Cut the Karma

I have heard travel being described as some disease which became rampant around the mid-fifties.  It is funny because some people's reaction to travelling and living abroad is that it is something and I quote "which I will get out of my system".  This would suggest that it is in fact some sort of problem and it has always surprised me that there were some narrow minded individuals who actually believed this to be true.  If I'm honest, I can understand that not all people would find excitement in the life I have chosen, and for some this prospect would be less than exciting - perhaps even frightening. It has certainly made me evaluate what I myself find frightening and ironically, it is routine.  Knowing that something is going to be the same and form a pattern is what really scares the shit out of me. 
  That is why I am sitting on the bus travelling from Seoul to a nearby airport with my recruiter deciding to tell me all the things that foreigners find difficult when they come to Korea.  Fortunately my mind is projected far beyond the conversation, flung deep into the backdrop of green mountains, blue ocean and bridges connecting a host of small islands.  I am simply wondering if the landscape that I am seeing is real because it doesn't relate to anything I have seen before.  Suddenly I realise that it is time to acknowledge my recruiter so that he thinks I have been listening and he is now mentioning something about how difficult it is to get a proper haircut.

Two weeks later and I am sitting in the hairdressers in Yeosu with a small dossier in my hand.  It has pictures of numerous people who I googled whose hair style looked pretty good and a translated paragraph to match.  To be honest, getting my hair cut anywhere for the first time is pretty annoying for me.  I feel sure that it is a waste of time to even explain what you want because most hairdressers have already decided what they will do the moment you enter the shop and that's the same style which they have given the other 27 people who have been in that day.  On this particular day, I have very low expectations thanks to my recruiter and I am also wondering how much karma will come into play.  You see, two years ago I was travelling with two other friends from back home.  Two of us decided to get our hair cut in Bangkok and we went through the normal procedure of  pointing to a picture of various celebrities.  Then they washed our hair, put is in a chair and started to cut.  After spending ten painstaking minutes wondering if I should start a conversation, I was finished.  Looking over at my friend who intelligently had decided not to get his hair cut, he was bent over in hysterics.  It wasn't the reaction I was hoping for but then I realised he wasn't looking at me.  I turned to my left and suddenly was laughing too when I saw that my other friend was wearing the 'special cap' for highlights and they were bringing every product under the sun and offering it to him.  He didn't look too happy so we rescued him, sort of.  He still ended up having some product which apparently aided hair growth and it was extremely expensive too.
  Despite my haircut prompting hundreds of my students to believe that I am now joining the Korean army, I am glad that this 'first' in korea is out of the way and done with.  It made me think of the fact that when you travel, it is important to remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable, it is designed to make it's own people comfortable.

Swimming to South Korea

Two years ago, I was midway through the application process to join the R.A.F as a physical training instructor, when I suddenly wondered what exactly I was doing.  At the time, I was working to earn enough money to travel and my first trip took me to Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.  Every second of that trip inspired and excited me, although the month that I spent in Thailand is probably the reason that I am now living and teaching in Asia.

Bangkok Streets


As it was Asia that set my pulse racing and my head spinning, I returned and found work knowing that as soon as I had saved enough money, I would be on a plane back, so that I could begin to explore more of this fascinating continent.  My next trip started back in Thailand which was the platform to travel further south, head out to the islands and then on to Malaysia before exploring Indonesia. 

Bangok City

Koh Phi Phi

Koh Toa


Travelling in Asia is almost impossible to describe in words or display in pictures simply because there is an energy and vibrance that cannot be captured - but it absolutely has to be experienced.
  On returning home, I realised that the energy I had experienced in Asia was nowhere to be found and so in hindsight, my application to join the forces was like accepting a sense of security - in essence the very antithesis of what makes travelling so spontaneous and wonderful.
I remember returning home one day from one of the final interviews, knowing that I was close to accepting a job and a life that I actually didn't even want. I went to bed that evening my mind juggling different ideas and trying on prospective jobs for size.  I was staying with my Grandparents at that time so dreaded trying to initiate a conversation which basically would amount to "Actually I don't think I want to join the R.A.F but what I really want to do is travel and teach around the world".  Both my grandparents have always been there for me without question or judgement, so it wasn't really a surprise that they were so supportive and encouraging and so this journey really began at their breakfast table, 63 Well Street, Torrington.


Finding a job was relatively straight forward even though I could find barely more than a sentence on the city - Yeosu, where I would be living. Still it mentioned 'stunning coastal scenery' and the picture they sent me looked breathtaking....

 ..so I went for it!!  To this day, I can't tell you why I chose South Korea ahead of China, Japan or Taiwan but for the first time in months something felt right. 
  What was to follow can only really be described as a frantic barricade of paperwork,documents, certificates and visas.  Even after numerous setbacks, I still somehow looked like I would be on schedule to arrive in Korea (the deadline they gave me was the end of February 2009) until that is, my passport went missing at the South Korean embassy in London.  After ringing them several times a day consecutively they must have got pissed off because they confirmed that they actually did have my passport, that it had been stamped with the necessary visa and that it would be sent in the post that day. It arrived on the friday morning as promised and as soon as it did, I booked a flight for Saturday afternoon.
  At the airport I can honestly say that my emotions consisted of excitement and enthusiasm rather than nerves and apprehension.  It was at that point that I remembered something which my father had told me in the weeks leading up to my departure.  In basic terms he told me that there are three types of people in the world - those who are drowning, those who tread water and those who swim.  It was a basic sentiment although at the airport, I couldn't help thinking that only a few months before, I was so close to treading water but now I had chosen to Swim - to South Korea, then I remembered I had a plane ticket so I headed to gate 42.  The Journey had begun....