On Vacay and SoCal

You Don't Often See This In My Neck of the Woods - Aug 2012

Last month, as I was en route to a conference in Toronto from my 'home' on the North Coast of Malaysian Borneo . . .

Hold on a second. Let's consider this sentence before going further. You'll note: 1) A year into this gig and I'm starting to talk about Sabah as (a) 'home.' 2) I really do live on the North Coast of freaking Borneo. 3) I'm jetting off to a conference in Toronto. As in Canada. As in on the other side of the planet. 4) This sentence is absolutely true. 5) As a friend reminded me a couple weeks ago: not only is this my life, this is the life I'd been envisioning for years. 

Sometimes I need a good pinch to remind myself that this isn't some kind of wacky dream from which I'll wake up and find Kasper staring at me wanting to go to the dog park

Apologies. I digress. As I was saying . . .

Last month, as I was en route from a conference in Toronto from my 'home' on the North Coast of Malaysian Borneo, I carved out for myself an extended layover in Southern California. With LAX one of the main gateways to and from Southeast Asia and a brother living nearby in sunny Santa Monica, it makes for a convenient place to unwind and explore. Between time on the beach, a hike in the hills, and catching up with a few friends, it was a great vacation after what had been an intense month of saying goodbye to the my first group of volunteers, preparing for the arrival of the second group, and moving apartments.

It was also a curious vacation . . .

It was the first time in quite some time that I was simply able to relax. I could walk down the street and just be . . . free(?). I don't know how else to put it or what to make of it. As I move around Kota Kinabalu and elsewhere in Southeast Asia I don't think of myself as being (overly) guarded or edgy and yet as I moved around Santa Monica, something changed. Perhaps it was due to the simple fact that I no longer stood out as orang putih (white guy/foreigner) and the heightened awareness that goes with that identity had subsided. Who knows? Like I said, it was curious. . .

A couple other things I noticed on this visit were that SoCal is growing on me and that my idea of an 'exotic' vacation looks more and more North American.

Before moving back to Southeast Asia my regional bias in the United States had always veered toward the Midwest and the Northeast. What can I say? I've got a soft spot for both Minnesota-nice and New England bluntness. I never really 'got' the whole laid-back California vibe. Now, either because I'm succumbing to the pace of life island style or the simple fact that I've experienced another year without winter, I'm starting to dig the whole SoCal scene. Not unlike KK, you've got the beach on one side, mountains on the other, and a whole lot of ethnic diversity (and good eating!) in between. While I'm not a fan of the sprawling mass of LA as a whole, if/when I wind up back in the States, there are definitely pockets of the area that could be a pretty decent place to land.

Finally, the funny thing about living in a vacation wonderland like Sabah is that, more and more, my 'dream' vacations look more and more 'familiar.' One of these trips back I'd like to road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway. I have an Uncle in Montana, on the doorstep of Glacier National Park, that I have yet to see. Then there's Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon and the list goes on and on.

Maybe the grass is always greener and the adventures more 'exotic' when  you are separated by an ocean(?).

Oh well. For now, I guess I'll have to settle for the more 'mundane' vacations. You know, the kind with tropical islands and jungley mountains; or the kind with ancient temples and mouth watering cuisine; or the kind with hornbills and orangutans and the yet-to-be-sighted-but-often-heard-about pygmy elephants of Borneo.

Pinch Me. I must be dreaming again. . .