Quite a few of us expats might consider ourselves to be – or to have been at an earlier stage in our lives – global nomads. Being posted for a job in Shanghai or Seattle, Kuala Lumpur or Kinshasa, usually means packing up your possessions, pets, and progeny and leaving for a new life in another country and a totally different culture. But, arguably, so much of this is relatively easy (though admittedly not stress-free) with relocation companies and freight forwarders, shipping agents and all the professional services now available. The actual journey is probably made by plane, from one air-conditioned generic airport to another. The new life in a new place is ready and waiting, which is not to deny, of course, that a lot of hard work goes into the business of moving.
However, true global nomads move and travel in an entirely different way. I have been privileged to meet two couples who have both settled (as far as nomads can) for a time in Penang and they shared their inspirational stories with me. Though both the couples are a different stages in their life, they share a passion for meeting and talking to people they meet and learning about their everyday life.
Michael Zullo and Virginia Hess-Zullo, both from New York City, have spent the last six years since Michael’s retirement travelling the world. They have visited South America, Australia, New Zealand, and criss-crossed Europe before coming to Penang. “It’s a great home base for exploring the region,” Michael tells me. “You can fly easily from here and we have been to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan, and Indonesia during our stay here.” They rented a shophouse in a quiet street in George Town for a year as a base for their travels.
Virginia is a former chef and so she and Michael went most mornings when they were in Penang to the nearby Chowrasta Market to buy spices and chat with the stall holders about what was good to cook and eat that day. She carries the tools of her trade with her as it’s impossible to get sharp knives and professional quality saucepans, a fact which makes Michael groan sometimes as he has to carry them. In fact, they have eight pieces of carefully chosen luggage that creates “home” wherever they go. They take their warm weather gear (diffi cult and expensive to buy, whereas tropical cottons can be cheaply bought and given away). They carry some books and a Kindle e-reader, as well as two computers, essential for research and keeping in touch with family back home.
They’ve just set off for a few weeks’ stay in Istanbul, from where they will take a cruise ship to Naples. Cruise ships often sell off their unoccupied cabins at the last minute and if you’re not fussy about when you can travel, you can pick up amazing bargains. Michael and Virginia love to go by boat and by ferry, but they also hire cars for one-way cross-border trips and take trains.
One method of transport they haven’t yet tried is bicycling. But Celine and Xavier Pasche, who arrived in Penang six months ago, cycled all the way here from their native Switzerland. It has taken them three years and they have pedalled 33,000 kilometres over some of the most desolate and majestic terrain on the planet. They’ve crossed the Himalayas, traversed deserts, taken part in a Shamanic ritual in Mongolia, been followed by the secret police in Iran, watched eagles playing in the wind in Kirghizstan, drunk cardamom coffee with Turkish peasants, spent fi ve days in silence in a Syrian monastery, and heard a sea organ (the waves create the music) in the Adriatic. “It’s been a wonderful journey,” says Celine. “We left to discover culture, but everywhere we met human beings.”
Sometimes the roads were rugged and sometimes there were no roads. High in the mountains, they faced intense cold, sometimes -20°, and struggled to make a fire let alone thaw enough ice to make breakfast. And they had to carry enough water for three days and enough food for five days. One day they met some young goat herders as they were making tea with the last of their precious water. They were hesitant to offer them some because they didn’t have enough water for the next day. But the boys milked their goat and gave them a great steaming mug of fresh milk with a beaming smile.
They have some basic rules. No guide books because it’s best to approach each country without preconceptions. Learn as much of the local language as you can because interacting with people is what the journey is all about. Do as the local people do with regard to food and water. “If they drink water out of the tap, or from a stream, we do,” says Celine. “If they boil it, so do we. We eat the local produce.” Amazingly, they never got sick. Even more amazing, they were never robbed, even though they left their bicycles and their tent unlocked at times. “You learn to listen your intuition and your body’s reactions to situations and you learn to trust life.”
When they came to Penang, they decided that it was going to be the birthplace of their daughter and in June, Nayla entered the world. They love the gentle energy of Penang, but next month they will be on the road again, pulling Nayla behind their cycles in a carriage. “Our destination is New Zealand,” says Xavier, “but it doesn’t matter whether we get there. It’s the journey that’s important.” You can see Xavier’s magnifi cent images of the travels so far on their website www.ylia.ch. Perhaps it says a lot for Penang that its welcoming spirit and multi-cultural heritage offer such a warm welcome to global nomads who want to rest here awhile.
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Ordinary People Who Make Penang Extraordinary
Last year we ran a piece about the ordinary people of Penang – fruit sellers, shop assistants, market vendors, hawker stallholders, and so on – who make Penang such an extraordinarily friendly place to live or visit. We would like to make this an annual event and so if you know a person in Penang who has made a difference to your life, please drop me a line at [email protected].
Source: Penang International October/November 2013
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