Category: Travel

The Nomad wanders, but isn’t
wanderlust. The Nomad enjoys freedom, but realises nothing is for free. The
Nomad works, but is never employed. 

This is the story of The
Nomad. 

It all starts with goodbyes.
Although it doesn’t actually feel like a ‘goodbye’ in the moment, over the
years, the exit is ever-tangible. And perhaps somewhere deep down, in our heart
of hearts we feel that; we feel this our last moment, with our favourite, most
liked and valued people. And as we fiercely hold onto that feeling, as tight as
possible, it remains submerged, deep, in the ocean of pride. 

It’s time to celebrate;
we’re going to Mexico. 

Seldom do they gather together,
all of them. Best friends, work friends, party friends, fish-eye friends,
friends of friends, friends of friends who are travelling through the city, new
friends – they’re all here. They all know. Whether they know that they know is
a separate conversation, but they know this is something special and everything
that has happened in their lives before this very moment has brought them to
this…well, exit. 

The party isn’t good. It’s bloody
great; the non-drinkers are drinking, the introverts are leading The Macarena;
the boys are hugging; the girls are laughing; the club is playing all your
hits. Have you ever wanted a bathroom break to be over, pronto, just so you can
get back to the action ASAP? Every break felt like that on this evening. 

Evening turns to night. Night
turns to morning. Morning turns to tomorrow. 

The Sun is rising, birds begin to
chirp, you hear the sound of the first bus of the day, as a man and his dog
walk by you. That final sip of the beer you’ve been choking for the last hour
is awful but essential. 

Hugs. Taxi. Home. 

Fox: Are you excited for Rabbitland Day?

Possum: Why would I be? I’m not a rabbit. I’m a possum, and this land was previously possum land.

Rabbit: But now it’s Rabbitland. And Rabbitland is here for all animals to enjoy, regardless of species. You should have fun on Rabbitland day.

Possum: But why call it Rabbitland?

Fox: Lets call it “Animal Land” instead.

Rabbit: Nah I’m good. “Rabbitland” works.

Possum: Meh, even if we did call it “Animal Land,” what’s the point? There’s still a rabbit on the national flag. We still have rabbit-speak as the official language. We still use the rabbit legal system. Even if we change the name, and let other animals live here, the place is still a Rabbitland anyway. It’s not a possum land anymore, and I feel sad forever and ever. Hmmm.

Rabbit: Well fucken oath it’s a Rabbitland. I’m a rabbit, and the rabbits won the Rabbit-Possum wars. Suck eggs cunt.

Possum: Sorry what? 

Fox: Come on Mr Rabbit, don’t be a douche.

Rabbit: Am I supposed to feel bad that rabbits won the Rabbit-Possum wars? Am I supposed to feel bad that the possums didn’t manage to deport us rabbits en masse? Did you like what the blue cunts in the Avatar movie did to the humans? Yous all fapped over that didn’t you?

Fox: Ummm….

Rabbit: And that would’ve been best case losing scenario. Worst case losing scenario is the Possums killed our rabbit men and took our rabbit women, like how they did to each other in their possum tribal wars. 

Possum: I have no idea what you mean by “tribal wars.” The wars only began when rabbits arrived.

Rabbit: Bullshit cunt. Time for some “truth-telling.” Why was it tradition for every male possum to get initiated as a warrior and trained how to murder? Did yous actually have a 100% conscription rate? Lol yous did ay. Holy shit! Who were yous fighting against for the past 60,000 years? 

Possum: Ummm…

Rabbit: What happened when a possum mob population grew too large and exceeded it’s area food capacity? Would you just let your mob starve? Or did you try and steal food resources from a neighbouring possum mob? Rhetorical question cunt. Or maybe yous practiced birth control to prevent massive population growth, and that’s why your population was only one million when the rabbits rocked up here?

Possum: Maybe we did practice birth control?

