The last weeks

Its a strange feeling to be writing this, being only hours away from ending this journey, and only ten kilometers from the place I will be working in a few weeks. Below me I see the rugged landscape of Afghanistan, and in only a few hours I arrive in Finland. Plane travel still sometimes amazes me. From what can seem like another world, to home in the same day, still leaving time to sleep and be bored at airports. I have spent longer traveling the distance I now cover in an hour then I will spend traveling today.



This got me thinking about travel. I believe the slower you travel, the more you see. Now I only see rugged mountain ranges and roads, and cover a big portion of the globe in hours, while in the previous months I have been fortunate enough to have the time to go slow, and take in the faces, smells and fascinating chaos at a more relaxed pace. I am now sure that the speed of a bus, train, boat, or even on foot, is good for me. I would not want to try to ‘go around the world’ in anything less then six months, and pretend I have actually seen something. For me the experience lies in the small details, from the marble in the gutter, to the inquisitive smile of a stranger. A pace suitable for me is when I can stop and enjoy the tastes, smells and subtleties, and not have to worry about making the flight to another continent. Even now I sometimes felt rushed due to visas (generally being a month per country) being far too little to actually explore a country in detail.



Still, I have no regrets in taking a ‘hurried’ flight to Thailand to enjoy the last few weeks of the trip. The two weeks I spent on Koh Tao in the south of Thailand were just how I wanted to spend the last weeks. The days consisted mainly of diving and relaxing. For a long time I have wanted to dive, and now I have. Its also the third kind of diving that I’m qualified to do. I can now dive in smoke (burning buildings etc.), chemicals (chemical spills etc.), and water. I can say for sure, like the first two kinds of diving, that I loved it. Now I only had time to dive for two weeks, but I know that I will be continuing in this field. I think it wont be long after I finish work when some dive location will find me spending some months getting acquainted more with the underwater world.





I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and months. The next few weeks will be good in that I will see friends and family, and the next months will be interesting professionally, as well as personally. For years I have wanted to go to Afghanistan, for both traveling and work. Now my chance has finally come to see the country from a professional perspective. I also have half a year to start forming a new plan for what to do, and to decide where it will take me. But I am positive I will have plenty of other things to keep me busy during the coming months.



As an ending note, during my time in Thailand I was quite lazy on the photography front, so there is only a few photos. In addition, the one day I had an underwater camera with me was also the day with the worst visibility underwater, so most of the photos are unusable. Such is life.


RANDOM FACT GENERATOR

Days spent living 50 meters from the beach: 14
Average daytime temperature: +30 degrees Celsius

Times gone swimming from beach: one

Although, out of 14 days, 12 were spent in the sea.