One of my earliest childhood lessons was that asking question leads to chaos. Growing up in a chaotic, dysfunctional environment, there were messages that were indirectly taught to me. One of them was that asking for help of any kind may result in a violent outbursts and thus being punished. So I learned to never ask questions on how to do things for fear of being punished. Unfortunately, this way of thinking stuck with me even into adulthood and it took me to realize that this mentality was still ingrained into me even though I was no longer in a chaotic situation.
Being an expat and travelling has made me realize that not only is asking questions OK, but it is vital to my survival. In Buenos Aires, all the foreigners here all ask each other questions on their restaurant experiences etc. In doing this, we save each other time and money. And it is the reason why I feature people on my blog and link to them...I want YOU to save time and money too.
Long term travel and expat life is a lifestyle in itself that can involves specific skills that you have to learn and develop if you want to make it. There are even specific gadgets and tech that are on the market that are preferred by travellers over others. My self imposed, unhealthy independance really came to light when I was spending hours of research into the latest phones and tech to see which gadgets might help organize my life abit more as well be travel savy.
All of you in the 1st world know that there are 1001 smartphones out and 100 more being introduced each month. I've done my best to read the reviews so I can make an informed opinion. Purchasing a gadget is a big investment and I don't want to put out money for something that doesn't suit my purposes. The right gadget can do wonders for my life but finding out exactly what that gadget is was the tricky part.
One day while reading reviews on other great travel sites, I stumbled on this one called "Fox Nomad". The site is run by Anil Polat, a digital nomad who travels the world and runs several blogsites. He really specializes in the area of travel and tech. On his site is great advice on unlocking phones, receiving internet signals, tech equipment and all kinds of practical advice on combining tech and travel in another country.
His website soon became my one stop shop for all my tech answers and I realize that there are so many people like me who are doing the same thing and have the same questions. So I began doing the very thing that I was never able to do in my childhood.....ASK. And you know what? I've learned ask, and you will receive :)
Slowly I'm working my way towards inter-dependance and am learning that I don't have to be a lone ranger and truth be told, I was never meant to be. Even if one travel solo, don't hesitate to ask. In the same way that I've gone ahead and paved the way and created a website that can save time and money for others, I now realize that people are willing to do the same for me.
If there is any one place I've learned healthy inter-dependance, it would be the travel and expat community. Because each person becomes full of knowledge and they know that they can never be the "end all". No one can live in every neighbourhood in Buenos Aires all at once and know everything about every neighbourhood. That is why we have each other. From living in Boedo, I'm able to tell the other expats things about this barrio and places I recommend for food etc. And the travel community is like that as well, even people who are doing a round the world trip quickly learn that the key to their success is inter-dependance. Sharing the knowledge that you have and not being afraid to ask others on things that aren't your area.
I gotta admit that I'm learning to love depending on inter-dependance....
