I have traveled 'round the world and the unthinkable has never, ever, happened to me. "Unthinkable" when traveling, could be anything-stolen/lost passport, getting lost, finding out you have no place to sleep when you land, or losing all of your pictures. I have been fortunate to depart and return, unscathed.
Which is why, the following incident has me so pissed off.
Last week, in the comfort and safety of my very own home, a person of ill will , chose to enter and take things that did not belong to them. Making them a thief, and us victims of their audacity.
One of those things was my laptop. My laptop that had nearly every photo I have ever taken of every country I have ever visited and every trip I have ever taken. Turkey, Nicaragua, China, Tanzania, just to name a few. All gone. When I discovered it, I felt as if someone had punched me in the face, then in the gut, then stomped on me.
My laptop had everything, everything on it. And no, I had no external hard drive to back things up, because that would have been the smart thing to do. I went about the next few days alternating between feeling angry and ill, with the ever-present insecurity of wondering if they are going to come back and do it again.
It's been a fun past few weeks, let me tell ya.
When I had time to process it, I decided that someone might as well have just stolen my identity. Because that is, in part, what my photos mean to me. I am very proud of my ventures around the world. They have made me who I am today. From the first trip to Israel, to the most recent in Nicaragua, I have been formed, shaped, molded by the things I have seen and done. My photos were my hard-copy memories, "proof" that I have seen the world and been changed by it.
Call me shallow, call me dependent on material things, call me whatever. But I've been pretty mad.
I have some stuff on Facebook, which helps ease the sting of my life in photos disappearing in the span of what probably amounted to a five minute job on my house. I have a few CD's of photos that I made pre-Facebook. Everything else is gone, probably already wiped off the hard drive so the thief can do whatever it is with my laptop they so desperately needed to have for themselves.
I have come to accept it, but I am not alright with it. A little perspective helps too. I have a roof over my head, I have my husband, and we are fine. With the exception of memories, every item that was taken is replaceable. Nobody was physically hurt, and we learned a valuable lesson. Worse things could have happened, and worse things DO happen every single day. Thankfully, one of those worse things didn't happen to us.
And now, since the link to my blog was a bookmark on my laptop, perhaps the thief has at least broadened their horizons to the world and is enjoying some leisure reading. So this one is for you, Thief.
Dear Person of Ill Repute Who Did Not Learn the Kindergarten Lesson of not Taking what doesn't Belong to You:
The laptop you stole was four years old, the screen isn't original, and the battery only holds a charge for a whopping 14 minutes. The new cord I bought for it probably won't last much longer, either.
The hotspot device you thoughtfully took to ensure you would be able to access the internet with my laptop. Really? You had to have known that the service would be cut off immediately. Enjoy the paperweight.
You left the charger behind for the camera you stole, so unless you can find another one to steal, you will probably have to actually pay for that. (*gasp!*)
I will leave the other items unmentioned, because you have either already used them or broken them. If you try to pawn them, we will find out your dirty little secret, so maybe best steer clear of the pawn shops.
Above all else, I hope you realize you were wrong and do something to make up for it. Maybe not to us, but to someone. Else, it will come back to you, in one way or another, one day. God, whether you believe in Him or not, does not and will not honor what you did.
That is a guarantee.
Also, if you come back, I have a 4 inch stiletto that my mother disdainfully refers to as my "lady of the night" shoes and I will not hesitate to use it somewhere on your body.
Hey, I had to get resourceful. You took everything else!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Guest Post: Has Your Travel Bug Bitten Yet?
The following is a guest post by Kate, a reader who reached out to me and asked if I would consider hosting. When I saw what she had in mind, I didn't think twice, as just days prior I had found out some news on a little stick and was in the midst of freaking out. Her post was a little bit of a relief/reality check for me and I am happy to share it with all you. Enjoy!
I do think that you should only regret the things you've haven’t done as opposed to those that you have. I try to not to miss opportunities to do things when I can because I hate regretting anything.
Unfortunately travelling is one area where I do have big regrets. There is part of me now that wishes I’d made more effort to travel when I was young, carefree, didn’t have a mortgage to pay, little mouths to feed, and rocked a bikini! (Well, at least I looked better in one then than I do now).
I now feel that my poor Passport has been well and truly neglected. The travel bug never really caught up with me in my younger days. I didn’t feel the compulsion to grab a backpack and go off trekking around the world after I finished college/university like most of my friends.
I had different priorities at the time (which I don’t regret because my life would be very different otherwise). I met my husband at 19, we bought our first house, got married a couple of years later and I carried on studying until I was 26. By the time I’d finished my degree, diploma and professional training we were both itching to start a family, and now here we are.
Now, I have the most responsibility I've ever had in my whole life, a husband, two small people, a dog, a house and a sizeable mortgage to go with it, and a new business.
Never have I felt the urge to drag my suitcase out of the loft as strongly as I do now. My travel bug has finally arrived. It’s taken its time, but it’s here! And do you know why it’s arrived now, of all times?
It's mostly because of those little people I gave birth to. I’m raring to pack our suitcases, get out there and show them the world. They see everything so differently to us. They are astonished by the simplest of things. New places are far more impressive and exciting when you discover them with toddlers. Toddlers don’t rush. They take in the most microscopic detail of places and objects and if something looks good, they eat it! Although, that’s something I won’t be encouraging so much of, unless it’s tasty looking food.
