Memorable Moments in Transit

Eye-Opening Moments Unleashed are real-life stories of adversity, encounters, and perspectives intertwined. They are moments that can lift your spirits, give you some food for thought, or move you. For the introspective mind that likes to reflect, discover, and find solutions or meaning in a complex life, this is for you. In this episode you will hear about Memorable Moments in Transit.

                                                                                       
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Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode #230 of Eye-Opening Moments Unleashed where you’ll hear stories of adversity, encounters, and perspectives intertwined. They are moments that can lift your spirits, give you some food for thought, or move you. For the introspective mind that likes to reflect, discover, and find solutions or meaning in a complex life, this is for you. I’m your host Emily Kay Tan. In this episode, you will hear about Memorable Moments in Transit. 

Memorable Moments in Transit

“Hang on!” said Hannah as she tried to keep me from falling off the bike. “Rest your hands on my shoulders,” Sky gently instructed me as it was my first time on a scooter. “Calm down; you need not be nervous,” my driving instructor reminded me. “Are you all buckled up?” asked the flight attendant. “Don’t be afraid,” I told myself as I boarded the train for the first time. “Could I be too heavy for this hot-air balloon to go up and float?” I pondered. “I think I am going to vomit,” I thought as I sat on the ferry. Standing on the bus and holding on to the grip strap next to Sky, I fantasized about us as lovers.

Whether exploring new places, going on an adventure, or moving from one place to another, I want to go. Riding on a bicycle, scooter, car, airplane, train, hot-air balloon, parachute, or bus stands for going somewhere to me. Going anywhere is moving, and I like going places. Some rides are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but remembering the positive moments while in transit makes all the difference.

I did not know how to ride a bike or never had a need to on the bumpy and uneven roads where I lived; I wanted to learn. I wanted to go places. I wasn’t old enough to drive, and bicycling was the closest thing to help me go places. I daydreamed of cycling with gentle breezes blowing my hair away from my face and riding past many places; it was freedom and independence.

Hannah got me on a bike. She tried to hold on to the bike and me as I wobbled profusely. I was embarrassed that my younger sister was trying to teach me how to ride a bike. “It’s all about balance, left, right, stay in motion, and you can do it,” said Hannah. Hannah was patient, never raising her voice or yelling at me. She was thin and smaller than me but could keep me on the seat without falling. My younger sister was encouraging and gave me the confidence to keep at it until she let go, and I was riding on my own. Hannah taught me how to ride a bike but gave me much more.

While learning to ride a bike, I learned to be confident, and then I can do anything. Hannah unknowingly taught me that. Through all the wobbling and encouraging words, I learned to bicycle and begin my independence journey at fourteen. The unexpected result was a heartwarming connection with my younger sister.

Landing on an island nation full of scooters looked scary yet exciting for the eighteen-year-old me. I wanted to ride on one but had no license or ability, especially outside my country. My eight-year-old brother stayed with a family willing to sponsor his stay while I was in the dorms, participating in a foreign language program. Visiting my brother on the weekends, I discovered a scooter in front of the house. I told my brother I wanted to ride on one and knew he would tell the owner of it. 

Yes! My little brother told Sky I wanted to ride on it, so after one dinner, he drove me home on his scooter. His mother was worried. She didn’t want to be responsible if anything should happen to this foreigner. But twenty-four-year-old Sky told me to hop on behind him and put my hands on his shoulders. We zoomed off before his mother could say more. Nervously holding on to his shoulders, I was also sweating with the jitters in the summer heat. I wanted to be even closer to Sky but dared not come into contact with him at any spot if I could help it. A gentle breeze cooled me as I fantasized about a summer romance. The thrilling scooter ride, in more ways than one, was only the beginning.

Sky and I took a bus to a music store on another occasion. His mother insisted that having me on a scooter was too dangerous, so Sky and I took a bus. Standing next to each other, Sky and I each held onto a grip strap. The motion of the bus had us bumping into each other; it did not bother me at all. Sky explained that he wanted to get a cassette for me that played the music he liked and buy it for me as a parting gift when the summer was over. Our soft conversation on the bus and his manly voice in a foreign language enveloped me in sweetness. The bus ride with Sky brought me into a dream world and made me forget all the bus rides back home, which were crowded and unpleasant.

Picked up from the airport and back home, I daydreamed while riding in the car. I remembered the worst car ride ever. Uncle Rick was driving across several states to Philadelphia for Aunt Tessa and me to see his new home in graduate school with his girlfriend. In the car were his two cats and a puppy, crawling all over inside the car. I was allergic to their pet hair, and they scared me. Though I sat frozen for hours, the worst part was what Uncle Rick said to me. “You need a psychologist to examine your brain. There is nothing wrong with my pets; there is something wrong with you,” he said. I never forgot what he said, and I never had a relationship with him. There wasn’t much of one before that, but there was none after that. 

