I am sitting at home on the couch with my two cats today, relaxing, enjoying the surprisingly warm rays of winter-sunshine and marvelling at the mighty alps spanning the horizon. At the same time, my mind is wandering and I am amazed by the rich life I’ve been privileged to lead so far. There were so many moments filling me with enough energy and sunshine to last a lifetime.
Most of those moments were directly related to people. Like this one right here, in the Maldives in 2009. The goodbye dinner with the Maldivian boat crews on the evening before my departure holds a special place in my heart. For four years we had spent almost every day together on the local dhonis. All of them had humbly shared their wisdom of the sea, never asking anything in return.
On this last evening together we laughed, enjoyed freshly caught Tuna and sang traditional Maldivian songs. The guys told anecdotes about my clumsiness and the many resulting embarrassing moments over the years which they remembered in all-too-fine a detail… like the one time I was taking a dump in the boat’s head and flushed, forgetting that some of my divers were still surfacing, my turds floating past them like a school of stinky sea cucumbers.
As the evening drew on, everyone had a good word, a kind smile, a hand on my shoulder. No matter how different our culture, religions, and backgrounds might have been, we always respected and appreciated each other. I miss them all. All of these soft-spoken, courageous men have taught me about kindness and loyalty amongst other things and by doing so have enriched my life immensely. It’s been a privilege to work with each and every one of them.
I’m longing to get back out there and venture much farther still. While I reminisce, a song comes up and here I am, humming Frank Sinatra’s Moon River, “Two drifters, off to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see…”
There sure is. No doubt my wife and I will be on the road again in the years to come. Sometimes only for a few days, sometimes weeks, sometimes even for a few months. Who knows. We’ll see. All I am sure of is I want to stay as open as possible to new adventures, people, and possibilities.
#Paralian #LiamKlenk #notjusttrans #odyssey #lifejourney #memoir #humanist #passionatetraveller