My partner are I are moving overseas for a little while, so this post includes a few short things I've written lately on that theme. Just a couple of brief snippets on traveling and change, some minor bird related thoughts and the answers to last week’s puzzle. This will be the last post for 6 weeks or so as we're stepping away from our screens during that time and spending some time out in the world, which apparently is really nice. A lot like the metaverse but more tactile.
I'm really looking forward to it, but also looking forward to digging into more of this on the other side. Whatever *this* is. Hopefully it all hasn't been made fully obsolete by GPT-12 by then, or whatever version they're up to in 6 weeks time. Even so, I imagine I'll probably keep doing it anyway.
One thing I’ll miss is all the birds where we're living. It can get pretty loud in the mornings; in a good way. So many birds seem to be out and about. Unless you’re a night owl, can you be a bird and not be an early bird? And if so many birds are out and about so early, how early do you actually have to be, to in fact be considered an early bird? And therefore getting a worm ahead of others. Seems like it would be very competitive, and I suspect most birds are just up and about and enjoying life, and - unlike most humans - not worrying about getting ahead.
My experience has generally been that travel and moving to new places has a way of helping to point out things about yourself. Your likes and preferences, your values. What are the things that you've adopted that are just a product of your own culture or your environment; and what is intrinsically you. You get to see what falls away and what sticks.
The contrast between where you've arrived and where you've come from helps in this way. You can see it under forensic light and take stock. Start fresh. Decide what you want to keep and what you want to discard.
Rolf Potts describes travel as being a child again. Everything is new.
It shakes you out of your usual thoughts and routines. Which is why it makes for perfect conditions for when you want to bring about change. To be able to shed the old and start on a new path.
Or it can help you double-down on things. When it becomes a conscious choice to keep that thing. Or reinforce who you are and what you're doing.
On some level we must suspect travel will make us a new person. This could explain the confidence we have in packing that one piece of clothing that we never wear. And then, upon arriving at our destination, we make the not-at-all shocking discovery that we're still the same person in that respect.
Maybe some things don’t change.
Puzzle answers
a2, b4, c3, d1. (view here)
Explanation: Vish only eats cream filled. Genevieve has crumbs on her top. Clay has no time for fillings leaving the jam for Mr Crumpets.