Getting away, away

I received an email the other day from a passenger who travelled with me on my first trip as a tour leader – 21 days on the Trans Siberian. Spend a few days on a train with anyone and you will figure out real soon if you like them or not. I liked Big Kev. Still do.

In my email to him, I queried if he had any travel plans this year. His response: Ethiopia.

“When people ask me why I’m going there I hesitate to tell them because then they’ll think that I’m a pig. The reason I’m going is because many of the tribes don’t wear any clothes. See!!! You’re thinking that I’m a pig!!! I knew it!!!”

I always liked Kev’s honesty, but I also knew there was more to this story. And not for once did I think he was a pig.

“What I wanted to do this year was go to a place where I knew that I had definitely gone away. I mean away away. I wanted to be totally off the grid. I wanted to go to a place where if you tried to zoom in to it on Google Earth it would just say No Available Information. A place where the locals don’t wear any clothes fits this requirement. To me it means that western civilization and all their sensibilities and especially their religious sensibilities haven’t infiltrated the place and screwed it all up by making them think that their bodies are ugly and that they should be ashamed of them and keep them completely covered up all the time even in a place where it’s usually a gazillion degrees out.”

So I pondered Kev’s response, and actually wondered if there was such a place on earth that you could go away away. Away from the rules and regulations of our society, our preconceived thoughts, our expectations, others expectations of us, the pressure, did I mention the rules?

My pondering took me to Susan Boyle. If you havent heard of Susan Boyle, you might want to join the millions of people around the globe who have viewed the following You Tube clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

It got me thinking – is it the underdog theory that has allowed Susan the opportunity to shoot to international stardom after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent?

Or was it her natural candour, innocence and unselfconscious manner that won our hearts? Unlike much of the world today, Susan embodies a kind of humble authenticity. Maybe not every day, but in front of an international audience, she managed to just be herself. She didnt worry what others thought. She didnt try to be something or someone she wasnt. She embodied how we live before we begin to doubt ourselves, listen to others, expect more and, there’s those rules again.

If it hadnt been for Britains Got Talent, Susan would have been hidden from the worlds hearts for eternity. Do we not sometimes hide ourselves away. If we were truly being authentic and doing what we absolutely love doing with passion, would we too become stars?

What has all this got to do with Kev’s trip to Ethiopia?

Im sure as we are tapping away on our keyboards at work, feeding the kids, reviewing our marketing plans, finalising a deal, washing the car, paying the bills or one of 100 jobs we do every day, we often wish we were away, away. We hop in the car for a week on the beach, jump on a plane to some exotic location, perhaps we even take a sabbatical for years. For some of us, we may even end up living on that beach for the rest of our lives.

But as I share these thoughts and tap away myself, I realise I can be away away and find that joy again. Now Im not saying that you need to wander around with no clothes on, but wouldn’t it be great to just let yourself go and travel to Ethiopia without buying a plane ticket? Like Susan, I just need to bring out my Ethiopia – a place where there are no rules, no doubts, no coverings.

Life is meant to be more magical than mundane. Is it not simply because we hide ourselves away? Are we all cynics and judges. Or perhaps we approach life as an audience, simply observing what goes on. But then again, even they stood and cheered as the dream was not only dreamed, but lived. A standing ovation.

Mmmmm…. Addis Ababa here I come.