FREE SPIRIT- AM I?

Some call me a FREE SPIRIT. Some call me adventurous. Others call me courageous, strong and independent. I call myself SAIDA. I have been traveling solo around the world since 2000. Not knowing exactly what I am doing or where I am going has become a very natural way of traveling. Reservations, itinerary, planning- what is all that? A Lonely Planet travel guide in one hand and a digital camera in the other is good enough for me.

The dictionary defines a FREE SPIRIT as a person with a highly individual and unique attitude, lifestyle or imagination; a non conformist. Synonyms include bohemian, beatnik, eccentric, free thinker, gonzo, maverick, original. Am I a non conformist? Am I unconstrained by convention? Yes the liberty of my spirit and soul is paramount but in order for me to feed my travel addiction, I have acquired a career with a reliable and predictable income providing social and economic safety. So in many ways I have conformed to what society expects, but I definitely am a non conformist to what my mother expects of me. So am I a free spirit?

Better yet, am I a GONZO? defined as someone who is eccentric and crazy. But then ECCENTRIC is someone who is bizarre. Synonyms include, freak, kook, creep, weirdo, whacko, screw ball, odd, original and ohhhh again non conformist. Okay I am NOT crazy but I will choose original. I am definitely NOT a beatnik. I have digressed, maybe I should stop reading the dictionary!

I conclude that I am unique and one of a kind! Just the fact I question, maybe indeed I am FREE SPIRIT.

Why do I travel so much? My mother asks me this often and so do many of my patients. Firstly, because I can. Secondly, my dad told me to and thirdly, I am curious about the world we live in. The most important reason, I have a tremendous fear of losing my independence, so I keep challenging and inspiring myself. More accurately, I keep running away from reality into "Lala" land. "Lala" land and hammocks are my safe havens and happy places. Am I sacrificing anything? Not sure! Traveling is liberating. Liberating is independence.

My ideal job- An adventure travel host, possibly for the Lonely Planet. Those who know me and have met me, I have memorized and stored an archive of travel information ready to share in a split of a second. Ask me anything and I shall deliver. Where do you want to go? Let me help you get there but with some adventure. Yeah?