Travel as a Journey of Transformation- My Quest from Asia to South America

I dedicate this piece to Bryan and Mafey  And of course to Jessica for giving me this inspiration

“You start dying slowly if you do not travel. You start dying slowly if you do not allow yourself at least once in your lifetime to run away from sensible advice…”

–Pablo Neruda

It started with a wish.

At the beginning I didn’t quite know what I was seeking. All I know is I was fed up with China and wanted a huge dramatic change.

So fed up that I moved into a country and a continent that I’ve never been to before. Hence I found myself at the end of the world in South America that is Chile.

And you know my basis for moving here? It was seeing the Latin American culture that I saw on T.V. and movies.

It was only when I moved here that I realize those South Americans that I saw on T.V. –those happy carefree Latinos dancing on the streets and shaking their maracas were in the Caribbean- 10 hour away by plane. And South America Chile had the most far removed image than what I had seen on Latino TV.

Dancing in Carribean Cuba

It didn’t help I came here in the middle of winter where everyone was bundled up. Few people wore bright colors- they prefer somber black or grey. Also people were quite cold outside – remnant of post dictator Pinochet era.

somber black in Santiago

Oops.

If you were to ask me why I came here then, I still can’t give you an answer. I’ve stopped looking.

Later I realize I came here to focus on a writing career not learning Spanish. This I could have done in my own backyard. But the romantic in me wanted to start it in a foreign country. I dreamed of being a Hemingway in exile, writing by the light of my dusty garret. Instead I found myself on my PC surrounded by co-workers hunched on their Macs working for a start-up.

Not exactly a lofty garret but at least I was creating stories – emails and product descriptions.

My South American journey was characterized by a lot of ups and downs.

When I first started settling down, I pushed through boundaries of loneliness and battled nights of depression. I had pulled out the rug of comfort from my own feet. I didn’t have the tight-knit support system I took for granted in China and the Philippines. For the first time, I really was alone here. Everything was different. I’ve never been so far from Asia before and I had to learn and start anew again. My whole world was shaken and I had to rebuild it piece by piece.

Not knowing where we are, what to eat, how to speak the language can certainly make us anxious and uneasy. But anxiety is part of any person’s quest to find the parameters of life’s possibilities. – Reclaiming Travel

The first two months of moving to a new place are always the hardest. But once you push through that, you find that you’ve established for yourself a routine and start to feel “settled”.

When a hero in his epic quest finds a new village, he immediately seeks a new trade while perhaps waiting for news or biding his time before the next adventure. So did I and this opened doors to meeting many interesting characters and ventures. I met many mentors and acquired new skills. I also stumbled upon something totally exciting by accident. Where it would lead me professionally, I don’t know yet but the knowledge on what it can do fills me with anticipation and I can’t wait to see where that door might lead.

This is the paradox: we set out on adventures to gain deeper access to ourselves; we travel to transcend our own limitations.- Reclaiming Travel

I set out on a quest on an unknown land, not knowing where it will take me, not knowing what will happen. I guess you could say I was a fool for chasing a dream that turned out not to be what I wanted (I wanted maracas not empanadas, dammit!). But I did grow and learned a lot here and pushed through my own limitations, jumped out of my comfort zone. It also gave me something else that I hadn’t expected – another door to another dream. This time less foolish, less reckless.

Travel is a search for meaning. But in the end our wandering is meant to lead back towards ourselves. -Reclaiming Travel

I also didn’t realize I would miss Asia a lot. Living here in Chile made me realize how much I miss good cheap delicious food and cheap airlines. I also didn’t understand the depth of how far I really am from my family and friends till I came here and living literally at the end of the world.

But it did provide a lot of insights of my own limitations and what I can and can’t do. It made me realize lifestyles around the world are different and that I’m more likely suited to others than the one here. Which brings me to the decision of closing my South American chapter and deciding to return to Asia.

This is my quest. My journey and it is almost over.

It’s like I had a brief affair with a sizzling hot South American salsa dancer. She sauntered up to me with her bright red lipstick and swept me away from what was comfort routine drudgery. She and I danced all night and it was passionate, sensuous – dangerous even but I know I can’t keep it up for long. At the end of the day, I can’t wait to go back to my domestic Asian housewife where I know delicious steamy wontons are waiting for me.

