This is a short post because I'm out of practice and because it's a short post.
Before I went abroad in the summer of 2013 I decided to stop wearing a watch.
I can be obsessive over punctuality and the time I spend on certain things and basically I was counting the minutes every day of my life. So when I set off for Greece I took off my watch and put it in my pink toiletries bag, just in case. I wasn't ready to leave it behind altogether. And it was a lovely 18th birthday present from my parents.
I didn't lose track of time altogether. I still have my phone and when I really need to know what time it is, I pull it out of my pocket and check, and I'm still rarely late. But now that the option to glance at my wrist to see the time isn't there any more, it's rare that I wonder how many minutes have passed. And I think that's a symptom of the fact that since I started travelling, I've been living a better life. A much more interesting, filled, and stimulating life.
Of course, I don't mean to say that we should all stop wearing watches. I mean only that those of us who, like me, used their watch as a measuring device to be checked regularly, as something that reminded them that they were wasting time and that made them always too cautious - those people should consider taking their watches off.
I took my watch out of the toiletries bag a few weeks ago and realised that it had stopped. A year ago, I would have panicked and had the battery replaced immediately. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it.
*
I know many posts about the summer of travelling are owed, and now a few about the Australian summer as well, and they'll come in due time.
Before I went abroad in the summer of 2013 I decided to stop wearing a watch.
I can be obsessive over punctuality and the time I spend on certain things and basically I was counting the minutes every day of my life. So when I set off for Greece I took off my watch and put it in my pink toiletries bag, just in case. I wasn't ready to leave it behind altogether. And it was a lovely 18th birthday present from my parents.
I didn't lose track of time altogether. I still have my phone and when I really need to know what time it is, I pull it out of my pocket and check, and I'm still rarely late. But now that the option to glance at my wrist to see the time isn't there any more, it's rare that I wonder how many minutes have passed. And I think that's a symptom of the fact that since I started travelling, I've been living a better life. A much more interesting, filled, and stimulating life.
Of course, I don't mean to say that we should all stop wearing watches. I mean only that those of us who, like me, used their watch as a measuring device to be checked regularly, as something that reminded them that they were wasting time and that made them always too cautious - those people should consider taking their watches off.
I took my watch out of the toiletries bag a few weeks ago and realised that it had stopped. A year ago, I would have panicked and had the battery replaced immediately. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it.
 |
| My Romanian family. Note the watch-free wrist |
*
I know many posts about the summer of travelling are owed, and now a few about the Australian summer as well, and they'll come in due time.
No comments:
Post a Comment