Fast-forward forty-plus years, I am in a car with two men at my service. I am in Bhutan. The roads are bumpy. Many wrap around mountain after mountain with no humans in sight. It was so rough that I could not rest or enjoy the ride, but the driver said I was getting a free massage on my buttocks. The driver and my tour guide did not talk unless I spoke to them. Feeling and hearing the silence in the car for hours on end, I came to appreciate the silence as all I could do was look out the window to enjoy nature and be present to where I was. I asked to listen to the radio, and it was turned on. It was the first time I heard Bhutanese music. I enjoyed peace, joy, and contentment as I listened to the most soothing music. The uncomfortable ride became a bumpy ride that did not bother me. The awkwardness with the two men in the front seat became a comfort, and I did not need to make conversation. I could appreciate the quiet and my surroundings with no demands made on me. 

Though the ride started out to be uncomfortable, it shifted to a place of peace and contentment because my perspective changed, and my companions helped me get to a satisfying place in my mind. They inadvertently taught me some Buddhist ways through their way of being. They demanded nothing of me, and it allowed me to relax. They saw things in a way that would not cause distress. The silence forced me to be present with my surroundings and to appreciate nature. They were priceless gems I can always carry with me to soothe my soul when I am stressed. I reminisce about the many bumpy car rides in the land of happiness.

On a train to Connecticut, I ended up in Rhode Island. Lost in the night in an unfamiliar territory, the seventeen-year-old me who took a train for the first time, and alone, I was frightened but eager to get to my destination. I had boarded the wrong train. I got off to wait for another train to get me to Connecticut. I arrived one hour before midnight; the dark sky made it scary, but luckily, a few seniors waited for me and gave me a personal orientation to becoming a freshman in college. The frightening ride was forgotten until now.

Forty-plus years later, I am on a train to see vineyards and enjoy sipping wine while dining with a friend I met in college in Connecticut. Looking out the large windows, the endless fields of vineyards feast the eyes. The only thing more amazing was meeting up with an old college friend I had not seen in decades. Clicking and chatting so smoothly, you could never guess we had been apart for decades. The view, the companion, and the train ride were memorable.

My first ride on an airplane at five, alone, was memorable, but I’d rather forget. Mom had put me on the plane to go fifteen hundred miles away to live with her mother because raising three kids as a teenager was too much for her. I was the chosen one because I required the least amount of care. The four-hour flight was annoying, with flight attendants constantly asking if I was okay or needed anything. I was a big girl determined to show I was independent and didn’t need anyone because Mom found no need for me. I was an angry little child, rejected and dejected by my biological family. That airplane ride was the beginning of my mental independence.

A more pleasing and memorable scene was me floating in my airplane seat, looking out at puffy cumulus clouds on a sunny day. The eighteen-year-old me had never seen so many puffy, cottony white clouds! I was on my way to California to visit my long-distance boyfriend. I couldn’t be happier. And my future would include many more airplane rides to travel as I caught the travel bug.

Many told me not to go on a hot-air balloon because it was too dangerous and could lead to accidents. I could fall from the sky to my death. I was advised not to go. Still, I dreamed of floating in the sky. I only worried I was too heavy to be on it, but I did not listen to the naysayers. Floating in the open sky in a hot-air balloon, I found nothing as scary as everyone imagined. The hot-air balloon floated and moved so slowly that I could not even feel it moving! I only felt myself standing in a large basket that did not seem to move. I looked out to enjoy the view of the mountains and other landforms. I could not find one moment of scariness! I am reminded not to believe everything I hear; I need to see or experience it myself.

Eager to sail away on a boat and enjoy sea breezes, I boarded a ferry, only to find choppy waters that made the boat sway back and forth and up and down relentlessly. Anxious to get to an island, the ride seemed slow. With the swaying of the boat constantly, it was not enjoyable. It only took thirty minutes to get there, but the nauseous feeling it gave me made me want to vomit. Did I want to take another ferryboat ride again?

Off to Hong Kong to visit my friend Evan, he suggested we take a ferry ride to an outlying island. I hesitated, remembering my last ride on a ferry. Still, I agreed, as Evan knew best where to go in Hong Kong.

Morning came. Evan bought me a breakfast bun and a drink before boarding the ferry. It was small, and the seats were small, or I was too fat for them. Anyway, I squished myself in next to Evan. We laughed and chatted away so I could not pause and think about the discomfort. Evan and I clicked well, always had something to say to each other, and Evan was always a barrel of laughs for me. Soon, the boat started moving. Choppy waters again! Am I unlucky? I noticed the boat bouncing up and down, and the entire ride was like an ongoing rollercoaster ride, with only no deep dips. Evan laughed about them, and it made me laugh, too. My focus was taken away to my conversation with Evan, who entertained me with his words. I forgot about getting nauseous, grumpy, or complaining to myself that I did not like choppy boat rides, but who does?

Each ride on a bike, scooter, bus, car, plane, train, hot-air balloon, or boat is an adventure. Though I experienced some as good or bad, I like to remember the pleasant ones as they can only motivate me to go to more places to see the world and expand my views!

Key Takeaway: Though I've traveled in different modes of transportation with bad moments, there were also memorable moments.

 Next week, you will hear a new real-life story called The Unforgettable Sound. If you enjoyed this episode of Eye-Opening Moments Unleashed, please text someone and ask them what they think about this podcast, or go to www.inspiremereads.com and leave a message. Thank you for listening!