Bitten by the Travel Bug
When I was 14 I had a job that I worked at after school and on weekends and instead of spending my hard earned cash, I saved it. I missed out on new CD’s (yes, music back then was bought at a shop on a disc), skipped movies with my friends, and avoided shopping. But I had a goal. I was going to travel overseas to Bali. And I did.
One of the teachers at my school regularly travelled there and was willing to be chaperone to a group of students who wanted to go. It was a two-week adventure that was more than the typical beach and bar party that most people associate with Bali. We visited small villages, went snorkeling, kayaked out for sunrise with the dolphins, explored rice paddies and temples.
This was my foray into exploring the world and the different cultures in it. Prior to this I had not traveled far beyond the family trips up and down the Australian East Coast. I think that Canberra was the furthest and most exotic of places I had been, and to most Australians this is just laughable. This trip was maturing, eye-opening, exciting, an adventure.
Being a first time traveler I had nothing to travel with, and as a 14-year-old school student with a casual job funding my trip I had very little funds to buy anything. All my money was sunk into the airfare and accommodation. I borrowed suitcases from my grandparents that were from the 1950’s and they embarrassed me. While not practical I would probably covet them today as vintage chic and proudly use them to store bits and bobs around my house and have them on display. I had to buy a camera duty free for my parents. We still used film in those days and my photography skills were amateurish. My mum packaged up a toiletries kit for me with little notes stuck on things – like a reminder on the body wash to keep my mouth closed in the shower.
Searching through my photos I found a small bag where I had collected bits and bobs I thought were significant and represented my adventure overseas. These included a handful of the ‘exotic’ money, a sachet of unusual pineapple jam, a packet of Wrigley’s chewing gum because it came in sticks which I had never seen before, a moist towelette from my first international flight, a box of soap because it had Bali written on it and a nice little box of matches. There was even my ‘little black book’ that I had my travel itinerary, language translations and other notes in. It all seems a bit junky looking back at it now but it was nostalgic to look at and I still boxed it back up and put it back in my cupboard.
I came back with a disease, which I think I had contracted before I even left the country. I had no visible wounds or bite marks but I had been bitten by one of the most infectious bugs in the world. It is highly contagious and intensifies when in close proximity to other infested people, and I’m certain my children have contracted it through close contact. I am still traveling the world searching for the cure. Treatment costs are excessive and we have to budget in a significant amount of money to satiate the incredible itch, usually localized to your feet. It’s Latin term is peregrinations vermis, more commonly referred to as the travel bug.
