The World By Road

When we first left Denver back in February, it was the middle of winter and as we drove through Vail, we were treated to probably the last snow storm we would see for quite some time. I was browsing a local Denver news site the other day to check in on what has been going down in the mile hi city and noticed that the weather forecast called for temps in the 80’s. It struck me pretty hard that it is now summer back home and that I have been gone for nearly 4 months. Time has been flying by for me and without the changing of the seasons to keep my mental clock on track, you really do start to loose track of time pretty quickly.

For us, the temperature has pretty much been the same since we left. I would estimate that the average temperature for the duration of TWBR to date has been somewhere around 90. We experienced some cooling off in southern Australia, but as soon as it did, we were headed north along with the "gray migration." (In Australia, when it gets cold in the south, thousands of older, retired folks pack up their RV’s and drive north to Alice, Darwin and Queensland for a few months in an annual phenomenon known throughout  Australia as the "gray migration.") 

Here in SE Asia, and particularly in countries close to the Equator such as Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, the weather is pretty much consistent all-year round with the exception of the wet/dry seasons. This consistent weather pattern makes it even easier to loose track of time in my opinion. We were talking with some people from Singapore the other day about the changing of the seasons and they assured us that Singapore also experiences four seasons: hot, hotter, hottest and hot and wet. Currently it is the "hottest" season and typically May is the hottest month, although the hot and wet season has apparently been lingering around and we are greeted every day to some pretty significant afternoon deluges. The wet weather is something I guess we had better get used to since we happen to be heading north on the tail of the monsoonal flow which brings lots of moisture to the region but little relief from the heat.

It was nice to experience some warmer weather once we left the states, but I have to admit, I am missing the cold a bit right now. At a minimum, being witness to the shift from winter to spring and spring to summer would have kept me more mindful of the amount of time I have been away from my home, friends and family. However, at the same time, here in the tropics -where time seems to stand still while speeding  forward - at least you know what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, what to wear and what time to run for cover.  

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