Where do you want to go today?

The more I think about it, the more it feels right. Yet, even when I don't think about it, it feels right.

Don't worry. I have not turned into a pile of mush who fell "in love." (What is love anyway? Is there even a somebody meant for everybody? This is what I got from reading Mimi's blog.) I'm talking about travelling.

Travelling never felt wrong. I've never questioned myself whether I shouldn't be travelling at all. Travelling is one of the few things that feels right in my life. And I believe that a way to know if it is indeed meant to be is if you've never doubted it's role or possible effect in your life in a hugely, significantly negative way. So other things I categorize together with travelling, in my life of course, are: photography, writing, taking Anthropology after I complete my Biology degree, and recently, becoming an archaeologist of sorts (probably the only ambition I never doubted all these years). Going to the US for undergraduate studies felt right at first but then, as I needed to make a final decision, I suddenly doubted it. Then the gut feeling came: this probably isn't meant to be.

Being confused does not always follow doubting something though. Because sometimes the effect certain things have on us are so sublime in that "I don't know how to explain it but it's just is" way that it confuses us.

So, photography, no matter how much of an expensive hobby never felt wrong. And certainly, I've never felt bad about making a career out of photography, despite the cons of being an unestablished photographer. As for writing, I never get tired of writing. I write when I want to write. As for my undergraduate degree plans, I'd probably feel a bit incomplete if I only take Anthropology. After all, if I'm going after forensic arachaeology or paleoarchaeology, Biology is a good foundation.

As for becoming an archaeologist, I've come to the conclusion that not everybody or every just-interested type of viewer feels deathly thrilled and excited watching a second-by-second drilling of a hole into a never-been opened Egyptian tomb on National Geographic. I actually came to the realization, while watching Tut Unveiled on NatGeo, that my extreme excitement and giddyness over both archaeology expeditions and boring Egyptology voice-overs on National Geographic Channel is not a so-so thing. I used to think of it as so-so because it is normal to me after all, but not to the rest of channel-surfers or idiot box captives out there.

And travelling. Exploring the globe. Crossing (political) boundary after boundary. Traversing a borderless world. Experiencing different cultures. Experiencing global culture. Drinking wine after a morning spent walking down a pristine, unknown beach in the South of France. Sitting quietly, thinking of nothing but just savoring the moment while seated on a bench by the canal running the length of the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto during Cherry Blossom season. Riding a camel to somewhere outside the city in Saudi Arabia. Watching the sun set amongst rested pharaos of a time long gone in Egypt. Mingling half-drunk with other revelers during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or completely sober taking photographs. Alone in a gondola in the middle of the night in Venice wherein after a while, I put on my earphones and listen to Suede's Stay Together (instead of some Italian song), completely loveless in a lovely city, enjoying and going meolodramatic over that state at the same time (or with one other friend in the gondola, although we're both completely silent). Among monks in or on the grounds of Ankor Wat. Staring out the window of an Irish pub, that is actually in Ireland, into the street as the sun sets late at 11 in the evening. Enjoying lively nights in Trinidad and Tobago (my dad proposed relocating to Trinidad & Tobago, which I refused at first but am now completely supporting.) Happily riding a donkey, going around the "old town" portions of Sicily. A picnic with friends and friends of friends, that I've met along the way, on the picnic-friendly lawns of Eiffel Tower. An electric, electronic night with psychedelic lights in some club in Roponggi with Japanese and expat friends. Inside some diner in Kabul where I can watch the world go by.

It would be nice to be alone but even nicer to have a friend or two to spend each of those moments with together. Travelling is always more fun and funnier when done together with other people.

I think travelling day dreams are one way to get to know a person. I sure did a number of stuff in this one.

How about you, what are the things that feel right to you?

Where do you want to go, what do you want to do?

Isn't the "Where do you want to go today?" a Microsoft tagline or something? What a good philosophical line to think over.