What’s your best tip for budget travel?
First, the answer to this question depends on what is meant by ‘travel’. It would be easy to assume that we are speaking about going to distant lands for whatever reason, but let’s not jump to that conclusion, especially if our purpose is to discuss vacation travel.
Continue reading “Travelling Light”What’s something you do completely differently from how you were raised?
Where do you start with what’s different?
Travel. I take the car nearly everywhere. We couldn’t afford a car when I was growing up. So, we took the bus or walked. And we were fitter.
Food. My parents grew up when food rationing was still in force. So, they’d learned to use ‘alternatives’ like beef dripping (the fat that came from roasting meat) instead of butter. And my mother liked it with salt added. Now we know that’s a recipe for a heart attack. So, some of us try to eat healthier. Although it’s also interesting to watch other people’s eating habits. You’d swear they’re on a mission to see who can have the first heart attack!
And we used to cook from scratch, not check what’s in the freezer to heat in the microwave. Our freezer was the cold larder room at the side of the house. Milk, delivered every day, and butter were kept cold in there, too. Even so, a lot of food had to be bought fresh, or picked from the garden which is now a lawn.
And that meant much less food waste.
Entertainment. For the first 10 years of my life we didn’t have TV, or electricity, for that matter. When we moved into a new local authority house we got a TV, in black and white. Seeing the latest movies meant a trip to the cinema. Now we have home cinemas in glorious colour, with live pictures streamed from space.
Clothing. I grew up in the days of hand-me-downs. Today’s fast fashion put paid to that. Some of us still try to use clothes until they fall apart, and repair the favourites. But a lot of people have an annual (or more often) change of wardrobe and the old clothes just go in the bin.
Communication. If we wanted to communicate with anyone we either had to write a letter or go to the nearest phone box. Urgent messages would be sent by telegram. We used to watch Thunderbirds on TV and wish we had one of Jeff Tracy’s wall mounted video phones with the portrait of the person at the other end as a screen saver. I realised, a few years ago, when I was driving home one evening and my friend called me from Sri Lanka where he was working, that we now have them in our pockets. We had a long (hands free voice only) conversation and things that needed to be arranged were arranged in minutes instead of weeks.
Is that enough?
But then, times have changed. Do I long for those days? Not really. There are things I try to replicate, like cooking from fresh ingredients as much as possible, and recycling old clothes. Yet, each era has its own charm and advantages. When I was younger, life expectancy was shorter. Things change. And we have to change with them.
I have recently become fascinated by the number of people who believe that the world revolves around them.
I’m all for encouraging others to feel good about themselves, and I don’t disagree with trying to engender positivity. I like the concept of helping everyone to build self-esteem.
Yet it seems to me that the current “accept everything” model, together with the idea that it’s not right (not acceptable in a world that accepts everything?) to tell a child that they are in the wrong, is building a world full of selfish entitlement. It’s my way, or no way.
For example, you make arrangements to catch a specific train. That requires you to leave the house by a specific time so as to get to the station on time. Yet the attitude seems to be, “Well the train will just have to wait for me!”
I’m sorry, but when did your entitlement to be late overrule everyone else’s entitlement to be punctual?
Interestingly, such people will often make a major issue over your relaxed arrangements. This is a wonderful experience to behold.
“What time are we leaving?”
“After breakfast.”
“So what time is that?”
“Between 9.00 and 10.00.”
“Can’t you be more specific?”
“Not really. It depends on how long it takes everyone to get ready. But as long as we leave by 10.00 we’ll be fine.”
“So 10.00, then.”
“No. Between 9.00 and 10.00; when we are all ready. But definitely before 10.00 so that we miss the traffic.”
Then the fun starts. Breakfast over, you say:
“Is everyone ready to leave, then?”
“No. I have to get dressed”
“Go on, then. But don’t take too long. You have 15 minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, at 10.05 you go to check.
“Not dressed, yet? We’re going to be late and we’ll get caught in the traffic and miss the train.”
“Well, they’ll just have to wait for me, won’t they. You’ll just have to drive faster.”
And this person who was simply going to die unless you gave them a specific time now holds everything up, expecting everyone else’s life to revolve around him. (Or her.)
It’s one of the hazards of shielding children from the consequences of their actions, or covering for them, getting them out of trouble. They grow up feeling that they are the most important person in the world, and that leads to the same attitude as they age.
The reality is that we are not the most important persons in the world. The only way to be special is to treat everyone else as more special than you. But when we shield people, including children, from the consequences of their actions, we develop a thankless, heartless, entitled generation.
Next time you come across this attitude, whether in yourself or others, resolve, not to shield the perpetrator from the consequences, but to enforce those consequences with all your might. (As long as it’s safe to do so, of course!)
“Yes. I know you wanted to go to the park. And I know I said that we would go as soon as you’re dressed. But, look. The park gates are locked for the night because you took so long to get dressed.”
Be prepared, however, to suffer your own consequences:
“Well if you had told me to get dressed earlier we wouldn’t have been late!”
I know. It seems like you can’t win. But do this enough times and the message will start getting through.
Respect and dignity require mutual consideration, not insistence on our rights, regardless of the consequences to other people.
Are you a lifelong learner?
Short answer, Yes!
It would be easy to settle back after the years of schooling and simply drift through life relying on the knowledge we gained. Or would it?
Let’s face it, we all learn new things throughout our lives. Otherwise we would never manage. For many retired people that would mean still doing things the way we did them 50 years ago. And for most of us, that doesn’t happen.
But that’s not what this question is about, is it. This is about learning, not just new skills for everyday life like how to use a microwave, or a web-connected dishwasher. This is about new subjects. This is about new careers, even.
Continue reading “Being a Lifelong Learner”Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?
Being able to speak a language is relevant. We use a very limited vocabulary every day, but we know a lot more words than we use. Therfore, we may understand a lot more words than we can speak. But we don’t need too many words to get by, and to get our basic needs met.
I grew up speaking English and went to a Welsh medium school, but I didn’t use Welsh until one of my sons went to school. We were living in a predominantly Welsh area, and we felt he would benefit from being educated in the Welsh stream, so I re-learned the language.
Three years ago, my youngest two were playing around with a language app but always running out of ‘lives’ with the free version. So, I paid for the family version of the app and decided that I wasn’t going to waste the money. I would learn Italian, like I’d always wanted to but never gotten around to it.
Since then, I’ve moved on to other languages. So, as of today, I speak:
English, Welsh, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese. I can also sign a limited vocabulary in British Sign Language.
I first realised the significance when I was sitting behind a young man who was a deaf mute. His interpreter and family had gone to get lunch for him and he was sitting alone in the midst of all these people enjoying their own conversations.
I tapped him on the shoulder and spelled out, “Hi. My name is Michael.” And I’ll never forget the sheer joy on his face over the fact that someone had ‘spoken’ to him in his language.
I’ve had similar experiences with others, over the years. Even a simple greeting in the person’s mother tongue makes a huge difference in their life. Suddenly, they’re not alone. Suddenly, they have a friendly face in front of them instead of a sea of potentially frightening mystery.
A friend told me about a conversion he once had with a native Welsh speaker. It went something like this:
“When I converse, I converse in Welsh or English. When I watch TV, I watch TV in Welsh or English. When I go shopping, I go shopping in Welsh or English. When I pray, I pray in Welsh. That’s the language of my heart.”
That’s the impact. We talk of speaking in someone’s ‘native tongue’. What we really mean is speaking in the language of their heart.
Then there’s our heart. Our heart expands when we learn another language. Our heart is touched because we’ve touched someone else’s heart.
And when we touch someone’s heart, anything can happen.
Greenacre 9 