Rabbit: Get fucked. There was no birth control, only death control, and you inflicted it on eachother non-stop for 60,000 years, just like everyone else on Earth. This is history 101, this is truth-telling 101. Subjective opinion is that your land was stolen. Objective reality is that the rabbit mob came and beat you at the same Darwinian game of survival your possum mobs had been playing for the past 60,000 years. Morally, I am no better or worse than you. There was never a moral discrepancy between us, only a power discrepancy. 

Fox: Well, that was quite a rant. Are you going to at least compensate possums for their losses? With power comes responsibility.

Rabbit: Ummm, are YOU going to compensate the Possums Mr Fox? Are you going to give them back the land that Rabbits took on your behalf? You’re doing just as well out of Rabbitland as I am cunt, why do I have to do all the compensating?

Possum: Because it was the rabbits who fought the war, and you’re a rabbit.

Rabbit: Since when do the winners of a war compensate the losers? Lol. Imagine the axis powers in 1946 telling the allies to pay up. Lol you’re taking the piss mate, it’s supposed to be the other way around. But that’s fine, no need to compensate me. Like I said, you’re welcome to live in Rabbitland, Rabbitland is here for all the animals to enjoy.

Possum: That’s not good enough.

Fox: Mr Rabbit, there is much more to Rabbitland than just rabbits. Why not expand our horizons? “Animal Land” could bring out the best in all animals, including rabbits.

Rabbit: Fuck “Animal Land.” Rabbitland already brings out the best in animals, when they stop their whingeing and focus on being good rabbits.

Possum: I’m not a rabbit bro.

Fox: But we’re not rabbits, and we’re not going to stop whingeing. 

Rabbit: Ok I’ll make yous a deal. We can rename this place “Animal Land” and change some rules, but only if the original rabbit lands where rabbits sailed from, are to be allocated as “Indigenous Rabbitland.” Other animals can live back there, but they must play by Rabbit rules. In return, the rabbits who live everywhere else will play by “Animal Land” rules, whatever the fuck that means. If it turns to shit, I can just move back to “Indigenous Rabbitland.” We rabbits will respect indigenous Possum rights, if indigenous rabbit rights are respected back in our European indigenous rabbit lands. Deal?

Fox: You mean Rabbits are going to claim indigenous rights in their European ancestral rabbit homelands? Where they lived for tens of thousands of years? That’s racist. That’s “blood and soil.” You can’t do that. You’re a Nazi.

Rabbit: “Blood and Soil” is literally what indigenous rights are, dickhead. It’s also what modern Japan is. It’s what modern Korea is. I don’t see you whiningly about Japan and Korea cunt. If they’re allowed to do it, rabbits will be allowed to do it back in the rabbit homelands. It doesn’t mean you guys can’t live there, it just means that when you’re there, you follow our rules, and you don’t whinge about there being too many rabbits. You don’t seek to replace rabbits with your weirdo diversity ratios. You don’t whinge when indigenous rabbits make indigenous rabbit films about indigenous rabbit stories, and funnily enough, only cast indigenous rabbits. You don’t come up with annoying rules about what type of haircuts rabbits are allowed to have, what kind of clothes rabbits are allowed to wear, what kind of music and art rabbits are allowed to make, what kind of indigenous rabbit statues we want to erect in our rabbit town squares. You even let us impersonate the voices of other animals, as we see fit. If our rabbit culture involves giving informal nicknames to other animals, so be it. If you choose to live in indigenous Rabbitland you will accept our rabbit culture, or fuck off elsewhere.

Possum: Wow, you sound quite triggered there, Mr Rabbit. Doesn’t feel nice being replaced in your indigenous homeland, does it now?

Rabbit: No it doesn’t. I can see why you suffer from mental anguish, Mr Possum.

Fox: Mr Rabbit, I’m not sure if you Rabbits can be trusted with indigenous control of your own homelands. You might wake up one morning as Nazis, and decide to try and conquer the whole world.

Rabbit: Mr Fox, you’re attributing the most extreme characteristics of bad rabbits to all rabbits there, which is grossly unfair. It’s actually rabbit-phobic. With all due respect, fuck off. If you’re going to respect indigenous possum rights, you need to respect indigenous rabbit rights as well. This is not an unreasonable request. I am not an extremist.

