Evita: "Couldn't stay all my life down at heel, looking out of the window, staying out of the sun."
My bosom pal is very excited – she’s going to Colombia, Argentina and Chile!
When she told me the news on Wednesday she couldn’t curb her enthusiasm.
Her job takes her to some really far flung places – she’s already been to Brazil, Africa, and some other God forsaken places an average Singaporean will never get to visit in his or her lifetime.
And she enjoys traveling – she is already gushing about some waterfall with an unpronounceable name that she has to visit.
I don’t share her excitement, unfortunately.
I’m glad that she’s such a hot shot in her company that she gets sent all over the world to fix problems.
But if you read The World Factbook by CIA, you’ll know how unsafe some of these places are. Exotic maybe, safe no way.
Columbia for example is not only the kidnapping capital of the world but it also has the highest murder rate in the world and Argentina is a known source of women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. As for Chile, yesterday it was hit by an earthquake 500 times more powerful than Haiti’s, setting off a tsunami which threatens a quarter of the globe. The seismic-energy yield of that earthquake is equivalent to one million Hiroshima-sized bombs exploding all at once. Don’t believe me? Well, don’t take my word for it. Do some research on the Web and see for yourself.
Besides, I kinda like her to be around and I become concerned when she’s on the road. I’ve already lost two soul mates before and I dread receiving that fateful phone call in the unholy hours of some morning…
Moreover her apparent glee at her forthcoming trips also seems like a slap in my face, dismissing my concerns…
Oh, well…
As for me, do I like to travel?
Having held traveling jobs ever since I started working, I’d rather luxuriate – ok, vegetate – in the familiar comforts of home any time.