Hello from Singapore!

Just arrived in Singapore...it's about 1:30AM and I'm not all that tired because I slept really well (for once!) on the plane. It is indeed freeing to be traveling with just the possessions on my back. I wish I had even less stuff, but I'd already narrowed everything down to the bare minimum. I was chatting with the Indonesia-bound woman next to me, and she'd mentioned she was staying overnight in the transit hotel while waiting for this evening's flight to Indonesia (I'll be flying to Kolkata, India). She asked me what I planned to do, and I said probably find a corner in the airport and lie down there. "Like a true backpacker!" she remarked.

Yes. Now I know a little bit more what it's like to be a transient, I suppose. Umm...a bit like a homeless person, I suppose too. It's liberating, in many ways. I love being in the fancy Singaporean airport and not being drawn or tempted into their duty-free shops in any way (I can't carry more on my back! I've already got 20 pounds). It's great being satisfied with what I have and knowing that anything else is unnecessary. Singapore is also so generous with their free Internet workstations and free wi-fi! There's supposed to be a butterfly garden, koi pond, and all sorts of shenanigans in this airport. I will have until 6pm here, so I guess I can get to know this airport pretty well. Or not. I'm thinking about heading to my "corner" now and nesting a bit. I haven't been back to Singapore since I moved away in 1996, and it is making me nostalgic to be back!

I feel like air-travel and airports are "safe" spots. I don't have to worry too much, it's not all that chaotic, not too disorderly. It'll be interesting once I leave the cocoon of the airport once I arrive in Kolkata, how things will be from there. Next time I blog will be from India!