I am writing this piece as a tribute to my lovely partner Janneke, who exceeded my expectations and proved that she would be well adapted to travel anywhere & under any circumstances with me. Not only did she constantly “go with the flow” but in fact shifted her boundaries beyond her comfort zones to make this a great trip & one that I would gladly do again with her, anywhere, anytime.
Not everyday is a breeze & life on the beach comes only as a reward for some tough travelling obstacles that one needs to endure on a trip like like this. To her credit, Janneke overcame her fear of flying, with flying colours, especially bearing in mind that this has been the first time she has ever been overseas, so the long & arduous trip was no small feat, especially with a long 8 hour layover in Doha, Qatar where we did some sleeping on both chairs, as well as floors………..
………whether hauling around a ton of luggage in the sweltering heat of the day, or getting soaked in Monsoon rains while the sweet is still mixing in with the drenching rain, was not a problem for her as she handled this with a smile….
…..inconvenient travel, no problem. Whether in the back of a Songthaew, walking for km’s, on the back of a truck, heavily loaded on a small motorbike (& even once with three of us on a small motorcycle), she handled it all……
…….and if ever she was ever scared of getting downright dirty, or had a fear of large potentially dangerous animals, well, she got over that too……..
……..even drifting out in the ocean, or swimming through a dark, long tunnel in the rock face of an island, to get through to a tropical crater paradise, did’nt put her off……
A trip like this is all about getting out of the rutt & that often means out of one’s comfort zones. This is most certainly what Janneke did. I am proud of her & look forward to many more, fun filled & sometimes tough travels with her at my side.
By Menno van Mechelen
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