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| Rasnesh took this photo of us in front of the Vuadomo Waterfall. We were hot and sweaty but the long trek was worth it! |
Many of our readers and Facebook friends have asked us to post photos of ourselves as we explore the world. Not good at doing the “selfie” thing and usually, with only the two of us at many locations, we don’t have many photos to share of us together.
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| Vuadomo Waterfall was larger than it appears in these photos. |
We aren’t into “selfie” photos or silly facial expressions photos and as we’ve aged, we don’t believe that photos of ourselves are as appealing as they may have been in our younger years.
Perhaps, what I just said is an oxymoron. We don’t want to be vain in focusing on ourselves and yet, we don’t like how we look in photos as much as we did years ago. Let’s just go with the fact that vanity plays a role in photos of oneself, no matter how old one is, one way or another.
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| We didn’t see any other tourists walking to or from the falls. |
We’ve noticed many of our Facebook friends are great at taking and sharing “selfie” photos. We admire them for that. But, whenever we try to take good photos of ourselves, they usually aren’t anything we’d like to post online and we don’t see the necessity of sharing our own persona in a photo when, if we want to look at ourselves, we can look in the mirror.
Not that getting old is bothering us. It’s just that we wish we had more time and the promise of good health to ensure we could carry on for decades to come. I suppose everyone starts thinking about wishing they had more time as we approach 70 years old, for me a mere two-plus year away.
Tom, five years younger than me, isn’t quite there yet in his thinking. I don’t think about it much, only on the days when I haven’t slept well, feel sluggish, and have bags under my eyes.
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| Vuadomo Waterfall. |
When we were in Australia and I had an appointment with a female doctor, after being given a clean bill of health, she asked if I’d like to have Botox injections. She had learned how to do them and said I’d be a good candidate.
For three reasons I turned her down; one, if I were to have Botox injections, I’d see a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist; two, if I had Botox injections how and where would I have touch-ups…in the Amazon or living on a remote island? Three, I don’t want Botox injections or any type of plastic surgery. Give me a break…I’m trying my best to age gracefully.
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| An orchid growing in the rainforest. |
That’s not to say I’m opposed to such measures if a person chooses to look younger or if one prefers to create an entirely different appearance. Who am I to judge anyone else when I put on some makeup and fix my hair each day? Does that require a certain degree of what may consider as vanity? I can justify it by saying I grew up in California and California girls always did their best to look “ready to go anywhere” at any given moment.
All of us have our routines to make ourselves look exactly how we’d like, our own personal routine and who’s to say or judge what one person does over another? Certainly not me.
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| The creek running from the waterfall. |
Yep, when we go on a day trip, I bring a tube of lipstick. Yep, when we go on an overnight trip, I bring a little black bag with six items that I use every morning to look my best for the day. Does Tom care, one way or another? He hardly notices. At night, when I wash it all away, he loves me exactly the same way. I do it for me. It makes me feel my best.
A few readers have written suggesting I ditch my cosmetics, cut my hair, and wear baggy tee shirts that I can buy in our travels (mostly with words on them) and baggy khaki shorts. In their well-intentioned suggestions, they think that would be “easier” for me. I thank them for their well-meaning suggestions. That wasn’t me 50 years ago and it’s not me now.
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| The creek on the return walk. |
I wasn’t a sweatshirt kind of girl, nor did I wear baggy sweatpants around the house on the weekends. Not that I dressed up to clean the house or cook. I’d wear jeans, shirts, or well-fitted tee shirts, comfortable and totally perfect for what I needed to accomplish.
Now I wear shorts and long-wearing, short sleeve cotton tees with 5% spandex that last through many washings and wearings, purchased at a great online shop in the US, for which I order replacements each year to be shipped with our next box of supplies.
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| The clean water was appealing as hot and sweaty as we were. With shopping ahead of us, we decided against getting wet. |
At the moment, I have six of those tee shirts in varying colors I’ve yet to wear as I repeatedly wear my older inventory until it starts becoming threadbare. I’m saving the new ones for the many upcoming cruises, preferring not to wear worn old clothing on a cruise.
In our old lives, I had closets filled with off-season clothing and my own walk-in closet in the bedroom filled to the brim with color-coordinated clothing all hung in the same direction, all on no-slip velvet hangers.
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| Tima and Rasnesh, long time friends, after many hikes with tourists to the waterfall. |
Now, I have one suitcase with clothes. Now, I don’t have a clothes rod, only a few shelves for stacking. Now, I have three sandwich bags each with a few extra cosmetic items, just in case, I can’t find them at a local pharmacy. I don’t own a single face cream or skincare product, no body lotion, no hand cream, no self-tanning product, using coconut oil, and insect repellent as needed.
Vain? Perhaps, in that, I still, and always will continue to prepare for the day as I have all of my adult life. And, I’ll always carry that tube of lipstick whether on a safari in the savanna or on a hot and humid hike into the rainforest. That’s who I am and will always be.
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| The water was clear and clean with no signs of human visitors in the area. We’ve seen no trash or liter in any area of this island. |
Taking a “selfie” and posting it online? Nah, that’s not us. We’ll continue to include photos of us together when we have someone along that can take the photo, as we’re posting today, and will again when we soon celebrate our three year anniversary of traveling the world.
A line from Popeye, the sailor man, “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.” (Here’s the video from 1933). Guess that line could apply to all of us.
Have a glorious day!
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| Front Street in Lahaina, Maui on a beautiful sunny day. We enjoyed the walk along the popular beachfront boulevard. For more details, please click here. |