Coach
What do people find exciting about travelling when you are travelling by yourself? How can you have a good time when you don’t have anyone to share special moments with? I’ve never felt more obsessed with facebook. Here I am watching a gorgeous sunset and lonely… dreaming that Darren was here to see it… no, not Nick (ex-boyfriend) the supposed but mistaken soul mate… not even my best mate, Aaron… or my beloved imaginary pet monkey, Momo! It’s Darren… that prick of a nut case… Argh!
Drinking beer and “relaxing” at Ho Chi Minh International Airport, killing time because there isn’t enough time to visit the city but long enough to die from boredom before the 13-hour connecting flight to London… alone. FML (fuck my life). It’s as bad as getting Coach to Alice Springs… I should’ve brought a backpack full of condoms… but at least I made it! I got on my Sydney flight and I am truly well on my travels – yay. Now where they hid the vodka at?
The main purpose of this current trip is to attend a wedding in London on 25 August. I can’t wait to see my friends again. My friends [Barkada] will be happy I made the flight after I announced on facebook that I missed my Melbourne flight on Saturday. It’s self-inflicted issues really. I like being alone but I have an issue with travelling or doing anything without someone else. To prove to myself that there is nothing to be afraid of and conquer yet again another self-inflicted issue; I’ve volunteered to be the guinea pig of my own social experiment, which I have not been able to explain to anyone without being prosecuted for ostracising them. Next minute… I’m rocking out sculling tequila shots and bar hopping, five hours prior to departure. What the hell am I afraid of? I can blame Kimmy, Timmy and Leo for peer-pressuring me but let’s be honest… when did this stubborn self-righteous Peter Pan wannabe ever get peer pressured into doing anything? I’d like people to think so and admittedly this is the perception I put up. In reality, I orchestrated for the trio to keep me company on Friday night. Partly so I can lay out the rule of the land in looking after my pad while I am away… partly because I was frustrated instead of excited to travel. Everyone else was excited for me, except me! I don’t like travelling alone.
The Sydney to Ho Chi Minh flight was approximately nine hours. I checked-in via the Business desk even though my ticket was Economy. I think Adrian was gay and probably fancied me. I always look at people’s badges. I can tell when I stared into his eyes, made obvious when I realised he gave me the whole row of seats (four in total) in the middle of the plane so I can lie down! The left-hand side aisle seat was the one written on my ticket and the rest were the only empty seats on this flight. In any case, I felt rebellious… even smoked in the women’s toilet 20 minutes before my flight. The only couple of things I didn’t like were during the flight: The 45-minute wait for a second cup of coffee after the second/last meal prior to landing; and the mother and daughter vomiting to my left. Across the aisle, by the window, the mother observed that I kept three spare moist “Refreshing Tissue” packets provided at take-off. To be fair, my bitchiness was due to craving for a smoke and coffee was my solution to feed an addiction. The wait was due to turbulence and H&S. Also, the mother who asked for them tissues didn’t speak a word of English and was holding a bag of puke.
Darren’s Text Message
I’m a little bit sexually frustrated at this point too. No thanks to Darren who, instead of going for our third ‘date’ on Sunday afternoon, we went to take his adopted sausage dog for a walk. It was nice and all but I’m really starting to feel that due to his lack of proper close friends, he doesn’t really want to progress anything with me. Either that or his diabetes stops his mojo. That said, I’ve read about diabetes and learned quite a lot since I’ve met him and in trying to understand him.
I have to admit, I really don’t have anything to complain about. I managed to watch a lot of movies I’ve wanted to watch such as The Croods and Beautiful Creatures. Beautiful Creatures was absolutely fucken awesome! Both films, for whatever reason made me teary-eyed. Although the food was expectedly microwave-oven dishes, the service was ok. In terms of Darren, I still don’t really know how to explain what makes him special so the interest remains… but let’s be honest, in this overseas trip I will most likely meet someone, love someone, date someone and fuck someone. Men are sexual creatures. I am no different.
Arriving in Vietnam, first stop was Duty Free. I needed supplies and it is super cheap here…
Golden Vodka
Tequila
Absolut Vodka
Next was dinner…
Daisy Lounge
Airport Bar
Restaurant
Looking at the positives, fate seems to be telling me that good things in life are sometimes experienced alone. Adrian who checked me in would not have given me the four middle seats if I had a companion. I would have had an earful for smoking in the women’s toilet. I can’t just go off where I feel like going and do what I feel like doing by myself. The intermittent interruptions during a movie, especially if you are seen crying would be embarrassing. Food considerations if travelling with a vegetarian or a diabetic… the list goes on. I should be so lucky.
Ho Chi Minh Sunset
As I watch the sun set over the horizon, I am reminded of the need to leave in past of my drowned and buried 20s and look forward to the up and coming new things in my life. Most likely, it was the horizon that made me think of Darren: “…the sentimental value I place when seeing the sunrise from the not too distant horizon.” – New Horizon (Journey2Love.net)
I can’t deny that travelling alone is… well… lonely. It’s as the word “alone” implies. I also can’t deny that thinking of Darren may mean something and completely idiotic. It might not mean anything for him but it’s apparently meaningful to me… but I also can’t deny that travelling alone gives the opportunity to meet new people and to try new things without the approval of anyone else but yourself. To have the freedom that I so very much desired but also have been secretly afraid of… and to experience a life that is only restricted by your own imagination.
The sunset looks pretty. I wish Momo was here to see it.
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