To begin on a positive note, in many ways I'm really glad I've done the trip in that it's proven to myself as much as anything that I can do the things I've had to do and come up against and (one way or another) overcome the obstacles that have come in my way. Although I've tailored the itinerary to what I've wanted, the low budget means that I've had to do much of the organising and leg work myself around places and have been stuck for days in train compartments with groups of Russians. Despite the warnings of this and that in the travel guides I haven't had a single bad experience so far, and that counts for something.
As ever though the communication aspect has proven somewhat difficult. By this I don't mean the differences in language, that's a given, but rather the process of conversing with others in many different situations, of which the language barrier can make things just that bit more tricky! There have certainly been times when I think pushing myself and trying to converse might have made (in particular longhours on trains) pass more enjoyably, but it's always the whole grey area of 'might' that stupidly puts me off. Although I very rarely have bad experiences with people I try to chat to I'm somehow overly retiscent at the prospect. I'm improving, but it remains.
I've found that I've been pretty disorganised with my things, and although I've lost or two minor things along the way I don't believe I've forgotten anything when packing. However the process of packing can take me an age! I reckon this comes in part from being fearful of leaving something behind and that of the couple of bags I have with me they're pretty near capacity, so there's always some time spent on cramming things in. It doesn't help though that I'm pretty bad and finding places to put everything.
During packing I always end up with a heap of items which I need to find good homes for in my bags until I reach the next destination and this I can find the hardest task of all. I look at the heap for a while then the tiny overworked and understaffed organisational department of my brain waves the white flag and goes out for lunch! I get there in the end but sometimes I resort to stuffing things in a bag just to get them out of the way which only delays the job and can cause more frustration down the line as something fairly useful is now stuck in some daft place at the bottom of a bag or somewhere I'd never think of looking for it!
I've generally not had too many problems with major panicing, although I do have fairly regular minor panics. This comes from carrying with me several important items, the loss of any one of which would be a major inconvenience and problem, and I'm often momentarily forgetting where I've put any of my passport, wallet, ticket, money etc. etc. This causes a brief panic and slapping my hands over my numerous pockets only to then recall where I'd put it and curse myself for being so daft as to worry about it in the first place.
The only times when I was near a bigger panic was one time on the Moscow Metro when after a long afternoon and a good amount of time spent wandering in the wrong direction I then had major problems with the metro as it turned out later one or two station names were different to those on my map! I was reaching the point of despair by the time I got myself to a familiar station. (It should be pointed out that nothing in Russia is made easy to use or follow. It's assumed you know the way and where everything is, so helpful signs and maps are not on hand.)
The only other time was when I was in a building here in Tokyo trying to find an internet cafe on the 6th floor. I saw no lifts on the ground so took the escalators, but these stopped on the 5th floor, leaving me in a slot machine arcade which are some of the most overwhelmingly noisy places I've ever experienced in my life. Now I've been near a B52 bomber when it's taken off - that's ear-drum splittingly loud - but this noise was altogether something more intense. It was like a million loud sound effects all coming at you at once combined with a seemingly similar number of flashing lights. It was on the verge of becoming all too much when I found the lift to freedom and the peace and quiet of the internet cafe above. I really don't know how the Japanese stand those slot places. I'll have to try to record a sound clip just to give some indication of what I'm taking about. Even if you're on the street and the doors to a slot arcade open you still get bombarded with noise. Japan seems well ordered on the whole but it does contain corners of apparent bedlam!
There have also been times when some more assertiveness would have come in handy. But in some ways I feel the need to be assertive is counteracted by the demands to be polite. So if I sit down in a restaurant that I find is really more money than I'd ideally want to spend I end up staying there rather than walking out. I'm sure people do leave restaurants all the time, but the thought of it makes me incredibly uncomfortable. That said, being the son of a Yorkshireman I suppose the thought of spending brass (money) should make me feel incredibly uncomfortable too!
That's all that comes to mind at this late hour, although I might think of other examples at a later date. It would be interesting to know what difficulties others on the forum have faced when abroad or otherwise in strange and unfamiliar places and situations.
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