Verb
To carry out one or more of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals
Being the wholesome age of almost 24 I have been exposed to almost 6 years
of being an (by English definition) “adult" Some might say 5 years because
that’s when I (hopefully) permanently “flew the nest” well….jumped on an
Emirates flight to Australia and began my life as a professional hobo and doing
the equivalent of living in the park, drinking cheap booze and snatching up any
opportunity for anything with the words “free” in front of.
Something that was been playing on my mind throughout my 12
hours of basically nonstop scootering around South East Asia was that wow,
I have managed to live this long and wow, what a life so far I’ve lived. If I’m 'adulting', maybe I’m doing it really well…or maybe I’m doing it really wrong.
Either way I’m happy with whatever side of the fence you stand on with that. 5
years 10 months and 18 days ago when I turned 18, finally after months of having
to sneak into after parties for god-knows-what band across the country, I was
blessed that I could legitimately do everything I had dreamed of as a
child…eating icecream FOR BREAKFAST; staying up to watch 12A films when they
were on past 9pm, drinking Sunny D in the living room (yeah mum, I’ve never
forgotten when I spilt it on the floor in Broadfield and you went mental and
banned it from the front room) and the list goes on. But one observation I’ve
made is that your freedom as an adult is fully rebelling from everything adults
told you to not do as a child. I’ve made a list of a few of those.
-
“Don’t
play in traffic”
Right, so take a minute to open a new tab (but don’t
close my blog) and youtube “Traffic in Ho Chi Minh” and you will see the chaos
(written about on this blog here) that ensues. Looks catastrophic, right? But
it works! And boy, is it fun to ride a scooter. So playing in traffic gets a
big thumbs up and recommendation from me (but for the love of god, wear a
helmet)
-“Don’t accept
sweets from strangers”
Unless it’s some dodgy geezer in a grotty club asking
if you’d met his friend Charlie, or Mandy maybe (maybe) they are some sweets
you might think twice bout accepting. But from my travels the kindness that
comes from people who have significantly less than you and even though you
might not speak a word of the same language they will insist you share a beer
with them and some of the sweetest fruits I’ve ever had have come from the hand
of a stranger. Although drinks, I am still cautious of. So maybe a *small* word
of wisdom there.
-“If XXXX
jumped off a cliff, would you do the same?”
Naaa, of course not! Do you think I’m stupid? If
bloody Tara from bloody Bath can free jump off an 8meter high cliff and frekkin’
Dave from Stoke On Trent can do 10meters- find me the biggest cliff you can I
wouldn’t do the same I’d do better.
-“Don’t get in
the car with strangers”
A free ride and a cracking conversation? Count me in!
Whether it’s to save me the dreaded down-piest route from my ski season at 3am
with a group of frenchies who obviously (and smartly) found their designated
driver, or a £50 cab because apparently there’s no busses on a Sunday in the
west coast of England (developed country, eh?). I’ve met people on my travels
who have shared rides with pigs, goats, sidecars, trucks, and 1000 chickens.
Hitchhiking gets a big thumbs up from me!
-“Don’t talk
to strangers”
Don’t make me laugh.
“Don’t lick a
knife”
Okay, maybe I’ve done this. Probably still recommended.
