Life in the Middle Seat

12/29

It's almost the new year, and you would definitely know it by the crowdedness of this flight. Lisa and I are on our way home to San Francisco. An auspicious place in an auspicious time - San Francisco two days before the new year. Lisa and I are going home early to attend to her father's health. We both decided it was the right thing to do. As Tikka, the Nepali guide said to me once, "Life is important". I don't think I could have said it better, myself.

Since we had open-ended return tickets, we were able to book a flight for today. Since beggars cannot be choosers, Lisa and I take separate seats. We are in separate rows along the middle aisle in the middle seat, the most coveted seat on an airplane if you are a sardine.

The middle seat should serve as the appropriate seat, as I feel like I have lived life in the middle seat for some time now. Between jobs and between livelihoods, this trip has served as some sort of passageway from one phase of my life to the next. Maybe I'm laying the metaphor on a bit thick, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I've been asked by some about whether or not I will return to Asia. Most definitely. As for when,I reply 'when the time is right'. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what I mean by that, but something tells me that I'll know when the time will come to return.

So now comes the age old questions: What country did you like the best? What have you learned? How has your life changed? I feel like I'm answering the essay for a college entrance application. It would be easy to come up with short, canned, terse answers to the above questions. I would be lying to myself if I took this approach. Instead, I can share with you only my raw thoughts of the moment.

Thoughts on Asia
1. I have seen extreme poverty and realize that everyone in the western world is amazing wealthy compared to the majority of Asia.

2. I wish I could say that I loved all of the people from all of the places we visited. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I still hold prejudices and still become quite uncomfortable when I'm completely out of my element. I've also learned to accept this, deal with it, and focus on positive thoughts.

3. I've learned that the best meal you can have is the food from that country. Accept no substitutes.

4. I've learned that Lisa and I can get through any situation together and laugh about it later.



I am resisting the need to summarize the entire trip, especially since I don't consider this to be the end of the trip. I always hate endings, anyways. Take the movies, for example. The movie ends, and you have to get out of your seat only to walk over spilled popcorn and soda cans. You could say this trip was like a trip to the movies. I would say it was more like watching the first two Lord of the Rings movies. It's been a great start, but you know there's more to the story. So I guess I'm finished for now, then. I'll settle down for a bit in San Francisco. I'll attend to my practical matters. I'll settle down with Lisa, my true companion. I'll catch up with family and old friends. I'll pay my taxes, and I'll try to look out for the spilled popcorn and the soda cans on the way out.


Thank you for all of your support and emails. And remember to keep travelling, wherever you are.

--Travelling Sherman