Epilogue

I've been trying to work on writing a book from the material I have amassed for Backpacking in a Suit, but it’s been frustratingly slow going, as anyone who has followed my Facebook page or Twitter feed has seen. I have a plethora of potential material that I can cover, and I’ve written a bit already, but I’m having a hard time finding focus and true inspiration. Or something of that sort. I am still working on the book, but I knew I needed a break, and I was ready for a bit of a change to try to charge my creative juices.

So, in line with what seems to be a theme for my life this year, I agreed to go to another wedding. In India again. Yes, that makes six this year. Plus, realities are that I have an empty bank account, and as always, a continent (Asia) with a hold on my imagination calling. So, that is how I found myself again with the backpack I tried so hard to leave at home firmly on my back, wearing the absurdly wrinkled and dirty suit caked with dust from a dozen countries around the globe.

This time I started out in Punjab. Two of my classmates from my Master’s program were getting married. They have thus far been the first and only pair to tie the knot from our program, and as such, I found myself in the company of three other classmates that were lucky enough to make the trek. It was good fun, and an interesting point of comparison to my last Indian wedding. I felt like a pro, with plenty of wedding experience under my belt, and did my best to share insight and knowledge into the proceedings with my classmates (Me: “This is where they put a dot on her head”, Friend: “Why do they do that?”, Me: “No idea. I just know they do it.”)

From Punjab, I traveled with a classmate that I last saw in Kampala, to the outer reaches of Rajasthan. We spent a few days in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer before rushing (as fast as you can rush via slow moving overnight trains) towards Gujarat for the second half of the wedding. It seems that typical Indian weddings generally happen between people from the same strata of society who have roots in the same region, thus one huge extended wedding is most fitting. In the case of my friends though, they are from different backgrounds and different regions, so instead of forcing entire clans to travel great distances, they just did two ceremonies. Again, it was interesting to note the differences and similarities, from dress to ceremony to food. The one thing that was similar at both weddings? Tooooo cold.

From there, my friend and I moved on to Udaipur and then to Agra, the same place I spent my last days in India on the previous trip. Unfortunately for me, I found myself in much the same mood, only this time without the luxury of a five-star hotel room to retreat to. For numerous reasons, India causes me to become impatient, stressed, unfriendly, and even a bit violent. It took less than one day in the country for me to start throwing my backpack around in crowds and walk on and off trains with my elbows wielded as weapons. At the end of the trip this time just as last time, I was getting into arguments with taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers, throwing dirty looks about me, and ignoring otherwise well-meaning people. It’s a good thing that I anticipated my reaction and only scheduled 12 days in the country.

Now I am back in Beijing, exploring the fast-changing and increasingly upscale city while eating loads of good food. I’ll spend the holidays here before heading back to Hong Kong for a few days of rest and relaxation in the middle of January. After that, I’ll be taking my talents back to Manila, where I plan to work for a few months and hopefully carve out some time to continue writing the book. This is perhaps the biggest news, and it means that I will continue on with my nomadic lifestyle well into the second half of 2011. One trip to the next, one city after another, so it all continues ever onward and I am left to ponder one simple question (along with the content of my writing):

Wasn't Backpacking in a Suit supposed to the final, satisfying scratch to this decade long itch of constant movement?