Heart of a Nomad: Greeting fellow “Nomads”

It is 8pm. I am sitting in a little open air restaurant in the village of Nong Khiaw in northeastern Laos sipping on an ice cold Beerlao. The village resting above the Nam Ou is cradled in the shadow of two massive rock outcroppings. It is a dramatic setting. This is the third week of my five week travel in Cambodia and Laos. I arrived two nights ago via a nine hour “slow boat”on the Nam Ou. The journey though filled with a few nerve racking river rapid rock dodging moments, was magnificent, as the long narrow wood chipped boat snaked its way past towering limestone karsts and an abundance of colorful local life on the river and shore.

The sun has set. However, I can still make out the image of backpackers as they walk over the bridge crossing the Nam Ou toward where I sit. The backpackers come in small waves, four people, followed by two, another grouping of five and a couple of singles bringing up the rear. The travelers offer up a remarkable diversity – different shapes, ages, gender, and nationalities. As they begin to pass the restaurant I hear their voices; German, French, English, I think Swedish, Australian.

Dark has arrived. The restaurant, is lit only by candle. Like last evening, the village does not have electricity tonight. This is fine by me, the darkness only adding to the remoteness and stillness of the place. I am alone except for a fifteen year old Laotian boy named Mong who is clearing a table in the back, and a rather pudgy cat that seems happy to curl up by my sandaled feet.

I slowly begin to eat my fish lob and let my mind wonder back to a time 34 years ago. Yes, it was April of 1976 when I stood on the M – 4 Motorway out of London, backpack on, thumb out, and my life savings of $957. I was twenty-two, it was my first time abroad, having grown up in the Midwest of the USA. Where I was headed I was not sure. How long I would be gone I had no idea. I found the unknown exhilarating. It was my “birth” as a traveler. Two and a half year years later, I would return home – a journey that took me across thirty four countries (Europe, North Africa, overland across Asia and to the Far East) . . . returning with still $11 in my pocket.

From that point on, “travel” has run deep in my blood. Today, I live in New York City. I feel blessed having a comfortable lifestyle and being able taking advantage of this great city's richness, color and diversity. But, there is nothing that I feel so impassioned by, that burns in me and hits my soul as much as travel. The pack on my back, the open road, the unknowing, new landscapes, meeting the locals, absorbing the culture.

With family and work commitments, I never would I travel at one stretch for such a long period of time as I did in the mid seventies. However, at every opportunity I would look to travel, often using rather “creative” means to satisfy my driving passion. Be it persuading a boss to “pay me a little less, but give me that extra week vacation,” so I can string three weeks together to fully absorb China’s ethnic minority rich Yunnan province, or feigning a nasty summer flu timed with the July 4^th weekend to take in the jaw dropping scenery of Greenland’s east coast, or over Thanksgiving, (and this method especially effective for Eastern European or former Soviet Republics travel) as I would email back “political uprising is taking place and Romania’s national airline has gone on strike” allowing me to walk for five days amongst the rural medieval villages of Transylvania. And even the two times when bad news raised its head of company downsizing, I would embrace it, and look at the bright side… hey, time to travel!!! Yes, when it came to travel, I had it bad. I had a "Heart of a Nomad."

What I am pleased to report is that there are lots of “Nomads” out there traveling about. On this current trip, I can’t ever remember meeting so many travelers from different countries…In just three weeks having met people of twenty-three nationalities. So despite the economy and political tensions, we travel on!!

One of the best things about travel is the camaraderie that develops among travelers, the sharing of “the experience.” It is because of this, my love for travel and fellow travelers, that I am pleased today to launch my blog . . . “HEART of a NOMAD” I will be putting on my entries (a new story/destination each week) However, this blog is for you, to share your experiences, and not just the wonderful and thrilling, but the dreadful and disgusting, as this is part of the traveler’s experience as well. And your entries do not have to be current but past travel experiences are encouraged also.

So to all you that have a "Heart of a Nomad" … I wish you enriched travels and to my blog!

Photo1: Erzurum, Turkey-on overland route to India, 1976