And that’s exactly why I want to get out there right now. I want to visit as many places, countries and continents as we can while they’re still innocent enough to see all good in people and before they become tainted by politics, religions and other controversies. I know they actually have a lot to teach me. They help me to see things from a totally new perspective.
There’s been a few moments lately, that have also made me realise that I’m really eager to take them out into that big wide world so that they have an education, aside from that sat behind a desk at school. Yes, I know there’s a lot for them to learn there, probably most importantly social skills and interacting with their peers. But I think the actual skills learnt by travelling are hugely under estimated by a lot of people.
One thing I have learnt is that life experience is worth a lot. As is, experiencing lots of different cultures, customs and traditions. Not only knowing what these customs and traditions are and what happens, but truly understanding them. I don't think there's any better way to do that than to meet people who practice and believe in those customs etc, really get to know them and understand their way of life.
So, these little people are the reason that my travel bug has arrived (very unfashionably late). Unfortunately, they’re also the reason that our ability to go off travelling is severely hampered. Our income has been dramatically slashed during the last 3 years while I’ve had long periods of maternity leave. Our living costs are now the highest they’ve ever been and now, NOW I’m feeling the biggest urge in my whole life to go travelling. The irony is not lost on me!
I have also learnt a lot since having the first of the little ones 3 years ago. I now appreciate that, while enjoyed the holidays I had in my younger days immensely, the ones where I took time to chat to, and get to know the locals have much more significance than those where I just went and lay on a beach for a week. Those holidays might well have been exactly what I needed at the time but there were definitely some missed opportunities there to see more of the countries I visited, find out more about the people, and the photos I took, aside from one or two lucky shots, were also extremely rubbish!
Now I want to make up for that. I want to show my children the big wide world to make the most of this travel bug while it’s sticking around. Plus, they’re all packed and ready to go!
Kate is a proud mum of two tiny tearaways and a keen writer who works with the likes of Electric Dialogue and No 1 Traveller, a UK luxury airport lounge company.
I do think that you should only regret the things you've haven’t done as opposed to those that you have. I try to not to miss opportunities to do things when I can because I hate regretting anything. Unfortunately travelling is one area where I do have big regrets. There is part of me now that wishes I’d made more effort to travel when I was young, carefree, didn’t have a mortgage to pay, little mouths to feed, and rocked a bikini! (Well, at least I looked better in one then than I do now).
I now feel that my poor Passport has been well and truly neglected. The travel bug never really caught up with me in my younger days. I didn’t feel the compulsion to grab a backpack and go off trekking around the world after I finished college/university like most of my friends.
I had different priorities at the time (which I don’t regret because my life would be very different otherwise). I met my husband at 19, we bought our first house, got married a couple of years later and I carried on studying until I was 26. By the time I’d finished my degree, diploma and professional training we were both itching to start a family, and now here we are.
Now, I have the most responsibility I've ever had in my whole life, a husband, two small people, a dog, a house and a sizeable mortgage to go with it, and a new business.
Never have I felt the urge to drag my suitcase out of the loft as strongly as I do now. My travel bug has finally arrived. It’s taken its time, but it’s here! And do you know why it’s arrived now, of all times?
It's mostly because of those little people I gave birth to. I’m raring to pack our suitcases, get out there and show them the world. They see everything so differently to us. They are astonished by the simplest of things. New places are far more impressive and exciting when you discover them with toddlers. Toddlers don’t rush. They take in the most microscopic detail of places and objects and if something looks good, they eat it! Although, that’s something I won’t be encouraging so much of, unless it’s tasty looking food.
And that’s exactly why I want to get out there right now. I want to visit as many places, countries and continents as we can while they’re still innocent enough to see all good in people and before they become tainted by politics, religions and other controversies. I know they actually have a lot to teach me. They help me to see things from a totally new perspective.
There’s been a few moments lately, that have also made me realise that I’m really eager to take them out into that big wide world so that they have an education, aside from that sat behind a desk at school. Yes, I know there’s a lot for them to learn there, probably most importantly social skills and interacting with their peers. But I think the actual skills learnt by travelling are hugely under estimated by a lot of people.
One thing I have learnt is that life experience is worth a lot. As is, experiencing lots of different cultures, customs and traditions. Not only knowing what these customs and traditions are and what happens, but truly understanding them. I don't think there's any better way to do that than to meet people who practice and believe in those customs etc, really get to know them and understand their way of life.
So, these little people are the reason that my travel bug has arrived (very unfashionably late). Unfortunately, they’re also the reason that our ability to go off travelling is severely hampered. Our income has been dramatically slashed during the last 3 years while I’ve had long periods of maternity leave. Our living costs are now the highest they’ve ever been and now, NOW I’m feeling the biggest urge in my whole life to go travelling. The irony is not lost on me!
I have also learnt a lot since having the first of the little ones 3 years ago. I now appreciate that, while enjoyed the holidays I had in my younger days immensely, the ones where I took time to chat to, and get to know the locals have much more significance than those where I just went and lay on a beach for a week. Those holidays might well have been exactly what I needed at the time but there were definitely some missed opportunities there to see more of the countries I visited, find out more about the people, and the photos I took, aside from one or two lucky shots, were also extremely rubbish!
Now I want to make up for that. I want to show my children the big wide world to make the most of this travel bug while it’s sticking around. Plus, they’re all packed and ready to go!
Kate is a proud mum of two tiny tearaways and a keen writer who works with the likes of Electric Dialogue and No 1 Traveller, a UK luxury airport lounge company.
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