Here is an email to a a friend back in Canada, a good hearted and very kind person I work with. I removed names in the email to protect peoples privacy. I thought some of the points about taking chances in life were important, so decided to share them here. At the beginning of the email I was speaking to my hopes of driving a small moped style motorbike when I return to Canada.
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Yes not so worried about myself, worried about being killed by the other guy. There was a story a few week back here in Thai of a motorcycle driver dying as a result of being hit by a flying tire that came off a truck going the other direction across a divided highway. What the heck is that? A terribly stupid way to die. Being on a bike opens you up to more dangers for sure.The advantages are it is way cheaper, and it is fun!
My thinking has evolved on the subject. If I can drive a bike in Thailand and Vietnam safely then driving one in Canada will be quite easy in comparison. Edmonton has similar traffic to Mae Sot but much more rule oriented. I think it can be done! Life ain't worth living if you play it safe all the time then die of some kind of terrible form of cancer. Sometimes you got to go for it, just use caution and trust fate. For example this trip was not sound financially for me, difficult physically for me, difficult emotionally for ---- and mom but I am very glad I did it. I think I am doing important work and I am having many extremely important life experiences. I hope I will return a better person than when I left, which benefits ----, mom and myself. People often talk about not wasting a day, how every moment matters then they quite often never get out of their comfort box and never take a chance. If it is my fate to be killed by a flying tire so be it, until that time I need to push the envelope a bit, make life worth living.
Check out some of the recent photos...from SUKHUMVIT AT NIGHT (a story on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, color pics) and from KODOKU (b/w pics) about being alone and isolated in Japanese culture. The man in the second color photo is a tourist with his companion, they are next to a famous gogo bar foreign tourist sex area in Bangkok on Sukhumvit. A bit of a dangerous pic to make, but I think an important one which is needed to tell the full story of that road and the life there. I plan on continuing that work for many years to come, each trip to Thai.
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Should get back to work now, loading film, editing digital picture files (dump at night see link). Strange to be walking through the darkness surrounded by wild dogs digging for food and fighting among-st themselves. I also included a pic of the old man I gave the food bag to in the dump this morning. The hat he is wearing was donated by ----, forget who, maybe --- ---------. Thanks for allowing me to blabber on. Am thinking of eventually trying to write a autobiographical book about my life in photos, travels, people I met, emotions, photos all included, then I can babble on forever, type and type and type :))
Ain't Life Grand!!!:
Thanks Gerry
