Dethink to survive

So, long time no blog. Since we last parted ways, I’ve gotten some kind of degree in Economics. Nothing really worth writing about, in other words. BUT NOW I am in Hanoi, the first leg of a trip with several legs. Like an insect. Or a spider. So I figured I’d commit A Blog Post or several, depending on if anything worthy of writing about happens.

So, several hours ago (18, or thereabouts) I left Stockholm for Bangkok. A fairly nondescript trip that mostly saw me listening to music, reading the first book of the trip (Stewart Lee’s “How I Escaped My Certain Fate”, it’s great) and having stilted conversations with the two people next to me. They seemed kind of incoherent, and said that my book looked dull. Then again, I can be both of those things myself, so it might not explicitly be their problem.

Flying is kind of meditative for me, and I tend to spend long parts of flights looking out the window, especially if it’s a redeye. It was also a welcome change of scenery, as the only thing you get to watch when flying to Japan is Siberia. This time I was served a rather interesting, if almost purely theoretical, tour of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. My essential point is this: I enjoy looking at pretty lights far away. Possibly with a side of considering how different the lives of the people below are, compared to mine. By different I probably mean worse, as I am a white male from Europe.

After a smooth landing in Bangkok, I went on to discover the airport. I didn’t much feel like it, but for some reason the gate my connecting flight left from was on the other side of the airport. Being forced to walk past the same stores what felt like a dozen times, the same stores that somehow seem to be in every airport ever, was kind of a hassle, as was the frantic search for the correct wifi network (there were approximately 5 of them, all named “FREE AIRPORT WIFI”).

An hour or so later, I was on the next plane, bound for Hanoi. After a rather intimidating encounter at the passport control (The officer looked off into the distance, scowled, looked at his computer, tapped some keys, scowled, looked at me, scowled, stamped my passport and, with a final scowl, handed it back to me) and a long wait for my luggage, I was on my way in a taxi. Getting only slightly scammed (still cheaper than the hotel arranging a car for me), I had my first experience with Vietnamese traffic. It seems the rumors were true, and chaotic is just the start of it.

Hopefully, however, I will be able to get used to the chaos, take it with a stride and widen my horizons. Either that or this will slowly become the ramblings of a madman, as the frail edges of my mind with ever-increasing speed wither away. Either way, it’ll hopefully be interesting for you, my dear readers.