Fox: How can I be sure you’re not an extremist? 

Rabbit: How can I be sure that every fox cunt isn’t planning to suicide bomb the rabbit town square? I can’t be sure, but i can say it’s statistically unlikely. Plus, I’m actually not a fox-phobic dumb cunt, so I give foxes the benefit of the doubt. It’s the right thing to do, please extend me that same courtesy. I like foxes. Don’t be a rabbit-phobic dumb cunt. Be consistent in your worldview. Let rabbits have an indigenous homeland. I’m up for the cosmopolitan lifestyle, but some other rabbits don’t want to live in a generic “Animal Land” and that should be respected. Those rabbits need an alternative.

Possum: You were an extremist at the start of this conversation! You probably still are…

Rabbit: I have evolved into a more balanced position, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take any bullshit from you cunts. 50/50 split. 

Possum: In that case, not all traditional Possum lands will be generic “Animal Land” either. Some of our indigenous possum land will be allocated as “Possums only.” 

Fox: Um, Mr Possum, that actually comes across as a little bit racist…

Rabbit: Fucken oath it’s racist lol. It’s called “Native Title.” But that’s fair enough Mr Possum. Protect your ancient culture. Protect your ancient languages. Even protect your genetic distinctiveness, if you so wish. The Rabbit-Possum wars are over, and yous made it through. You brought your spears to a gun fight, and you actually fucking survived, that’s a good effort. This continent is big enough to share. This planet is big enough to share.

Possum: I’ll have all of the above in a treaty then thanks.

Rabbit: Righto let’s write it up.

Fox: A global balance of segregation and integration? Ethnocentric tribal zones balanced with cosmopolitan all-animal inclusion zones? Enshrined in a complex web of international/domestic law? Is that even possible? Sounds racist. You guys are racist. This is pure hatred. Hateful animals!

Rabbit: How else do you expect to preserve diversity, whilst simultaneously having a world that’s peaceful enough to travel around and enjoy that diversity? Our treaty proposition is a cosmopolitanisms dream.

Fox: It will all come undone! The rabbits will kill us all! They cannot be trusted with this arrangement! They are just inherently different creatures to all the other animals! There is something sinister in their genetic makeup! We need to dismantle their power wherever they are! They cannot be allowed to remain a majority in any jurisdiction! To fight the rabbits is to fight racism itself! Yes that’s right, we must target a specific race in order to be anti-racist! No irony there whatsoever!!!!!

Possum: Chill out, fox. Me and Mr Rabbit are onto something here. It’s my land yeah yeah 

The Nomad wanders, but isn’t
wanderlust. The Nomad enjoys freedom, but realises nothing is for free. The
Nomad works, but is never employed. 

This is the story of The
Nomad. 

It all starts with goodbyes.
Although it doesn’t actually feel like a ‘goodbye’ in the moment, over the
years, the exit is ever-tangible. And perhaps somewhere deep down, in our heart
of hearts we feel that; we feel this our last moment, with our favourite, most
liked and valued people. And as we fiercely hold onto that feeling, as tight as
possible, it remains submerged, deep, in the ocean of pride. 

It’s time to celebrate;
we’re going to Mexico. 

Seldom do they gather together,
all of them. Best friends, work friends, party friends, fish-eye friends,
friends of friends, friends of friends who are travelling through the city, new
friends – they’re all here. They all know. Whether they know that they know is
a separate conversation, but they know this is something special and everything
that has happened in their lives before this very moment has brought them to
this…well, exit. 

The party isn’t good. It’s bloody
great; the non-drinkers are drinking, the introverts are leading The Macarena;
the boys are hugging; the girls are laughing; the club is playing all your
hits. Have you ever wanted a bathroom break to be over, pronto, just so you can
get back to the action ASAP? Every break felt like that on this evening. 

Evening turns to night. Night
turns to morning. Morning turns to tomorrow. 

The Sun is rising, birds begin to
chirp, you hear the sound of the first bus of the day, as a man and his dog
walk by you. That final sip of the beer you’ve been choking for the last hour
is awful but essential. 

Hugs. Taxi. Home. 

