Rational Insanity
Unpacking
People around me always say that I am en expert at packing stuff, whenever I travel. I guess I am; I can fit two week's worth of clothes and three pairs of shoes into a small trolley bag, small enough to fit inside the overhead compartment of a plane. I love packing because aside from the myriad of ways I can get my stuff into a bag, I also like the prospect of going to another place and meeting new people, as well as discovering things I never knew yet. The worst part of any travel for me is the part where I drag my trolley bag finally into our terrace, and get ready to unpack. Initially, coming home can be fun, because I can stuff in a few things for pasalubong into my expertly packed luggage and distribute these to people when I get home, but then the drone and routine of home creeps into my system and I There have been wonderful people I met in my travels, some even managed to creep into the forbidden recesses of my heart. Traveling is fun and very satisfying, although it can get a bit too stressful at times, but that's all part of the buzz that one gets from traveling. It is this buzz that fizzes out of my bag like a newly opened bottle of soda every time I unpack. When I unpack, I feel that the fun is over and I am back to my own boring life. When I unpack, especially when it's time for me to get my travel documents in shape, I look at my plane ticket, my hotel receipt, my meal receipts from this restaurant and that, and I think to myself - when, again? I think to myself - am I wanted back there in that place I just visited as soon as possible? Or was my presence there simply a nuisance - whatever, I still need to go back and find out. I think to myself - did that particular trip turn out really memorable, hmmm, either way, I would do it all over again. Then there's the sometimes painful realization that when we left a place a headed for home, a small part of ourselves is left in that place because whether we like it or not, there is always a feature of a particular place we have visited that will always remain in out hearts. The damp scent of used clothes in the bag along with the trapped air from the hotel room I considered my home for the days I was away, the after shave or the perfume of whoever was with me in that place lingering on the shared razor, or the extra mile of dental floss that had to be bought because someone forgot to bring some (expert packer, yeah right!) - all these things begin to roll back in a matter of a few seconds when I unpack, until finally, I realize - well, yeah, it was fun while it lasted, and I hope many more travels would come my way.
The unpacking part of traveling does not always represent the end of something for me, sometimes it is also a beginning of something special, as the case may be. When something ‘ignites' during our travels, the unpacking part becomes the ritual of hopeful anticipation that what ignited would burn steadily into a flame, and the following day, missing someone becomes an all too familiar sensation. Then we begin to take out our used clothes piece by piece and try to scour them with our noses hoping to pick up the scent of a flame burning steadily in that part of that world we visited. This rare incident would make me smile as I unpacked, if ever it happened to me, but in as much as every travel opportunity for me is a welcome escape to the fantasy world that for me is the wider domains of places outside of my hometown, such is also a welcome respite from joy's twin brother, pain.
We all know that at some point in our lives, we will get hurt, we all know that somehow, soon, we will unpack, but human as we are, we search on for the perfect trip and take a chance at that trip, hoping that the next time we unpack, we do it with somebody, sharing the memories we have made with every shirt taken out, with every pair of shorts, with every bottle of perfume, tube of toothpaste, or canister of night cream we take out from the inevitable trolley bag that is the hollow of our hearts...
Be rational; be insane...every once in a while!TTFN!
Hello to my dearest readers, to Dot, Verona, James, Sheen, Hellpen, Anne, Mary Dale, Chan,Michelle, Zarthus, Jonald, Mr. Bobot, Vic, Vincent, and Rex, Alex, Arvin, Corz, Jim, Kiara, Malikh, Audrae, Franz, Hendrick, Janice, Jay, Jim, Jonathan, Mark, Marz, Mel, Pres, Nhonoy, Niel, Piper, Rheavil, Joey, Alma, Rodolfo, Ecker, Ryan, Roni, Ian, Narle, Sunny and to Anuj of CMC, I love you all! Byers! Salamat gid sa mga walang-hintong text and reactions nyo! Catch Rational Insanity in TNT's online edition, check us out at www.thenewstoday.info, text me at (0920)9254269, or email me at prague@eudoramail.com. Byers! Mmmmmmmwah!