It’s at least another 1.5 hours before boarding, so here’s time to reflect before I get tooooo tired.
The decision to leave is both a carefully considered and abrupt one. How so? It’s matter of time that I will be leaving. I know it and I plan for it. It is abrupt because I was on the other side of the decision for quite some time until the moment when I felt that it’s time. Making this decision means a few things. It means that I am giving up a job that I am just warming up to. It means that I am giving up steady increasing savings, a routine lifestyle of 9-5, knowing what I need to do the next day, knowing that I can afford to waste my weekends because there is a next one, knowing that I will either go for a run or to the gym every day after work. I also gave up my access to a reliable car, one which I’ve had for just as much time as I’ve been in the states. I am also giving up what I am familiar with, after almost 10 years of being in the country. I am giving up speaking English on the daily basis, discussing, debating and writing in this language which I’ve learned to use much more than my native tongue. So what am I getting myself into? Well, I have to relearn how to write Chinese, learn how to type the way Taiwanese type, and learn how to speak Chinese at the level that I do with English. All the professional and technical terms that I learned in English, all the words of expression that I think with, I have to translate them to Chinese. I also don’t have a local presence in Taiwan. I don’t have a bed room, let alone a bed. I don’t have a phone, not that I have a lot of people to call in Taiwan in the first place. So I don’t know a lot of people. I will be staying with my parents, which is not uncommon, but that means I don’t get to live exactly to how I’d like it. I will get free meals, but as a family. It’s not better or worse, it’s different, and all it is, is getting used to the difference in conveniences and sacrifices.
But first, I made the decision to take this road trip. I knew it was going to be a massive undertaking, but I also thought that if I can’t even follow through with this, I won’t be able to pull through what’s coming ahead. So in a way, I am torturing myself. This trip is long. Sometimes it doesn’t feel so, especially when I am enjoying a particular spot. For example, when listening to the live band at Antones in Austin, that’s where my mind was. However, as I was driving across Texas towards El Paso, my mind was full of doubt. It’s always during the transition where I start to have thoughts of pulling out, because I do have a choice. After Boise, I was basically on a shut down mode. I made the decision to drive to the west coast, up to the north west corner before heading down to Seattle. The drive was much longer than anticipated, and the depressing weather did not help either. But I pushed up, almost in a numb way even though the road was simple awesome and I was having a blast driving through the twisty forest roads. When I arrived at Seattle, well, I just want to chill. Seattle is a great and energetic city, a very progressive one. To me, it’s the kind of city when you come as a visitor, but your mind keeps thinking how it will be live to be a local because it is that attractive. The demographics is very diverse, probably second to Vancouver and Toronto. It is very different from the rest of the country. It’s got it’s own mind and perspective.
That said, it’s been an interesting drive across the country. From Florida’s tropical coastal climate to the Spicy New Orleans, to the surprising young Austin then the Mexican town of El Paso. Scottsdale’s extremely hot desert weather and landscape was definitely a shock, and spending one full week starring at the red rocks of the canyons really gets into you. Then, it’s the farmlands of Idaho and rotten egg smell of Yellowstone. The clouds dominated the sky of the north west, it was like taking a mist shower constantly in the dense lush forest of the Olympic National Park. Finally, I arrive at one of the best cities to live in and very fortunate to be staying at a buddy’s place and not some motel.
Speaking of motels, I lost count of the number. I should have taken a photo of each room number. That would be awesome. During this trip, the rooms that I stay in varied quite a bit. From the very nice studio setting in Extended Stay in Austin and very unique themed furnishing of Victoria Inn in Kanab to the cheap beach front hotel of Flamingo Hotel in Panama City Beach and the trailer-like Bay View Motel of Neah Bay. I want to mention Days Inn of Bastrop, TX because the staff, Mike, was extremely helpful and accommodating. I heard that they suffered quite serious wild fire a week after I left, so I hope everything is fine over there. I also want to mention that Bay View’s trailer-like room is fully functional and I have nothing to complain about. So don’t lose faith in them.
I didn’t meet as many interesting people as I thought given that this is a month-long trip. However, I appreciate the friendliness of the mechanic just outside of Lafayette, LA, the flock of German tourists in the Arizona-Utah area, Jim and Barb and the goldens, horse, rabbits and birds, the helpful people at Neah Bay and of course friends who took me in along the way. Oh, also, the very nice folks at Monument Valley who towed the car out of the ditch… how can I not mention and thank them! Plus, the mechanics at Iraan, TX who fixed my tire so I can get on my way and drive 300miles to El Paso.
That said, it was a trip of luck. Luck that got me safely at Seattle. When I was stuck with a flat tire, I was lucky that I was able to put the spare on fairly quickly. I was lucky that I had a GPS that told me about the auto repair shop just 15 miles away. I was lucky that it was still early in the afternoon so the shop was still open. I was also lucky that the tire was fixable and I was on my way in no time.
I was also lucky that the couple with pick up truck stopped to help tow the car out of the sand pit at the right time, lucky that they had the equipment to do so. I was lucky to spot the rusting classic car parts laying in the open with the sun set directly behind them, lucky that I had my tripod with me to take those awesome shots. I was lucky that the night at Zion National Park was clear and was able to see a falling meteor breaking up as it burns in the atmosphere. I was lucky that when I was being stopped by the Border Patrol, I had my papers since I was leaving the country anyways. Phew on that one! So this trip has a lot to thank, and I can’t thank more by sharing it.
Parting with my car was probably one of the harder things to do. It reminded my of my experience of looking for a family to take my dog before I came to the US. Days before I sold it, as I was driving through the twisty forest roads, I kept thinking that this is the last trip with the car, and this is probably the best thing I can offer back to the car. To take it across the country, onto the variety of roads and surfaces that most cars don’t ever get to. It did favor for me by living up to expectation for all ten years, even till the last moment, when the new owner drove it away. It was still just as solid as it was. It’s a sad feeling, but I am glad that it is living strong in someone else’s hands.
Sitting here at the waiting area, I’m glad I have time to think about what happened. I guess when I get off the plane and onto the cab for the 45min ride back home, I will have time to think about what’s next. In the mean time, I am breathing the American air ( I won’t go as far as to call it “air of freedom”). Soon I will be stuffed into a tube and when I get out of it, I will be inhaling in the polluted Taipei air. Well, not looking forward to that. So I will save this entry, close the document, shut down the laptop and wait for the announcement to board. Yeap, see you on the ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment