The Wanderlusting Expat

I’m joyfully and anxiously apartment hunting in Prague in...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:11:20 -0500

I’m joyfully and anxiously apartment hunting in Prague in anticipation of the mad-dash for housing that will occur once I arrive there next month. For the first month, I will be staying in the TEFL school’s accommodations. After that, I’m hoping this baby is still available….

This beauty lived at the Bija Vidyapeeth Farm in Dehradun. What...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:56:35 -0500

This beauty lived at the Bija Vidyapeeth Farm in Dehradun. What a doll.

Driving through Central Washington this weekend for our last...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:06:00 -0500

Driving through Central Washington this weekend for our last road trip until we move to Prague next month, we noticed a bit of eerie beauty across the landscape. Not snow…not ice…but a frozen fog had settled in and frosted everything in its path. Every branch, every leave, every blade of grass. Even this cowboy and his frontier woman. I’m going to miss this state.

We all have dreams, Paige ; )

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:21:00 -0500

We all have dreams, Paige ; )

Wedding Procession at the Meiji Jingu Temple. Yoyogi Park,...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:19:14 -0500

Wedding Procession at the Meiji Jingu Temple. Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan

The Un-Glamorous Side of Wanderlusting

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:02:00 -0500

Moving 6000 lbs of furniture, sportng equipment, art supplies, computer equipment, clothing and an unmentionable amount of knick-knacks from Spokane, Washington to Prague. I am repacking boxes that I only weeks ago UNPACKED from our move 1.5 years ago from Okinawa, Japan. What was that quote about the definition of insanity?

So what result are we hoping for, you ask? Seeking happiness in a land that boasts a greener shade of grass? True, there’s always the chance that Prague will be boring, uninspiring, unwelcoming…but I’m betting not. Even my darkest hours traveling alone in India (fearing my safety in the alleyways of Paraganj, celebrating Christmas with strangers while my husband was thousands of miles away) taught me something, and those moments are the most poignant in my memories.

Ah! There’s little time for reflection in these parts—too much to do! I need to finish painting some furniture (seriously), pack up my kitchen, and prepare for this weekend’s trip to Olympia to see some very dear friends. (Whom, had we not taken the leap to move to Okinawa in 2007, WE WOULD NEVER HAVE MET. Perish the thought.)

And that, my friends, is the very best side of Wanderlusting.

Lanterns at Dusk. Tokyo, Japan

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:21:13 -0500

Lanterns at Dusk. Tokyo, Japan

Taking in the view from Kyoto Tower

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:28:00 -0500

Taking in the view from Kyoto Tower

My first day in Paris this spring, visiting my sister.

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:30:00 -0500

My first day in Paris this spring, visiting my sister.

Festival performers in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo.

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:20:29 -0500

Festival performers in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo.

My interpretation of David Lebovitz’s Tarte au Chocolat

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:36:00 -0500

My interpretation of David Lebovitz’s Tarte au Chocolat

Learning how to make authentic Tibetan momo’s at...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:44:00 -0400

Learning how to make authentic Tibetan momo’s at Sangye’s Kitchen in McLeod Ganj, though I think the Chocolate Momo’s were a western spin on the traditional…

On the Farm. Bija Vidyapeeth-outside Dehradun, India

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:21:00 -0400

On the Farm.

Bija Vidyapeeth-outside Dehradun, India

Girls in Black. Pushkar, India. I love this picture, but it...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:30:00 -0400

Girls in Black. Pushkar, India.

I love this picture, but it brings up a less-than-friendly encounter I had in the small city of Pushkar. I did not choose to stay in Pushkar because it was such a hot bed of tourism, and instead found a hotel in the nearby Ajmer instead. When I did take a day-trip to the fabled city, I was immediately approached by several young people, insisting they be my “guides” to the city. I turned down one offer after another, preferring to see the city on my own, and also because at that point I had become exhausted of people asking me for money for something that they initially seemed to be doing out of the kindness of their hearts. More on this later.

So these two girls approached me and I asked if I could take their picture. They were so incredibly striking with their black veils, charcoal rimmed-eyes and painted mouths. After I took the photo, they asked me if I wanted a Henna tattoo, which I politely refused, not wishing to spend the $1.50 I was sure they’d charge me at the end (which is more than the lunch I was about to eat). Then one of them grabbed my hand quite firmly and pulled it to the other one who immediately started decorating it with Henna. I tried to yank my hand back but she had a tight grip. When I finally did retrieve my hand, I was so frustrated that I walked around Pushkar clutching my purse and talking to no one.

This brings up a few points. First, as a Western traveler in certain countries, and particularly in India, you are constantly bombarded by requests for handouts. It can start to seem like you are marked. While we wander about the globe, we look for that picture-perfect encounter with a local that does not end with a request for cash. We long for an un-developed world not constrained by the dictates of our very consumerist culture, and are turned off when that consumerism follows us wherever we go. We’re irritated by the hustle, and yet, that hustle is a direct result of the developing countries trying to catch up to the status of the developed economies. In other words, we created the game, they just play it.

Secondly, the realization came to me over the course of the day as I looked in my viewfinder of the photo I’d taken of those girls that while I expected to get a gorgeous photo of them—for free—I was irritated that they tried to get money from me for a Henna tattoo. They could have declined to pose for my picture unless I paid them. The photos of my trip are, after all, the most precious souvenirs I took away from the sub-continent. But I wanted them for free, and couldn’t be bothered to spend the buck-fifty to buy what they were selling.

I related this story and realization to an Irish photographer whom I met later on the trip. I told him that if I took a photo of someone who was selling something, I gave them some change, as I thought it was a fair trade. He said I was ruining it for the rest of the tourist-photogs, and now all the Indians were going to start charging.

I’m not sure what the answer is. I don’t like the idea of commodifying every little experience in a journey that is supposed to be about revelation and learning. Looking at this picture, though, I do wish I’d let the girls Henna my hands—I might have taken away something wonderful from the experience.

The view from my hotel in Udaipur, India. My favorite city in...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:13:52 -0400

The view from my hotel in Udaipur, India. My favorite city in India.

Jaipur, India

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:11:32 -0400

Jaipur, India

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:37:49 -0400

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Man in Green. Ajmer, India.

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:00:37 -0400

Man in Green. Ajmer, India.

Spotted Goats. Ajmer, India

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:20:47 -0400

Spotted Goats. Ajmer, India

Ladies gossiping. Ajmer, India

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:13:26 -0400

Ladies gossiping. Ajmer, India