Writings By Location| Leaving the Luxuries Behind, Part 2 | 1 | 2 |
Finally, rounding out the list...
Electronic toiletries.
The electric razor, the electric mustache and beard trimmer, and the electric toothbrush are among the greatest inventions of the last century. However, in the interest of keeping our backpack light (and allowing more shoes for Erin), we've elected to leave these behind. Until we stopped to think about what we'd be missing, neither of us realized just how much we've come to depend on these tools for not having to suffer repetitive motion injuries in the bathroom.
Unfortunately, it'll take us a while to get accustomed to this again, so I may end up growing a little more scraggly than usual, and Erin...well, if you see her in the next few weeks, you may not want to ask her to smile.
The Simpsons.
We aren't huge TV watchers these days (I used to be, until the advent of "reality TV"), so living without American TV won't be that hard. In fact, I've seen the new fall lineup, and I think we're leaving just in time.
But there's something to be said about the comfort and familiarity of being able to plop down on the couch at the end of a difficult day and just flip channels to empty the brain. And I can think of no program that does a better job of helping someone unwind than the only program which airs no fewer than 16 times a week in syndication and in primetime (and even that is not enough, if you ask me) : The Simpsons.
On the bright side, we're anticipating that there will be TVs in many of the places we'll be visiting, and even though the programming may be in some foreign language we don't understand a word of, it'll probably still be more fulfilling than Big Brother. Plus, The Simpsons is aired in over 90 countries around the world. It certainly could be interesting to try learning to speak Spanish by watching reruns of The Simpsons for five days straight. (What I wonder about most, though, is whether Bart still says "Aye, Caramba!" in the Spanish version, or if they replace it with something in English, like "Holy shit!". Expect a full report as soon as we find out.)
Our friends and family.
Finally, there is much to be said about the adventure of meeting new people. But in the end, there are always those times when it's good to be around someone who already knows all about you, and knows what to do to make you happy when you're alone or tired or frustrated, even if it just means sitting next to you in silence, looking for people you went to high school with to show up on Cops.
But that's why most of you are already planning on joining us, right? We thought so.
Oh, hey, bring a bag of lettuce with you, will ya? Thanks.
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