What is it like traveling with me, Mr.Blab?

I’m sure the following question has been stewing in everyone’s mind…..”Gee, I wonder what it’s like traveling with the Snapping Blabber from Mr Blabs point of view?” Well, I’m glad you asked.

Let’s see…..where to begin…….I’ll start by telling you a little about me first.

My day usually begins with the following phrase being yelled at me from across the room by the Dodman the moment I wake up….”Daddy, your a stinky buckotts (buttocks)! This is followed soon after by Snapping Blabbers desire for ginger tea, which is echoed by Dodman.
As the mornings unfold I start to think about all the things that a small army would need for a few hours and begin to put them into my daypack. Starting with THE most important thing….Snapping Blabbers camera bag with extra lens, batteries and memory cards. Straight away this adds an item to my bag that is approximately the size and weight of a cannonball. Then comes any combination of the following items….1.5-3 litre of water, Dodman sling, wallet, extra tops for the kids, maps, video camera, sunglasses case, toys, fruit, lead weights and bricks.
Once we finally get the logistics right, we venture out. This can be anywhere from 5am ( ONLY to catch a train, plane or bus) to 5pm. We rarely get out before 10am. The Snapping Blabber has her camera almost permanently around her neck. The only time she takes it off is when I take a picture of her..or to shower.

As we roam around whichever city or place we are in, my duties fall into the childcare and “guy who carries and pays for things” categories. I don’t mind really. This allows the Snapping Blabber to take pictures at her leisure while I follow along behind her, carrying the Dodman and the backpack, and keeping an eye on Miss Fab and Little B. You may wonder why you do not see me very often in photos. At first it was at my request, trying to keep my identity a secret, but more often then not it’s SB asking me to move out of the line of her shot.

As far as what it’s like to travel with SB, I can say this….She likes to roam around randomly, not have too much of a set plan for the day, more just a general direction. Feed her occasionally and find her coffee and she can go all day. Don’t feed her and don’t find her any coffee and her evil side starts to show (oh yes, she has an evil side, which is one of the things that I love about her the most). She was a soft spot for good food and has been known to travel to great lengths just to get to a bowl of local ramen. She will go eat by herself while the kids and I eat somewhere else just to get a special dish. She out ate me at a sushi train restaurant in Japan when we agreed to a no limit dinner (11 plates to 8). She LOVES her food.

SB sans coffee

She prefers out of the way places to tourist areas. Give her an interesting side street or alley over the Eiffel Tower any day. She finds and takes pictures of things most people wouldn’t even notice. I’ve always been impressed by her eye for a good picture. Her eye is even starting to rub off on me, as I am also starting to become quite the photographer thank you very much. Any picture you see of her, I took it*.

She’s not a fan of airplanes, boats or bumpy car rides through the Himalayas…or some Chinese trains. But she will get up at 4am to catch one much easier than I will. She will ride a scooter in a torrential downpour in Chiang Mai to see a temple, catch a 2 day ferry (see above for her fear of boats) across the East China Sea to get to Japan, and brave the terrifyingly narrow, steep and bumpy Himalayan roads where we are now.

We have our moments of extreme glee ( like when we take funny face self-portraits), self-awakening, dread, fear, excitement, anger, happiness and confusion. The anger and confusion are usually directed at me, and usually for good reason. I rarely have enough cash on me, forget things that we just talked about, and spend way too much on sweets. I have an “everything will work out” attitude that usually is right, but it drives SB crazy.

Having said that though, 95% of the time she is a happy, strong, adventurous, loving woman who can handle any difficulties that we face. Nothing is too tough. She’s given birth three times without any drugs, climbed up the stairs to the Great Wall of China (not taken the cable car like most people) with Dodman strapped to her back, climbed down the Himalayan mountain we are on to Banjar village also with Dodman strapped to her back, and has had root canal work done WITHOUT novocaine. This is one strong woman.

She likes to have our next city or journey planned out once we arrive in our current city or shortly there after, while I am notorious for leaving it to the last minute, sometimes not even having a place to stay when we arrive. She puts in countless hours, usually after we have all gone to sleep, researching, blogging, working on the pictures and keeping her social sites updated. If it wasn’t for her tireless efforts on these fronts, and was left to me to organize, we would probably still be in Amed, Bali. I really don’t know how she puts up with me sometimes, or me with her occasionally, but I think we both love each others adventurous spirit and have been together long enough that no disagreement, no matter how big or small, will linger for very long. That’s love.

To sum it all up I would say that I wouldn’t want to do this trip with anybody else in the whole world……..except maybe Salma Hayek, but I’m sure she would need more luggage than just one backpack, and I am NOT carrying anything else for anybody. I love you SB!

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I think it should go something like…”except maybe Salma Hayek, but I’m sure she would need more luggage than just one backpack to look so wonderful and perfect and amazing and breath-taking as SB does”, right? Sounds nicer and more truthful… no…I am not influencing anything…yes, its your post…I am talking love here…oh, fine!…I can just scrap it, I am the blog imperialist here!…yeah, you and what blog?! Muahahaha…

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* Camera settings and shot composition set up by SB