

One day. I would like to go to Austria and Germany. And visit the Louvre and gape at the Mona Lisa and eat spaghetti marinara in some Italian café along the cobbled paths and climb the mountains where Heidi lived and see the ruins of the Incas and the Aztecs in South America and ride a camel and crawl into the pyramids and pluck wild flowers from the magical sylvan forests of England.

One day.