As part of our ongoing memoirs series, we would like to present our first impressions of Cyprus – Laying the Foundation. 

This piece introduces the island nation, with a brief recount of its history. 

---

My partner looks over to me, smiling, and begins reciting a message she’d received overnight from her mother, who lives in the southern countryside of the Netherlands. She informs me:

“Mum said she was watching the weather report on the news, and there was only one country in Europe where it was still warm….here!” 

Only 30 days from a Northern Hemisphere winter, the hot air hits you like steam from a running bath. We exit from a small airport in the country’s southwest – Paphos to be precise. Just outside the arrivals door, the driver from a pre-arranged taxi holds up a sign with my supposed name. It has letters I’ve never seen in my name before. “Nice try”,  I thought. 

Walking us to the taxi, he shows off his more-than-decent English, and as much I hate to admit, it calms some nerves. Driving to our destination, we thought it might be a good idea to do some quick reading on the history of the land in the meantime. 

The colourful recent past of the country is ostensible in the streets, shop-fronts, in the communities and in infrastructure. Once wholly a British colony (English speaking driver now makes sense) and strategic point to the middle-east, the island nation was basically placed on fire-sale after the Second World War. The Brits exited (not for the last time) and as usual, left it up to the natives to work it out. It reminds me a little of that scene in Christopher Nolans, The Dark Knight, when The Joker infiltrates and rules a local gang. In order to decide who stays and goes, he throws a stick into a circle and asks the remaining gangsters to fight for it. 

Anyway, I digress. 

So the Turkish to the North and Greek-Cypriots to South and West converge to decide the dominant culture or faith. Talks eventually escalate to violence in 1974, when hundreds of nationals lose their lives in a bloody battle. Ever since, clear demarkation to the North separates the Turkish-Muslim Cypriots and the Greek-Orthodox Cypriots. Only recently, as the country joined the EU in the early 2000’s, has there been much-needed cohesion between the surprisingly similar communities, allowing members of both cultures to cross lines. 

---

An army of fat felines greet us at the entry of our apartment complex, which is located just far enough from the tourist precinct for us to get a feel of suburbia. On further inspection, it is actually an army of cats – mum, dad, kittens, maybe an aunty, family friends watching in the distance. I think there’s a story to be told here – watch this space. 

We drop our bags off before walking over to the balcony. I can smell the sea. I can feel the sand under my feet. I can hear sounds of joy. This might work. 

More to come on our first week in Cyprus, including restaurants, swimming in the Mediterranean of the Middle East, living conditions and people. 

Originally published on https://ahimsaimages.com

And by ‘we’ I mean the travel industry. This includes, and is not limited to;

• Travel agencies 
• Travel magazines 
• Travel columnists 
• Influencers, and 
• Digital Nomads 

2019 may as well be another era. An unattainable past. A forgotten life, leaving behind only ruins of what once was a free world. 

And while many will be eager to get back into the exit row, others will be more cautious about the big metal bird. This could be for several reasons, including being unvaccinated themselves, consequences of media fear-mongering or the residual existence of Covid in other countries. 
So. 

HOW do we motivate and inspire these folks to return to their pre-pandemic jet setting ways? 

1. Talk about your travels 

It’s easy that. 

By simply speaking with our friends, family and professional colleagues about our journey and experiences, we are creating positive affirmations about the industry. 

Important to note here, ‘speaking’ does not mean presenting thousands of aimless holiday photos through the projector. Share information about the practices and processes the airline and you took to ensure safe arrival, stay and departure. 

2. Document your travel 

If you’re not good at remembering moments or conversations, write them down or take plenty of photos! Ask yourself:

What were the covid protocols at the airport (arrival and departure)? Were you satisfied with them?

What were the airline’s sanitation standards during flight? 

Were most people vaccinated in the country you first visited? 

Did you cross any borders? (especially relevant if moving through Europe)

How stringent were the border checks? 

3. Share your research 

Many of us in the industry spend countless hours working out where to go, what dates to travel, whether there are visa restrictions and now we’re checking Covid restrictions! 

