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| Beautiful statues, mostly of Buddhist influence are found in many locations. |
Many readers have asked over these years how we, (and I mean “we” when it requires the diligent attention of both of us each morning) feel motivated, interested and committed to posting 365 days a year, give or take a day here and there. Flippantly, I always respond with a genuine, “Oh, we love doing it! It’s easy to do something you love.”
Although, it’s much more complex than that, albeit true, lighthearted response. It truly goes to the core of who we are as people, aside from who we are as world travelers, as we become more and more “seasoned” as time marches on.
In part, we’re not the typical world travelers. As our long term readers are well aware, we aren’t always about visiting the popular tourist locations, although at times we do so with considerable pleasure and the gratefulness for the experiences.
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| The placement of the hands, Madras, as gestures in Buddhism is explained here. |
More so, our world travel centers around living in various locations, blending into society, as best as we can. We strive to mingle among the locals learning how they live, as best as we can while living within the realm of our financial means, within the constraints of aging and certain age related precautions and limitations.
Above all, our personal interests are a driving force, as opposed to what may be expected from us as world travelers. Fortunately, our personal interests not necessarily totally aligned, are superseded by our innate desires to please one another to ensure we are not only happy as a couple but also individually happy living life to the fullest considering our hopes, dreams and expectations.
As a couple, it’s relatively easy, even though we are so different from one another in many ways. Tom’s head strong fuel driven personality with my more laid back conflict-avoidance-at-all-costs persona has proven to be somewhat of a complementary element.
In a way it’s almost a fluke. Did we know this going in, when we left Minnesota on October 31, 2012, driving to Scottsdale, Arizona to prepare for living outside the US for years? We had an inkling when in the rigors of the fast paced life we lived in Minnesota, kept us close and connected with a few rare exceptions.
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| Beautiful embrace. |
And even now, on a rare occasion we butt heads, only when I don’t have the stamina to leave the room and let him fight with himself. No one ever continues fighting when there’s no one in the room to fight with.
I’m always willing to talk it out, when Tom can diffuse in minutes with a few choice swear words to become cheerful and loving moments later. Go figure. I’ve learned to tune it out, although I’m not exempt from reminding him later what a jerk he was for the 30 seconds. He’s not beyond apologizing.
It’s this foundation, this relationship with each other and…traveling the world, that is the primary reason we’re able to post each day. If it was always about tourist destinations and sightseeing, we’d easily run our of stories.
Do any of you go sightseeing everyday with a story you could share each morning, 365 days a year? After awhile, you’d feel stressed and pressured to get out to see one more thing.
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| The talent of artists in Thailand in creating such detailed artwork is breathtaking. |
If you were to search for days you’ll find few bloggers posting daily stories with photos. Only through our willingness and perhaps craziness, are we able to share the mundane and sometimes boring events of daily life along with the exciting stuff.
Its just so happens we do share the mundane news as we move from country to country, sightseeing on occasion, observing nuances of living in lands different from our home country, different from the lives we each lived for over 60 years.
Apparently, even our mundane periods of time still keeps our readers in touch, which often surprises us and for which we’re always grateful. How did that ever happen?
Do we keep a running log of future stories? Only when we’re involved in a multi day venue where stories and photos continue to back up. Otherwise, most mornings, as soon as I’m showered and dressed for the day, cup of coffee at my side do I open up the Blogger app without a single thought in mind.
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| A pine tree with branches pointing upwards. |
On occasion, Tom and I discuss possible topics. I check the local and international news which may inspire a topic when often there’s nary a blurb I’d care to share.
An event may have occurred that precipitates a topic such as dropping my phone in the toilet a few days ago. Or, like today, nothing and I mean nothing occurred in the past 24 hours worthy of mention.
Instead, I let my mind wander to comments and email messages from our loyal readers of these past years that inspired today’s mention of the how and why we do what we do.
And, it all of YOU that continue to inspire us, since without you, comparable to my leaving the room when Tom wants to carry on, without an audience, its pointless.
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| Not the most flattering photo of us on a very hot day without AC. But, we couldn’t resist including a photo of us tasting the Mimolette cheese we’ve written about on this date one year ago, know for its “mites’ that live on the outside of the cheese as it ferments. For more details on this story, please click here. |