i am a traveller

i am a traveller

i resent being labeled as a tourist

but know that one cant always escape the label

for a foreigner is always seen in that light.

a tourist stays in fancy and pretentious hotels

they eat in prescribed restaurants

they visit cities churches museums and monuments

they talk loud drive bad and ignore the common man.

they often are focused on their own need

they isolate themselves from the heart of every place

the common man walking by on the street

while they rush off to take another picture somewhere else.

more than often they are pressed for time

running around to get the most out of their packaged deal

never relaxing or stopping never looking up

to salvage the simple moment now forever lost in time.

i consider myself a traveller

i am guided by the local time

i never feel pressed or rushed

but allow the time to pass like i allow the common man.

to walk the backstreets and to see the dirty corners

to smell the stench and to hear the noises

i stop to observe the kids playing in the park

to identify with the local childlikeness.

i enjoy staying in small villages with families and friends

to eat sleep and drink the way the locals do

even if it means staying up late for another drink or two

to listen to old fables and truths told by a mothers tongue.

i consider myself a traveller

for me it is important to understand and see

the origin of a person or product

to indulge and experience its true value and expression.

i need to feel the place and its people

to absorb the mountains and the hills

to smell the sea and listen to the crashing of the waves

and to see if it stirs the same rememberance in me.

travelling to me is not only a change of destination

its a change of thoughts dreams and desires

to dive into a pool of unknown delicacies and pleasures

without an expectation of what never will be.

i consider myself a traveller

because i stop to listen.

i consider myself a traveller
because i stop to look and see.

i consider myself a traveller
because i open myself to feel.

i consider myself a traveller
because i allow myself to be moved inside.

i carry with me a bag of tales and fables

i have an endless file of landscapes and sceneries

i gloat at the mere thought of every memory

as the experiences wah over me stirring my passion.

i consider myself a traveller

for i know there will never be an end

the vastness of every destination makes it impossible

but the journey is always worth the while.

I AM A TRAVELLER.