August 5th-The Green Bay Packers

As I was packing my bag this morning to depart the ship, I started thinking about Brett Farve. I had completely forgotten that he was going to show up to camp, and that this whole drama was going to unfold. Later on the plane ride to Shanghai, I saw a few headlines of the English Language China Daily paper, and realized that I have no clue what is going on in the world right now and I kind of like it. I sit here writing this at a computer in my room in Shanghai, and I have resisted going to a news site to find out what has been going on. (cnn.com is blocked by the great firewall of china)
I like this felling. Its like living in a totally different world, one that exists only in the moment which you find yourself in. Did Farve show up? It doesnt matter. What is important is where I will eat my next meal. Did Batman break any more movie total records? Dont know, too busy watching the street scenes of Shanghai at night.
The whole mind frame of travel is one I enjoy. More and more as this trip goes on, I find myself more inclined to be that kind of person that just goes away for a year or so, and travels the world. I especially think this during the bad times of the trip. Because those bad moments, like thinking that both of my cameras have just broken because of a stupid Chingqing rain storm, are wonderful moments when measured against the daily life I live in reality. Sitting at a desk bored all day versus sitting in People's Park in Shanghai being bored....well....its really not a contest at all is it.
You always here that statement people say after holiday (maybe that should be another requirement for a partner-they have to use the term holiday instead of vacation or is that just oo british?) about how they had fun but they are glad to be back. As I dozed in and out of sleep on my flight today I thought about this. I will not be glad to be back. Its not because I dont like my job or because I dont like where i am living (i dont like Richmond that much at all) These opinions factor in to it, but its mostly because no matter where I am living or what my job is, if given the choice I would rather be living out of a backpack, seeing the unfamilar, and doing nothing in someplace different. I think I would be content spending my last day in Shanghai sitting in the park reading a book. I like the change of scenary that travel brings. I like that if I am becoming too familar with my scenary I can change it like that. I enjoy that thing I mentioned earlier of poping in and out of people's life when you travel. (This happened a lot on the cruise ship) I liked having a conversation last night under the neon lights of Nanjing street with three youths. It was of course through them that I found out that the night market I was trying to find, if it is still real, was very far away from where I was. But either way, I liked having a nice moment with people I will never see again. Like the british girl on the dock, whose name I got from her friend later. We had a nice moment. It was a good conversation with someone different and it ended just as quickly as it began. There is nothing more to it.
Going back to Richmond, to that daily routine and the boredom and frustration that comes with it I will not enjoy. If people ask, I will have to tell the truth and say that I had a good time on the trip but I am not glad to be back.