Fitting that I'd be bringing up the subject at a time like this, at the peak of semester exam stress and all the fun stuff (not) that goes with it. Yet it did occur that I've been doing this high school teaching in China thing for 5 years straight now. Before that, there was 3 years of teaching English to adults. After all this, I'm wondering if it might just be time to take a temporary leave of absence and go for that long-envisioned 6 month to a year bike trip I've been thinking about, well, since many years ago.
The theme of the trip is very clear actually. I know exactly what I want to do, and the countries passing through on my list. The only difficulty is that to do this bike trip the way I want, it's going to take at least 6 months off, more like a year tops. It would be much better and efficient to have a go at combining everything into one swing, rather than doing a bit here, a bit there, and another bit here during the short periods of travel we get during the winter and summer breaks.
For example, I'd be spending at least a month in India alone, and that would make far more efficient use of the 6-month tourist visa.
The theme of the trip would be: Back to Jerusalem. Once I get more serious about pursuing this one, if I do, then I'll post more details as a way of insurance to make sure I actually get off my ass and do this.
When faced with that alluring possibility, I habitually say after _________ I'll do that trip, but 8 years later, I'm still saying that. 8 yeras later, I'd still be saying that unless I put my foot down and said I'm doing this trip right now. The major inspiration here is Rob Thompson who took 2 years off during the prime of his career and rode a recumbent bike and skateboarded around the world. See his blog at http://www.14degrees.org. While not without his share of difficulties, he is now pursuing his pHD which is more inspiration, that, after the completion of such a journey, it wouldn't necessarily kill one's career. Basically, I'd think of an extended bike trip as a temporary leave of absence for 6 months to a year.
If I took the plunge and started the trip as early as this summer, it is debatable whether I could return to this school here in Shanghai, or other BC schools in China. Most likely not, so this is the main deterrent, that such a 6 month to a year bike trip could end up lynching my career.
Faced with that, the logical alternative is to do little bits here and there during the vacation periods while keeping on working. 3-5 weeks, for example, is the envy of many, but it's really not as good as people make it sound. For one, the actual teaching is very stressful and there is always something that doesn't quite go right. Moving around from school-to-school has kept the money rolling in and the savings quite nice, but it has also been unsettling. As school A has a problem with X, then B has a problem with Y, and C has a problem with Z, and so forth. It can never be predicted what sorts of difficulties will occur. I can tolerate it to a point, then things just become unpleasant in the long run and I end up living for the holidays year after year.
Even during the holidays, while they may sound enviously long, they are not. It is more economical to pick places like Thailand and Malaysia that don't require a visa, and spend the first week just winding down. Attempting a trip to India or other places that need visas, you need to spend a long time in the country to make the cost of the visa worthwhile.
For a long-term bike trip like I envision, it's going to mean crossing multiple countries, and/or spending time in places that needs visas. That can't be done very well during the winter and summer breaks, even if they are 3-5 weeks long apiece.
So we'll just have to see what happens here ... by the end of the winter break, I'll have a clearer idea whether or not I'm going through with this, but I have set myself a deadline by the end of this school year whether to do the long-term bike trip or forego it entirely.
No comments:
Post a Comment