What’s your individual process like if and when you decide to move countries? 

You’ll find that many non-travellers aren’t familiar with resources and outlets that we spend most of our time referring to before planning our travels. 

It could be:

• A trustworthy blog page 
• A website 
• Embassy updates 
• Flight search engine updates 
• Family or friends in the destination country 

It’s crucial that we share this knowledge. Ultimately, it will only help our

own livelihoods. 

4. Start Blogging about it! 

If you’re a guest author, a digital nomad, an expat or perhaps just a savvy traveller, now is the time to share your expertise and experience with the world (and get paid for it!). 

Multi-purpose platforms like Leakd make it so simple for intelligent and determined members of the community to give back. To that end, build a trustworthy brand for individuals and businesses to refer to in times of need. 

And crikey do we need that now!

It is the Golden Age of Travel. 2018 saw Australia witness 42 million movements across its international border, of which 99% were by air; almost an 80% increase over a 10 year period…and that’s just one nation. To accommodate for the growing number of travellers, budget carriers have really been able to capitalise on price conscious individuals. But does flying low cost really work out to be a cheaper option than paying for a full-service price? Here are 5 things you should consider before deciding if a cheap airfare is really worth its price.

1. Check the duration of the flight

Saving on airfares is never win-win. Flight times take the first hit. Low cost airfares or budget carriers will typically make up for their low-cost by increasing travel time. If you don’t mind extended birds-eye views and/or are travelling domestic, this is probably not much of an issue. But if you’re flying international, longer flight times usually mean longer lay overs. While many of us don’t mind the occasional pit-stop for a quick duty-free trip or to indulge in some local ale, a long international lay over may result in having to book overnight accommodation; and staying close to the airport is not cheap! That itself may blow your budget right out of the water. Full-fare carriers will usually get you from A to B direct or with one-stop.

2. In-flight meals

Budget carriers do not offer complimentary in-flight meals. These come at a considerable cost and are typically priced in the carriers home city currency. For example, Jetstar prices are in Australian dollars, AirAsia prices are in Malaysian ringgit, and so forth. Consult with the carrier beforehand for a full menu list. Full fare carriers will provide at least 2 complete meals (depending on flight duration), on-call snacks and an assortment of drinks; all complimentary with your air-ticket.

3. In-flight entertainment

Having recently travelled between US States, as well as over borders (Hawaii to Sydney), I noticed that it was not only in-flight meals that came at a cost, but also entertainment. This didn’t just stop at movies and television shows, it extended to games (like Tetris and hangman) and music! So If you are on the long-haul, this is a major consideration to make. Consult with your airline before or stock up on Netflix downloads! Full-service carriers that have entertainment available on flights will provide it cost-free with your ticket.

4. Commissions and taxes with third parties

Booking your travel ticket with a third party provider (not directly with the airline) may result in agent fees, commissions and taxes. Ensure you double check your final bill for these injected costs. It could make your “budget” option, not very budget at all. One way to get around this is to jump onto the airline website and check ticket prices for the same flight. I’ve found that buying direct from the airline removes some of the unnecessary extra costs listed above.

5. Baggage

This is a real killer! And I’m prepared to admit that I’ve been bit by this low-cost bug a few times. Baggage will cost you! Budget carriers rely on making money from other avenues like food, drinks, upgrades and of course baggage! Especially for those long international flights, travelling to major destinations, budget carriers know many travellers will be flying with checked-in baggage, so they will charge you a price for each bag, with the cost per bag rising for every additional bag. Every airline has its own baggage policy. Variables include, number of items, type of item and the weight of the item. Review this before you decide to book budget. Full-fare prices typically include checked-in and carry-on bags as part of your ticket. I’ve found that the weight limits are also higher with the full-fare carriers.

Travel is an essential part of the modern world. The advent of low-cost flights have made exploration and experience more accessible than ever before. But it’s prudent to remind yourself that these players are also in the game to make money. Make sure you adequately weigh up your options to know you’re getting the most value out of your travel expenses.

Originally published on https://ahimsaimages.com

Originally published on https://ahimsaimages.com