Things that Never Happen at Home #2

Being out here traveling is so fundamentally different from my day-to-day at home that I often find myself pondering these differences. There's the obvious - Not sitting behind a desk + computer all day; Not having neck cramps from holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I multi-task; No stress; No set routine. Now, in contrast - We brave the hot sun + freezing cold outside; My cramps are now in my legs from walking all day long; We ARE free to do as we like, but we're not out here with endless time or money to burn so we ARE judicious in our spending + in making each day count. When I reflect back at the end of each day, week, month... What are the things that seem worthwhile or even important??? It's the experiences of meeting memorable local characters or other like-minded travelers that you can picture yourself being friends with at home; Of tasting some delicious + unique food that you never even knew existed that you'll try to replicate for friends; A wonderous, soul-inspiring sight that burns itself into your memory and which you revisit later in your dreams; AND those rare moments when the big, bright lightbulb in your head goes off and you gain a new insight. THIS will be my ongoing attempt to capture + relate some of the latter. Here goes...

Being a True Slave to Your Work

Before you disagree with me outright, listen to this! MANY people in the developing world, especially employees in the hotel or restaurant business, work LONG hours. By long I mean that they're up + working as early as you are (this may mean even waking up from their cot at the door to let you out/in early in the morning) and up + working as late as you are (ditto for letting you in/out). From what I've seen they're lucky if they get a day off, but usually just take breaks at random points in the day. "Yes", the work is performed at a slower pace, and "Yes", it's not all that challenging, but would YOU honestly trade what you've got? I can glamorize the more relaxed work that people here APPEAR to have, but "I" wouldn't have traded my 9-6. And those are just some of the minority who have PAYING jobs. The MAJORITY farm for survival + sell their excess produce, make tea or street snacks, or sell some other cheap, random bit of merchandise just to put food in their mouths from one day to the next. Now THAT'S work!