h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello.

'Kenya in the Fall' was the subject of my first forum posting at h2g2, when I joined in January, 2001. I was only meaning to say that, in September, I would be moving to Kenya. It didn't occur to me until after I got there, that there is no such thing as Kenya in the Fall. There's Kenya when it rains, and Kenya when it doesn't.

Some Kenyans refer to the rainy months when it's a few degrees cooler, as their 'winter'. I explained to one or two of them just how wrong that is. Winter means that the days get shorter and shorter, and the sun climbs to a lower and lower summit every day. Most of the plants die, and lots of the animals go to sleep or just plain go away. It lasts for months. Everything changes. One thinks and feels differently.

In contrast, at the equator, there isn't really a time when something isn't flowering, some bird isn't building a nest, some dead matter is being re-infused with life.

One day, it struck me that I could count on 6:30 pm always being just this dark, no more, no less (barring rain-clouds). I could tell time by the sun, easily. I could get by with only one wardrobe.

I spent the northern hemisphere's winter 2001/2002 in Kenya. There was no winter. There wasn't really a Christmas season, because Christmas isn't hyped or commericalized there, but let's stick to climate. In February, I burned my legs in the sun, while snorkling in a coral reef in the Indian Ocean. The previous February, I'd been scraping ice from the windshield of my van while waiting 20 mintues for it to warm up so I could drive through the snow to Santa Fe Community College, where I worked.

There isn't really a point that I'm converging to in this post - at least not one that I'm aware of. Your entry, ~jwf~, just inspired me to share my experience, I guess. Nietzsche argued that the difference in climate between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean accounted for the difference in philosophies that originated in those two places. I wouldn't disagree with him. I might even go so far as to say that we cannot truly understand each other, spread out across this planet, without actual travel, not just of the virtual kind that we all experience when we log on to the 'net.

In Nigeria, according to my roommate for part of my stay in Nairobi, there are three major tribes: the Yoruba, the Ibo and the Hausa. The government has apparently enacted a program there, by which young adults all over the country (all of them? college grads? I'm not sure), are given jobs for the duration of one year, in the civil service. An effort is made to send each person to a region of the country dominated by some tribe other than their native one. This way, these potential rivals are encouraged to mingle with one another, and to share experiences. Apparently this program does a great deal towards strengthening national unity, and a feeling of all being *Nigerians*.

How wonderful it would be if something like that could happen on a world-wide scale. Living overseas for a year changed the way I look at my fellow humans, and I heartily recommend it to anyone, of any age, from any nation, in any season.


cheers,

GTB

Thanks for that.
And thanks for all of that.

The most gratifying bit was:

>> "Your entry, ~jwf~, just inspired me to share my experience, I guess." <<

I am glad.
And very glad you felt not only the inspiration but also the comfort to be able to tell the whole story. I really appreciate it when people let their thoughts and feelings flow. The web has a way of making people too brief, too cryptic, too succint, too mean or perhaps too fearful to share their thoughts in full. Your reply to my piece has been as thought provoking, revealing and enjoyable to me as you say my entry was for you.

So I guess we're even .
Well actually I hope you will continue to be as expansive everywhere you post and help me wage war against the tight-lipped silence that prevades this wonderful medium.

Shakespeare (I think) said "Brevity is the soul of wit." But he did not mean at the expense of content and meaning, which he of course took for granted. Far too many people today think they can be profound with terse and laconic utterances. They leave out all the antecedents and background that might make what they say interesting and give us only orphaned half sentences without context.

Power to the ponderous!

~jwf~

On a fairly related tangent, ~jwf~, have you heard something from agcBen about a trip she and I are thinking of taking? Will you be in Nova Scotia in June or July of next year?


GTB

Actually, Ben has just told me that the email she sent you was taken as a burnt offering by the internet gods, or whatever it is that happens to things that disappear into the web. How she knows this, I have no idea. Anyway, I'll fill you in.

She and I are planning a road trip around the US and into Canada. We're thinking of a sort of rolling meet-up, planning a few stops, and letting the rest just happen. We'd document it all, and have interesting thoughts about cyberspace versus interstates, screen names versus human beings, and the Guide versus the world.

We agreed that we'd love to meet you, if you're interested and going to be available whenever we get up that way. We don't have exact dates pinned down yet, but we're trying to get some sense of our route and who lives along it.

Would you be at all interested in having us drop by your neck of the woods?

Absofrigginglutely! I look forward to meeting her... and you too ..of course.

To date I have rec'd no e-mail from her, so this all comes as a bit of a surprise ..a pleasant surprise. There is an e-mail link on my homepage and we probably ought to confine this discussion to a less public forum.

Meanwhile be content that I'd be happy to offer advice regarding travel in North America if you will give me an outline of your general plan. And, if your dates do not coincide with tentative travel plans of my own for next summer, I will be here on the foggy coast of Nova Scotia and quite happy to accomodate you if I can. Or perhaps, if you are into camping and the great-out-of-doors we could tour some parts and parks of Eastern Canada together.

peace
~jwf~

Indeed.

shazz

Indeed indeed!
And all very in-tents!

Actually, I've just remembered that 'camping' and all things 'campy' have another meaning in British English. So I hasten to assure that I speak solely of the great pioneering spirit of North Americans. I like to honour this legacy by living 'under canvas' amid nature's wonders as often as weather permits.

I strap my 'ONE MAN' tent onto the luggage rack of my TR-6, stuff the boot with canned beans, flashlights and dry undies and head off into the wilds. Or as wild as Parks Canada or the occassional roadside tourist campground will allow.

I have been getting suggestions from Tefkat about 'camper vans' and the possibilities of living in one while touring the UK and Europe. I get the impression that outside the largest urban centres, it is still possible to live like a gypsy.

~jwf~

It is - but the size of the camper van compared to the size of the roads doesn't always come out favourably.

Of course, if you remain fairly static there isn't a problem - or find somewhere where the roads are fairly empty - like the western isles of Scotland, and you're fine. Anything larger than the average white van is a nightmare in Holland... unless you stick to the motorways of course, which slightly defeats the object of the exercise

shazz

I need only room for myself (and the occassional overnight guest) so I am seriously thinking of the VW eurovan camper version, possibily picking one up new at the Wolfsburg factory. I can bring it home 'import tax free' (25%) as a 'used' vehicle after six months and still get more than I paid for it including shipping. Or so the legend goes. I'm sure there are several catches 22 to this plan that need further investigation.

But for now I only ask if that size would be more suitable. And if one didn't 'pop' the top, light a fire or hang out the laundry, could one expect to park it almost anywhere?

peace
~jwf~

In Holland it's illegal to just park at the side of the road, but there are plenty of 'campings' around where you can hook up for the night.

I'm pretty sure that this is the same for most of Europe, although people seem to do it all the time in the UK without any major problems.

shazz

I'll email you, ~jwf~. I don't know what happened with Ben's email, but we'll all be in touch soon enough. We're not ready to officially announce the rolling meet-up yet, but don't worry Shazz, you'll be kept informed.

As for travelling in North America, I've done my fair share of road trips, mostly centering around Dallas or Santa Fe, but I've never driven further north than DC and Maryland on one side, and San Francisco on the other. I understand Canada's somewhere up there, and colder, is it?



GTB