Friday, January 21, 2011

Haiku for the week

Blue skies start to bore,
Encourage dreams of escape,
Fleeing south with birds.


Yep, I've had it with the Beijing winter.  It's not been an especially cold one; but it has been wretchedly unvarying.  And we seem to have had 10 or 12 weeks of it already now.  I'm not really a fan of beaches and jungles and tropical heat, but... I'm starting to browse travel websites on Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines.  Time to get away.

5 comments:

JES said...

Have you been to any of those places before? (For some reason, I think of you as shuttling only from China to the UK, perhaps with an occasional detour to the US. I don't think I can recall your even mentioning Japan, say. Or Australia/NZ.)

I'm such a coward; I have a hard time imagining ever getting comfortable in any region subject to climatic and seismic disaster. (Yes, Florida is land of the hurricane. But I've been very lucky so far, touch wood, and we live far enough inland from the Gulf of Mexico that I've yet to feel really threatened.)

Cedra Wood said...

I know what you mean--In the correct dosage, travel is the perfect physic for the mid-winter blues (though health care is notoriously reluctant to cover it, despite its obvious advantages). Will be interested to read the results of your travel plans, should they come to fruition!

Froog said...

I'm not sure it's going to happen. It will require a major dip into the 'savings'. And I'm not so enthused about the idea of solo travel as I used to be.

I have been to Australia (and Singapore and Fiji) on a round-the-world backpacking jaunt in the '90s, and to Mongolia and North Korea while I've been living in China, but have up to now missed out on souutheast Asia. As I said here, jungles and beaches not really my thing. Malaysia is suddenly in the frame because my friend Jean-Sebastien is competing in the World Final of 'Battle of the Bands' in KL at the end of next month.

el said...

So even you tire of the idea of solo travel? Makes me feel a smidgen better about not wanting to charge into the fray. Although I did, and I have no regrets. Best of luck for a happy CNY, no matter where you wind up.

Froog said...

Well, I say in my defence (and as a goad to you, El) that you are 10 (or more) years younger than me, and I am tired of solo travel, having done almost nothing but for the past thirty years - including a round-the-world jaunt in the mid-90s, and three coast-to-coast odysseys on the Greyhounds in the States.

I think Malaysia might happen...