Departure

Travel is an interesting animal. I look forward to it, but hate it when it arrives. I love the idea of going places, seeing things, doing things, it is just the actual travel to the places where I am going and seeing and doing that I dislike.

As I have written before in the blog, travel is largely a process of waiting for things. You wait for the taxi, and then wait in queue to check-in. You slouch about in the departure area to have your flight called, wait for the luggage at the carousel and then wait some more for rental cars, taxis, hotels, etc.

Travel is also odd because it does not seem to matter how much stuff I leave with, even if I do no shopping, use up consumables, discard any damaged items, lose an item or two and give-away the items that I brought with me to give as gifts, there always seems to be more in my bags when I pack to return than there was when I left. My bags when I came down here weighed about 25 kilograms. Having given away a few things, drank the five bottles of wine that I had in my checked bags, discarded a cheap pair of sandals I had acquired specifically for this trip, given away some of the clothing that I can no longer wear and delivered a gift I carried down here, my bags now weigh about 28 kilograms.

I have bought a couple souvenirs (small carved animals for my curio cabinet back home) but those are all in my camera bag and so add no weight to my checked bag. It's odd…

Oh well. It is a mystery for another time. Right now, I am sitting on the patio of my friends' flat in Ballito enjoying one final quiet morning, staring out to sea. I can see the breakers just above the screen of my laptop. Now, this is an office with a view! This morning we've got to return the keys to the flat we let for the past few weeks and we're going to try checking-in for our flight to get good seats. That done, we just have to find a way to entertain ourselves until about one when we leave for the airport. (Preferably, this will be one that does not involve shopping; I have too much stuff already!)

Wherever you are today, I hope that your morning is passing in a pleasant way!

Don Bergquist – 19 November 2007 – Ballito, South Africa