The blogging adventure will continue again once I have moved to Hereford, end September 2022: Waxing a bit philosophical ~ 7 weeks to go!

It’s been an interesting week, ebay-ing continues apace, and absolutely no regrets in seeing my stuff go. After being burgled years ago, when I lived in Hove and everything of value I owned had been meticulously removed, I vowed that I would never again buy expensive items or get attached to mere possessions. Consuming because one can, is simply not reason enough, and yet, as my house full of “stuff” testifies, you just can’t help yourself!

Family and food for one week in rural Guatemala

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Having said that, the consumer in me purchased two books this week (ebay both for under £1+p&p): The Backpackers Bible by Susanne King and Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. Vagabonding has been revelatory and so affirming. Potts has invented the term “vagabonding” as not just a continuous action but also embracing a whole philosophy of life and as a way of looking at the world.

I think I have always struggled with finding the right frame of reference as to the “meaning of life” and am still not sure whether it is: a lemon, the number 42, subservience to a “greater” power, or a chance to really plug oneself into “simply being”. We are born, we live, we die; the end. I couldn’t help being born, I know I will die ~ the trick is to get that middle bit right; to live. It seems a pointless waste of energy to put effort into ensuring that we secure a place in an afterlife, when that same energy can be used to simply open ourselves up to the opportunities life presents us with on a daily basis. The challenge of life surely is to give what is basically, in universal terms, a meaningless process a little “worth” …..

Subsistence farming family off to market

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OK, I am lucky, very lucky. I am single, have no family responsibilities, no relationship, good health and have a group of close friends who support, encourage and do their best to understand me and my uncontrollable sense of curiosity and wanderlust. This annuity is a “gift” which I am not going to look in the mouth, as I am sure this horse will contain many challenges, best tackled as and when they happen!

I am very clear in my mind that I am not setting out to be a perpetual tourist. I know I want to make a contribution, “giving something back” sounds so pompous, and yet, I know that I want to share some of those skills and life experiences I have gained, whilst at the same time learning and absorbing the wisdom and learning from people of varying culture, race and creed.

Rolf Potts the Vagabonder's Vagabond!

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Potts in his book says “Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It’s just an uncommon way of looking at life – a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time –our only real commodity - and how we choose to use it.” And, “vagabonding has always been a private choice within a society that is constantly urging us to do otherwise”.

He says that the hardest lesson of all to learn, and the one that will yield the greatest benefit is to simply “slow down”. Only by slowing down do we give ourselves the time to reflect, to really see, feel, and fully appreciate our sense of the present. Not plugged into timetables, or lists of must see, must do and must have’s common to the time-bounded tourist. The aim is rather to acclimatise, absorb and reflect. And to appreciate the fact that it is a gift and privilege to be able to do what billions would love to do but can’t ~ simply being!

Who needs a buggy!

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Of course, the fact that I can afford to do this (as my means are only meagre by Western standards), is a challenge I have to overcome, finding the right way of not letting that fact become an obstacle and in using those means wisely and thoughtfully.

Slowing down,watching the world go by!

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It turns out that my plan to start by settling into Latin American life by getting my Spanish back up to scratch, volunteering and working with the indigenous Maya and being fairly stable for my first year “should” help me slow down and to ready myself for possible/probable knowmadic vagabonding later. Serendipitously Guatemala is the least “Latin” of all the Latin American countries having the highest proportions of pure indigenous Maya so, I hope that what I learn from them will stand me in good stead as I encounter other indigenous groups, tribes and communities throughout my journey south.

For me (at this moment) the knowmadic bit seems key to an underlying sense of purpose, if on my travels I can quietly share some of my knowledge then I feel I have something to offer, as well as a means to engage with people. The years spent in business, management and personal development activities hopefully being shared practically and pragmatically as required, or my musical training being used to maybe open up new channels of communication. It all sounds a bit “lofty” but I hope in practice it will be less so. Just a simple sharing ~ a two way process ~ and I am so excited to wonder at just what new skills and ideas are going to come my way ~ I am pretty sure that I will only be the better for them and (if my India experience is anything to go by) I will be humbled and constantly amazed by simple acts of human kindness.

I was stuck by a line in Potts’ book about “value choices” for instance, the opportunity to visit yet another tourist attraction or to be taught to tango in the back streets of Buenos Aires by an 80 year old grandmother who speaks not a work of English! I can hear the plaintive sounds of Astor Piazolla’s tangos even as I write this! (Argentina may be a few years away and almost as far south as the UK is West [of Guatemala] -yet the seductive strains of the Tango already exert a gravitational pull.)