On My Way Home

By the time you read this, I'll be home.

We had a few little adventures the last day, driving slowly north from our houseboat haven toward the Cochin airport. We went to a coconut-fiber weaving factory, caught another elephant festival, and splashed a bit in the clear, warm Arabian Sea. And continued creeping North.

As Sarah Silverman wonders at the end of each show, what did we learn from all this?

Our 9pm flight to Bangalore was only 45 minutes late (that's "on-time" in Hindi, Urdu, Malayalom, and other major languages we encountered in India). We then had four-and-a-half hours to kill before boarding our 3:20am (that's right) flight to the West. We were once again dirty, tired, and sarcastic about a nation in which people can't line up without creating a time-consuming mob scene. And we had 27 hours of flying ahead of us.

So, as Sarah Silverman wonders at the end of each show, what did we learn from all this?

* Just like you shouldn't go to the supermarket when you're hungry, it's dangerous to plan an exotic vacation when you haven't taken one in a while. I'd forgotten how hard---physically and emotionally---three weeks away from a U.S. life can be. I really do hate getting up early every single day, which is inevitable in developing countries. I get cranky when I haven't showered in several days. I missed the satisfaction of accomplishing things---I know, something I need to meditate on, but I did miss it periodically.

* I missed my friends even more than I thought I would. I'm dying to know what you've all been up to!

* Writing the travel blog was mostly a delight, and occasionally an irritating obligation. But I never, ever regretted doing it. What a pleasure to just write about what I saw and felt, without having to successfully make a point or articulate a vision.

* I'm stunned and gratified that so many people wrote me while I was gone. Not only was it fun to feel connected while in an alien land, it made me feel I was writing for readers, which I really enjoyed.

* India has almost four times as many people as the U.S.. Ditto China. In fact, one out of every three people on the earth is either Indian or Chinese. We Americans are already paying a steep price for not understanding either one, and for thinking we're better than both. Every incoming U.S. president, senator, and high school principal should be required to spend a week in one or the other---and not at the Intercontinental Hotel, either.

* The oceans that have protected the U.S. for two centuries have also isolated us. Unlike almost every other nation, Americans don't rub shoulders every week with people who think really, really differently from us. Neither the American government nor American people have acquired the habit of thinking about how other countries might perceive what we do---much less take those "foreigners'" thoughts seriously.

* Even in India, people use the expression "Indian time," which is much different than American time. The most frustrating words in India are "soon," "not far," and "later."

* Many people have written to ask who the "we" has been all these weeks. It's my wife Randi, the world's greatest travelling companion.

* I understand India way, way less now than I did before spending three weeks there. Mission accomplished, I guess.

Thanks for sharing it with me.