Going travelling was always on the bucket list and boy, did it not disappoint. I can't say I miraculously found myself (as I've been asked countless times), but I definitely learned a lot during my time travelling South East Asia and plan to share some of my personal perspective takeaways.
Without further ado, let's get straight into it.
(me pondering around & not getting straight into it)
1 - Proud to be British
I was never a Patriotic person if I'm being completely honest, my love for England went as far as the World Cup but fuck me do we have it easy in our country and I think it's only when you step outside the continent that you truly realise just how fortunate we are to be born in this part of the world and specifically in this amazing country. Let me explain...
Throughout Asia, you have to seriously graft from dusk to dawn. I spoke to an old woman who stirred coconut seeds on an open fire from 6am - 6pm and earnt the equivalent of £5 for the entire days work. With this they are expected to pay their rent, their bills, feed their children without a penny for themselves.
MATE, just imagine being on £5 an hour let alone £5 for the entire day, we've got train drivers on strike earning upwards of £100,000 a year and they're still demanding more. We theoretically do not even need to work and the government would bail us out with benefits and a house to live in.
I'm also proud to be British because of how forward thinking our people are (generally speaking, alongside other European countries), I didn't realise how outdated the rest of the world is in regards to (what I see as) basic equality agendas. The sexism showcased is blatant with no respect to women let alone opportunities.
Don't you dare expose yourself as having feelings towards the same gender or you will be shunned. They will charge different prices for entry depending on your skin colour, can you imagine if England done that for Big Ben? Charged an "English Rate" and a "Foreigner Rate" based on skin colour alone, it's so openly racist with no consideration of why that would be deemed as wrong (I do get why they do it because our money goes further, but to base it on how you look is racist as opposed to your passport / residential details and it's normalising the prejudice of skin colour which is outwardly what we are trying to move away from).
The worst one for me was seeing barely anybody that was disabled, autistic, special needs, impaired people walking the streets as we all typically would in Kent for instance. Initially I thought this could be something to do with different gene pools with less mutation or cultural differences that meant in Asia there were generally less so I decided to research why this was the case.
It turns out that in Asia it is actually a social disgrace to give birth to a baby that is (to no fault of their own) disabled, in which the baby is killed or the baby is locked away for it's lifetime to preserve the family's social status (see source here). How fucked is that? It's these small things that make me extremely grateful to be British, things that was previously taken for granted, we have it easy and we do our best to make it fair regardless of age, sex, orientation or impairment and for a country striving towards equality I respect.
Plus everyone speaks our language, even in the North Vietnam Mountains bordering China they could speak fluent English. Our ancestors gratefully so carved the way for us and we should all be both privileged and proud to be British.
(North Vietnam: Ha Giang Loop - would 100% recommend, some of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see)
2 - Do we have it too easy?
This leads on to my next point which is do we have a life nowadays that is actually too easy, we can kind of mope around if we like and get by. I'm not saying it would be a good standard of life but we would survive...
Now picture if we done this when we were hunter gatherers, if we moped around, do you think that we would find food? Do you think that we would find a mating partner to repopulate the species? Do you think that we would be safe in our territory just lazing around like a sloth with no poison? We are so fucking blessed to have the capabilities of the human body and the mental fortitude of the human mind.
We can climb mountains, we can swim channels, we are all capable of so much but what is the point when we have everything to survive without even trying? Could this be the reason for ever soaring anxiety / depression rates?
I'm just chucking off the cuff theories out there with 0 evidence but it's definitely an interesting perspective, because despite them working like slaves in Asia for near to no money they were all happy (other theories click here). But they all served a purpose within their families and their small communities, they appeared more connected..
I also felt an itch when I was away travelling, when I first got out there I was enjoying the views, the sun, the sights, the people, the activities but there was a small itch growing as the months rolled on that came from having no responsibilities. As weird as it sounds, there was a part of me that actually wanted to work, that wanted to serve more of a purpose, to challenge myself. It's similar to how we all want that sunny holiday but actually after a day or two sat on the beach towel we kind of get bored without knowing what to do.
Due to this, we did decide to do a few challenging things that I'll remember for a lifetime such as trekking through the thick of a jungle to sleep in an open bat cave with wild Porcupines scurrying throughout the night and the occasional waft of fresh elephant poo; climbed the second tallest mountain of Indonesia (Mt. Rinjani, 3786m.), surpassing an active Volcano in a gruesome 3 day exhibition. This is when I felt most alive. This when I felt the energy of other people come alive. We are designed to seek responsibility and push ourselves beyond limits.
(a handful of snippets from Teman Negara & Mt Rinjani)
3 - Earth is pretty big mate
Obviously, the Earth has quite the surface area but my point here is that we get wrapped up in the stresses of all the small details far too easily when nothing really matters. I would live in Tonbridge & Malling, drive to Kings Hill, do my Personal Training and that was pretty much my life. I'd get entangled with all the unnecessary dramas that feels like it means something but actually doesn't matter when zooming out. I recall seeing a quote that stuck with me:
"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere in the world, then I asked myself the same question". - Harun Yahya
This is not for me to try and sell travelling [Air Asia Discount Below!!!] but if you are keen to experience new cultures, breathe new lands and do things that are truly once in a lifetime opportunities then don't let it be a life regret. Similarly, don't let the stresses of your company work place wear you out, life is too short to be miserable, smile and enjoy.
If you have any fitness related goals such as climbing a mountain, running a marathon, completing your first Triathlon
OR
If you simply want to shift 10kgs to get into great shape (check out my blogpost on how to simply do this), start adding a tonne of muscle to your frame or get active to improve your mindset then please get in touch and make that shift today, you only live once.
