Journey and the Destination

What does it really mean when somebody says that 'I like visiting new places (destination)!!!'? Visiting new places is not an isolated event. It is more than anything else the end of a much longer process which typically starts pretty early in time. So will it not be bizarre when that same person emphatically adds, 'but I just hate travelling (journey)!!!' Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Wouldn't you agree?

The adage 'Its not the destination but the journey that matters' doesn't really hold true for a typical tourist. The journey for him is just a necessary evil. The tourist breaks his head to achieve that fine balance between the travel cost and the travel time so that he gets to his destination cheaper and faster. The journey for him doesn't begin from the moment he steps out of his house with his travel bag but only after he checks in his hotel room in the city which he is visiting.

Each time I board a bus or an airplane to get to a new city I see people already getting cozy and ready to catch up on sleep. They are all trying to save up on time which they will be spending with glee at the destination. There are hardly any who really are interested to peek outside the window and experience the journey. It is as if the 'tourists' are like cattle in a pen being herded to an open field only to be let loose once they reach that field.

Even I am one of the typical 'tourist', but off late I have been making a conscious effort to enjoy the journey as well. I have decided, not to cram too many things both in my travelling bag and in my 'to see' list. I have decided to give me enough time to make that 'connection' so that I can walk a bit slow between terminals and not worry about missing my flights. I have decided to spend that much more time in downtown just gazing around buildings and shops which are not really on any tourist map but are very much there to be seen. The most important of it all, I have decided make that unscheduled stop in the city, totally unrelated and sit down many on the side walk or a park bench and just feel the wind in my face. Of course none of this will be seen on FB but then this is something just for me anyways!!!

All this because when I get back home from my travels I do not want to feel tired but refreshed and ready to take on the world in my office-space!!! J All this because at the end of it all I want to feel 'journeyed'!!!

So Far So Good – Arsenal PL 2012/13 first 3 games

As we head into the international break (here are our players away on international duty - http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/44830/international-watch-gunners-away-on-duty) and where I personally don't bother about the football but fret about injuries which might hit our players, I think I am pretty satisfied with the way the first 3 games have played out at the start of the season this time around.

After a draw each at home against Sunderland and away at Stoke which I must mention were both clean sheets, I was getting a bit jittery. With 3 players all new to the rigors of the PL I did know they would take time to get going but then there was also a thought at the back of my mind as to what if even one of them turns out into a Chamakh!!! In all this negativity as to how Arsenal have already started missing RVP and whether or not Song's exit has also hit the team hard, what we forgot to check on was the two clean sheets and all this in the absence of Sagna in the back four as well.

The third game was a reason to make merry. An away game at the Kop is always difficult and add to that the fact that everybody is looking ever too closely at the 3 new recruits.

At the end of the game, the scoreline read 2-0 in favor of the visitors. Both Poldi and Cazorla got their names on the score sheet. Diaby was a revelation. And another clean sheet!!! Apart from taking home all 3 points we took with us a lot of positivity heading into the international break. So a DDW this season as compared to a DLL last season at this same point with the defense leaking 10 goals already.  Well the opponents haven't been the same but then the back 4 has been reassuring at this point atleast.

After the international break we host Southampton at home (Theo against his boyhood club!!!), followed by a visit to France to take on Montpellier in the CL followed by a stern test at the Eastlands. I am hoping that Giroud finds his touch against his old club if not against Southampton. The game against Man City will be particularly difficult considering that we will be travelling from the mid-week game. Lets see how the team holds up for that.

I would have loved to see some transfer activity on the last day of the transfer window. Ofcourse we weren't going to see the same traffic as last season, but I thought we should have got M'Villa. But then as they say the Professor knows best!!!!

Alone under the roof - Des Moines

Been a little more than 2 weeks since I moved into Des Moines and I can very well say that I have settled into Des Moines. Settling in a new city is intricately related to the  moving into a more permanent accommodation (leased property), knowing where the nearest WalMart store lies and also knowing where the nearest coffee and donut shop is. I have located this trinity in the Des Moines area and feel pretty proud of myself.

The leased property (for 6 months) is in downtown and though the balcony faces the opposite side of where 'real' downtown lies, the fact that it is on the 16th floor does give some solace to the soul atleast in the summer. WalMart is located around 5 miles from my residence, and even though I do not have a car at my disposal it is right on the bus route which offers me free rides due to my professional affiliations :) . The coffee shop is bang in front of my office building and boasts of an all veg menu (how uncanny is that) apart from the ambience which reminds me of roots, rock, reggae and a lot of hippieness. You can get a low down on the coffee shop here: http://www.ritualcafedsmiowa.com/index.html

Apart from that staying alone is a bit of a bummer if you ask me. Like I was discussing with a friend of mine who was held up without any decent company in Tokyo for 3 weeks - how on the very first day he was happy that he would be staying alone and accordingly stacked up his refrigerator with the local beer along with quite a supply of the local hard liquor only to realize a week later that when it comes to drinking its not only your capacity for alcohol but the company which matters. Actually even I had/am having a similar experience. It makes more sense to grab a pint at the nearest watering hole than stacking the rack at home. Considering all this, I guess my respect for 'Devdas' and all the other 'lonely' drunkards has shot sky high. Sorry to say I cant do it guys and been distraught has nothing to do with it. The same logic fits very well to smoking. I mean stand alone around that smoker's station makes no sense atleast to me. I would rather kill the urge than bore myself just cos I go to have that fag. So all and all this 'alone-living' thing is kinda 'a positive'.

With no one really to speak to once I get back from office, I am kind of depending on the phone and the social networking to help me do away with the 'aloneness'. Again not complaining. Guess what, I have ended up making a plan for each month (atleast for the next 3 months) to get out of Des Moines :). Sept it is Austin, Oct it will be San Diego and November it will be Atlanta.

Pretty swell yeah!!!

P.S: I wanted to title the post - Alone but Happy but then I am aware of what 'synthetic happiness' is all about :)