In response to my announcement of my departure, many, many friends and members of my family have turned and blankly replied, "Why?"... 'Why travel at all?' -many of them implied - an unintelligible question to my liberal sense of logic. 'Why travel now?', a far more justifiable enquiry and one that I can only attempt to expand on.
I will admit openly to my conflicted state of mind, far too many contradictions for someone of my kind. My Roedean bred A type personality versus my kaalvoete hippie mentality, my conservative traditional Indian heritage versus my very expansive cultural identity, a homeland divided by the colour bar versus a very post modern rainbow nation reality. An east-west, brown white cocktail of commonality. Ying Yang, Ylang Ylang to soothe the universal bi-polar condition. So if anything I suppose that it is an oppurtunity of a lifetime, to opens one´s mind and gain exposure and insight through unconventional experiences. I is also time taken to introspect outside the usual routine of external factors and hopefully a time and space to intergrate my multifaceted and at times contradictory being.
The itenary has changed a dozen times. But now confirmed it starts in Madrid. Withouth a word of Spanish to back me up beyond "uno cafe por favor" I feel for the first time since I made this decision that I am entering uncertain waters. But Madrid has some of the most fascinating art musems in the world, and being and art musem junkie good things are bound to happen. So i suppose... down the rabbit hole I go...
