The Truth for Day Five

Something I hope to do in this life

After all the heavy stuff for the past few days, I will keep this short.

I hope to travel more. My peregrinations have been very curtailed over the past few years thanks to my little men. I encourage Mark to take them to Germany--alone. I haven't set foot in England since 2004, although the lovely trip to Rome when I turned 40 was glorious, even in the grey February rain. Ah, the churches and ruins. I was in heaven, connecting to a past that I know I fit into, somehow.

I would very much like to travel to Southeast Asia with my friend Thomenon and my boys, and explore Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

I want to watch my boys explore the temples of Angkor Wat with the expert guidance of my friend. I want to see the River of a Thousand Linga that he taught me about so long. I want to eat the great food Thomenon telegraphs home about when he's abroad doing research, stay in hotels that pamper us, and ride on a boat along the Mekong River.

If we can get into Burma, I want English high tea in at The Strand in Rangoon.

I also hope to return to India with Thomenon, particularly to the north, and see the beautiful hill stations of Simla and Darjeeling, seeing ways in which the colonial landscape is melting into the postcolonial world.

I have found myself becoming quite nostalgic about my research in British colonial history. I recently bought a friend's wonderful book, Empire Families, about how the Raj had--and has--continuing and deep influence over the notion of nationality and class in Britain, seen through the lenses and experiences of parents and children. I will bid you adieu and go bury myself in that, or perhaps some Kipling short stories. If I can stay awake, that is.