The sails are poised to change direction, ladies and gentlemen. This time it won’t sail on the wild erratic winds of change. It would not wander. It would have a compass and a direction on where it would go. This time back to home, back to Asia. Herein lies the paradox of setting off on your journey, for in the end you return to where you started.

photo by 365daytumblr, worldmusic and cnn

See where it all began

I QUIT!

North Korea is the Real Matrix- the DPRK tour

So You Want to Move to South America?

Chile Education Protest- My First Sighting

I had my first glimpse of the Chilean protest that is has been going on for over a year in Chile. Students have been campaigning for free education which their grandparents have enjoyed before the Pinochet dictatorship swept in and changed the country to privatization kingdom. Capitalist President Penera refused to budge and eradicate the education for profit system.

Here I stumbled upon my first protest which took place in front of the building where I work as a PR copywriter. They were mainly staged by high school students as a reaction to the latest scandal where one police officer had raped a high school girl. I could hear screams resonating from the building and the carabineros (military) swooping in. One even brought a huge wrench! People around me were snapping photos and shouting against the carbineros. In the end, the military arrested the protestors and drove away leaving the street eerily quiet and the people still stubbornly holding on to the cause of free education.

The battle may be over today but the revolution will continue.
For more info on the Chile protest, you can go to this article by Aljazeera.
Education is a right.

Protesters stopping buses in Quilpue, a city 20 minutes from where I live

To Travel is To Live- Lessons From Bi-cultural Perspective

This is a guest post by Xenia. Thanks for contributing and sharing your wonderful story!

Some people are solely passionate about studying foreign cultures, some are passionate about learning new languages, and others love exotic vacations.  I am passionate about all of the above-mentioned, but mostly about the acquisition of intercultural skills because these skills are ultimately the key to any successful foreign encounter or rich travel experience. 

My life was one big journey and I have always had to adapt, learn, and develop new skills in order to be able to interact with individuals of foreign backgrounds and accommodate my international experiences; therefore being passionate about it has helped me greatly in achieving my goals, such as being employed at a transnational company.

My passion is deeply rooted in my background: I was born bilingual, half Hungarian, half Ukrainian/Russian, and I have moved to Belgium at the age of 14 having attended an American High School at a military base, and after, an international University in Denmark. Consequently, adaptation to foreign grounds was a fairly constant factor for me in all aspects of life and I realized this as a child, because already as a small kid I was fluent in two languages and travelled further than any of my class mates to visit my grandparents in Ukraine. I knew that I sort of belonged to two worlds and of course had to learn to accommodate both sides of my bilateral nature.  This wasn’t always easy and I was sometimes bullied because of the historical legacies of the Soviet Union that left a great wound in Hungarian pride. I learned early on that it was important to respect diversity and foreign values, thus paving the way for my future travel encounters and expat missions.

In my opinion, travelling was one of the richest experiences in my life and that is exactly what travel resulted in: invaluable intercultural experience. Even short trips sometimes changed my outlook on life. I also learned that it was important to leave all my prejudices behind, be informed, and be open to a whole set of new and exciting experiences. Although not all foreign experiences were pleasant, because not all individuals were always open to my presence and my values, the best experiences related to travel combined with my passion for intercultural skills, were a set of successful cultural encounters, new friendships that taught me a great deal about who I was, and of course professional connections that led to my job today.

At the moment I have plans of visiting friends in Australia and the United States. Of course I am going to visit my parents in Hungary and Italy too. To travel is to live, and I therefore recommend everybody to save up a bit and experience what our wonderful planet has to offer.

About the author: Xenia has a professional experience in the fashion and music industry, and an interest in modern lifestyle, intercultural communication, and travelling. She currently works for Miinto IE and Miinto UK and she has a background in Communication and EU Studies.

Photos by 365 Days Tumblr and telwanders

You’ll be seeing future guest posts from Xenia in this blog. Have a travel story? Grew up in different cultures? To guest post in this  blog, send an article or short letter about what’d you’d like to write (5 minutes only!) to kash.yu [at] gmail.  No worries, I don’t do email biting.