"Stand upon the cliffs by my side, take a deep breath and jump. We might not live but we will have the thrill of the fall"

Free Spirits

The picture was taken in Prague by my bro, who is on a 42day backpacking trip around Europe. Envious? Definitely. The idea of wandering into the unknown, albeit armed with a giant book of 'lonely planet' europe, is simply one thing that is commonly exhilarating to both my bro and me. He completed a 21 day asia last year and is doing the double now.

Something i will do? Absolutely. He told me that this trip would probably set him back about SGD5000, i guess i'd better start setting aside a bit of my savings for this now.

I guess the allure of backpacking alone that draws us so much stems from how we were brought up. I wouldnt say i hated how i was brought up, it made me who i am today, but we had quite abit of restrictions in the past. Therefore, the idea of foraying out there really entices us. While many might say that the amount of control that my parents exerted over us might have led us to lose that sense of individuality or actually come to feel sheltered; I feel it has somehow worked the opposite, my brother and I simply jump at the opportunity to leap out into murky waters; it helped us develop as individuals not afraid, yearning instead, to explore this world out there.

Had a very leisurely afternoon today at home, a respite after the constant rushing around for the past 3weeks, in fact, i only woke up just awhile ago, sleep has never been so satisfying as when you're tired. I only discovered this morning that i had been living on 5 hours of sleep for the past 3 weeks, was really running on reserved juice for the past week. I guess that explains the headache i felt after only downing a pint of erdinger yesterday with my friends.

In retrospect, the title for this post seems kind of apt, what being the 7th month in the Chinese Calendar after all (where the Hungry Ghost festival takes place), and a tribute to the free spirits out there, those who yearn to step out from shelter, those who long for that tingling feeling of excitement that comes from the unknown.

On a sidenote, i feel like continuing where i left off for classical piano, it's been awhile.