World Traveller Monday morning

For the world traveller, Monday morning does not bring with it that general feeling of utter dread. The start of another working week. I enjoyed my last job, but who wants to get up at stupid o’clock and go battling the masses on the London Underground to get there?

So, this Monday morning I realised the change has well and truly set in. It went like this:

10 am woke up. Now, this is a lot later than usual (I have probably never slept so late) as I am finding it difficult to sleep at the moment because of the pain from my leg (you can read about that mishap here Leg it!). However, the point being. I could. I have all day, every day. Who cares when the day of a world traveller begins? No-one. Mostly it has been a case of getting up with the sun, which I love doing. But today, no.

Coffee time

Iain left to walk down the three flights of steep, narrow stairs from our Hanoi apartment, Chez Annie, to the market on the doorstep. It is literally on the doorstep. You need to step over the fruit and veg to get on to the road. So while he went to buy fresh rolls, I put on the kettle to have our ‘sachets’ of espresso coffee. Not as good as the fresh Vietnamese coffee you get in the cafes, but the best instant we have found so far. We are staying in the French Quarter of town, which is well situated to everything and as things go, a nice area I guess.

Off to work

11 am: checked the Nomadicmacs Facebook and website and moderated the comments that have, at last, started coming in.

I had read you should not expect any real generation of interest until at least six months in. It’s been three months; I just wanted something, anyone. It is very time-consuming writing and perfecting your posts, and I love it, but I hate that no one reads it. Even most family and friends have already given up. Thank you to the persistent core group. Smiley face here!

I guess it is the adage; you come back from a holiday eager to share all your stories, and no-one truly wants to know. People just have their stuff going on, and that’s okay – but I want to be read!

Cleaning up

11.30 am: Had a quick scoot around the apartment to tidy up. There is not much to tidy. The water is a curious situation. They provided the city with water between 17:00 and 07:00. So you have to do whatever you need to do between those hours. Perhaps that is why even at midnight you see people out on the streets washing their dishes. Last night we passed two young children washing their toy cars. It was around 11 pm!
12 pm: Sat down on the beanbag, the most comfortable seating option in the apartment to work on the website, and wrote this post. Here is the first time in 3 months I’ve been able to put on my headphones and listen to music. Which I have really missed.

Whistle while you work

My headphones were my luxury bring item. Yes, they made the pile with the, yet to be used, SheeWee ( How to pack for a year around the world: SheWee 1 Inflatable Pillow 0 ). I knew they would take up a lot of space, but I love them. They are noise cancelling and sound amazing. I love shutting out the entire world so that even in the most crowded of places, you can switch into your own space. Peaaace. Right now it is Andrea Bocelli, but it could be anything. Usually resulting back to my staples of Roger Waters, Neil Young or John Lennon at some point. Anyway, I can get on with my stuff while Iain has opted for the traditional brick-hard dark wooden chair to sit on and watch his daily world traveller blog, vlog whatever-they-are photography things.

World traveller life: markets

So later, we will go out to the markets to buy what we need for the day. There is a fridge here, but the facilities for storing and cooking are not fantastic. There is also one plate and one side plate. And, for example, one plastic tea-spoon. It’s great, it’s all experience, but you have to be creative to make it work. I guess these are the unforeseen things when planning the budget. We had thought we would save some money here by cooking ourselves, but the facilities are not really up to it, we will see! But being a world traveller means facing one day at a time.

Your life is in their hands

I also worry a bit about the safety aspects of world traveller life. There are none. The toilet area here has an actual toilet, always a bonus, but it is not entirely fixed to the floor so that when you flush it, some water runs out the bottom. The toilet is alongside the washing machine that is plugged in higher up the wall. And in front of this is the shower. Yes. But at least there is a shower, right? The kitchen is a similar affair. Plugs are hanging perilously from the walls beside the sinks that may or may not deliver water, whatever time of day it is.

But, for now, this is luxury, and it is home for the next couple of weeks, anyway. And the heart of what we really wanted to do. Staying in hotels is fine, but it is a holiday, it’s not the world traveller experience we want. I’ve also noticed when times are more challenging, when there are things to do, we pull together pretty well. We had Savanna-the-Vanna running like clockwork in Botswana.

1 pm: Watched a tutorial on improving your posts. Which didn’t answer my question and so decided it’s time to get off the beanbag and go in search of that real Vietnamese coffee! It’s a hard life, I know.

Incidentally, my question is, how do I add hashtags to the twitter feed from the post in WordPress? Any answers gratefully received!

World traveller life: makes you, breaks you, puts you back together again

So that is my Monday morning in Hanoi. And when travelling the world for a year, next Monday will be completely different.  Such is the life of the world traveller.

From Billie Holiday ‘Me, Myself and I’, happy Monday 🙂