Living Life on the Road

Feb. 8, 2013

Sometimes people ask what we're doing, living on the road.  

Trust me, it isn't the same as being a tourist.  When one is a tourist, one is on tour.  Which means trying to see and do all the fun and exciting and wonderful things that are available in the location you are touring.  There often is a time limit involved when one is on holiday or on a tour - hence the rushing around trying to fill each moment with wondrous fun, which is over all too soon.

No, we're TIKI touring.  Touring like Tiki - Tiki being the first man in Maori legend.  He just kind of wandered around, until he found the first woman.  So Tiki touring has come to mean touring without a goal or destination - travelling for the sake of travelling, with the philosophy that where you end up is where you are meant to be.

At the moment, we're in Melbourne.  There are days when we do sightseeing things like go to a museum or a well-known park.  There are other days when we hang out at neighborhood cafés, go to movies, go to the casino, and generally hang out.  It involves a lot of tea for me, and coffee for Richard.  Or Diet Coke.  And sometimes pastry.  Because when you're getting a taste for a place, well, you have to taste, right?

We live.  We live a normal kind of life.  No rush to see everything where we are - because we can stay longer if we like the place.  Or we can stay for less time than we thought we might, if it turns out we don't much like the place.

And we take care of normal everyday life kinds of things, like going to a doctor or dentist if needed, or doing laundry, or shopping for new socks.  

There's no need to cram every sight and every event and eat at every recommended restaurant in a two-week period of time.

We're leisurely travelling the world, and just living day to day.  

Today we planned to go to a movie, but got a late start.  And it's a lovely sunny day.  So we had a mid-morning snack at our favorite Jewish bakery, and sat on a bench in the sun reading.  (YAY for e-readers!!!!)  Then went down to the bagel bakery and had lunch.  A bit of a walk, then back to our guest house for some inside time during the hottest part of the day (because the sun really is intense, and I burn).  By late afternoon, we'll head out for maybe a movie, or the casino (I did okay last night), or a restaurant, or a walk to the beach to see the penguins, or to a club for some music - any number of things.

We're living a very normal life.  We're just living that life on the road.