Comments on: Sail Away

By: theswarmite

theswarmite — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:53:01 +0000

I agree Swedish Chef on this one, it’s people’s perception and how they feel about being alone that needs attention. If this goes unheeded the fear of being alone never decreases. Traveling in a crowd or coming from a large family can still mean some people still feel alone. Finding out why is wise investment. My own experience of being in an incubator twice ( 12 weeks in total ) during my first year of life created a form of social phobia that I tackled with drink and drugs until it no longer worked. Finally I had to address all forms of ” loneness ” in therapy to establish a balance between being alone as a survival tool and being alone as abandonment plus the encouragement of intimacy with strangers. Well that last point did lead to sex addiction, now resolved. Maybe I went too far. LOL. Talk about living in balance . . .

By: Swedish chef

Swedish chef — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:23:44 +0000

Isn’t it strange this sense of ‘being alone’ given that as soon as we have been separated from our mother at birth we are ‘alone’ in exactly the same way throughout life. But of course all of us will say that we only feel alone at certain occasions and very connected at others.
So thinking about it, it is not really what we do but how we feel about it that determines if we are ‘traveling alone’ or not. Maybe if we ask ourselves why we feel alone rather than what we can do to avoid the feeling of loneliness we may get a better answer.

By: theswarmite

theswarmite — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:57:18 +0000

Thanx Droids – I too enjoy traveling alone but like yourself also do the group or couple thing as well. Our mind, body and spirit will indicate when to be single and when to group and more importantly if in a crowd – when to say No to a gathering. This is a learning curve in getting needs met without thinking that harm has been done. That is if you know already what your needs are.
Goa, curry, markets – the tastebuds are moist.

By: Geoffrey

Geoffrey — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:14:11 +0000

Ho! – On another note… I still reckon yer arse is going to get so wet when the tide comes in if you sleep in that bed!

By: droid

droid — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:10:04 +0000

Yes, the person in front who remains reclined when the food is served giving even less space in my cattle class seat. Didn’t their parents teach ‘em to sit up when they ate their dinner!

As for going away ‘single’ ’tis a wonderful thing. On a few work trips to India I found myself totally away from Westerners, in cities where I was quite literally the only whitey to be seen. If you don’t like being stared at, don’t go. If you wanna go out on your own in a totally alien place and enjoy the buzz ( a mix of excitement and a strange fear) then I recommend it. The feeling of “shit, I really am on my Jack Jones here” is an enlightening experience. Cutting the ties to anything that is familiar, safe and known has to be done, even for a short spell. Makes me realise how safe I am here in cosy middle Europe. Innsbruck doesn’t really challenge. I’d do more of it if I had the time and the cash.
I was looking through the meetings list in Mumbai yesterday funnily enough, thinking about a trip back there then down south to our Goan hideaways. What the hell, make contact with some people I’ve never met before in a city that makes London look quiet and see what happens!
Not only does travel broaden the mind, it enriches the spirit and whilst away life and situations back home take on a new perspective.

God, I can’t wait to get outta here for more of that!