Let there be more light

*Cough, Cough*

I’ve got an audience now, haven’t I?

Well, please bear with me because this is the first post you’ll read, but it’s also the first one I’ve written to you. I’ll make a point of remembering this for the whole of this section, so I don’t branch off into personal musings.

To the collective Uncles, acquaintances, close friends, colleagues I chat to by the coffee machine (‘I see that one’s broken as usual… tsk, tsk!) and mothers, both real and surrogate, the first thing that you need to know is that there are two diaries. This one, which contains pen pictures of places we go, people we meet and my general state of mind and another which will have my closer observations and political opinion. The latter (http://waywardpilgrimage.blogspot.com/) will be more intimate and detailed less interesting to those who don’t know me well (and which might bore those that do), but if there’s anything juicy to be passed on, it’ll be mentioned here. I hope it will be a smellier, fluffier, tastier and brighter version of what I’m doing. If that sounds a bit suspect and you’d rather not know about that stuff, don’t visit the page! I don’t want either to be a bucket and spade recollection of a pleasant holiday, but this page is closer to that type of thing.

Anyway, I left work two days ago, and I’m waiting for the weight of what I’ve chosen to do to hit me. How many thousands of people go travelling around the world every year now? The global tourism trade is a multi-billion dollar industry. What percentage, however, of the world’s population ever get to take a holiday abroad? Not a large slice. Being a very privileged little oik, I’d better have some damn good reasons for travelling, hadn’t I?

I put some thought into defining a reason tonight, and this is what I came up with:

1. To get an idea of how the world around me will change over the remainder of my working life.

It’s not accepted by the vast majority of climate scientists that carbon related climate change is in full swing. Most believe that it is highly unlikely that our current capitalist society can bring fundamental changes needed to industry and lifestyle quickly enough to prevent grave changes across the globe. I want to see at first hand what attitude people have to what is staring them in the face and what impact it is likely to have on communities, individuals and the environments I visit. I should mention that I have no formal qualifications in sociology, anthropology, economics or the environment beyond Geography ‘A-level’!

2. To formulate a plan about what I plan to do with the rest of my life because of what I observe and think.
3. Personal experience and development like everyone else.

If I’m going to stand a chance of sticking to any of those reasons, I’m going to need some guiding intentions/milestones. What I have in mind is:

- Spending time working within communities in Asia and South America
- Seeing what impact government policy has on these communities
- Looking at privatisation of public amenities
- Trying to understand how countries with substantial social divides, such as caste systems, confrontational religious groupings, and racial tension operate and cope/don’t cope.
- I want to work in very different environments to the standard office base I am used to.
- Work on my writing, perhaps producing essays
- Decide on a format and style to present what I gather back

Looking back over that, it all sounds a bit corporate, doesn’t it? I’ve spent too long in the Cabinet Office.

I’ll stick to a couple of principles to guide me while I’m away and remind myself of a few home truths before I leave. Firstly, I represent the country of former colonial rulers in many of the places I’m going to and I have enjoyed a wildly privileged life compared to that of most of the people I’ll meet. Secondly, I need to avoid acting like a drunken tourist and attempt not to rush to the bars/beach as a default position when I run out of inspiration.

You may know that I am not travelling alone. James, my good friend of 11 years is my travelling partner. If you continue to read this you’ll get to know James. I’ll need his humour, humanity and his ability to tolerate me talking nonsense in order to survive, I expect.

That’s sums it up neatly for now. Speak to you all in a while…

p.s. I need to watch this affinity for bullet point lists I’m developing, don’t I?