yesterday’s festival was a good one, in tavistock square just off portobello road. if you missed it then watch out for it next year.

what a nightmare. it didnt have to end this way..

everyone “travels” nowadays. its the thing to do, isn”t it? so there are lots of resources out there for “travellers” - to tell people where to go, how to get there, where to stay, buy your tickets online etc. etc. blah blah.

There are also niches in this marketplace -e.g. resources on how to travel “differently” to the “masses”; [not that soon that won"t be a mass phenomenon anymore..there"s an article in the Guardian that had a giggle about how some of these women "backpackers" now carry three different kinds of tongs and hair straighteners and of course at least 10 pairs of shoes. ( where do they pack "em is what i want to know!..) ] websites on “eco-travel”, best gap year locations - blah blah - etc. you get the general picture.

generally these sites all have one thing in common though - they are nationality focused ( though they may not all realize that..) in the sense that they don”t usually have any information for those of us with “difficult” nationalities. ( it”s hilarious how so many people really dont realize that global travel depends heavily on the passport/s you carry) i mean difficult here in the sense that those of us with a nationality which impedes global travel to the extent that you have to get a visa everywhere you go. Yes, generally the masses ( except when they decide to go to india or sth) dont really know anything about visas and the world the rest of us inhabit which is full of hassle - you can”t take off anywhere, you have to have x amount of money in your bank, you have to DOCUMENT your existence for the judgement of some bored, harassed overworked visa official in some crummy embassy that not only do you have to make an appointment to even get in the door nowadays you have to still queue for blocks… anway, nice for those to don”t have to think about visas.
but like i said, there are those of us who have had to deal with bureaucracy all our lives and continue to do so in order to travel about, and there aren”t a hell of a lot of resources on the net for us lot. ( which is silly, since we need more resources and thinking before we go anywhere!)

now i know most people will say well since people who run these travel resources dont need a visa, they arent really bothered about it and why should they give a fuck about those of us who do? ( specially since they probably didn”t realize we exist in the first place!)

Well perhaps rightly so - why shouldn”t they be self-centred? Point is - i guess that leaves it up to us lot who do have to deal with the reality of “imaginary lines” into consideration when we want to have a nice break- to sort out sth for ourselves.

clearly a big gap in the market.

now if we knew the answer to that one!

anyway, i’ve amended this category of posting somewhat as a space for me to put down those little observations in life, which probably aren’t of that much interest or use to others. many of these are nasty rants about mundane and petty things. ( not that my other posts and writings aren’t about nasty rants - but they tend to be about bigger things in life, that i want others to be thinking about. then again, maybe not. )

however, there must be space to satisfy my self in unburdening myself: and this is where they will be stored.

ha.