What is this life so full of care we have no time to stand and stare
No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows
A poor life this so full of care we have no time to stand and stare

The cheapest way to travel around Vietnam is by bus. We've spent about 48 hours lying in sleeper buses in the past week. Please don't be fooled as we were - sleeper is a lose term to say that there are beds on the bus that people of a certain height may catch about 4 hours sleep on if they're lucky. Unfortunately, Cat at 5"12'(heh), and even I have problems fitting our limbs into the beds in a way that is conducive to sleep.
All that to say that I'm writing this from my top bunk on the way to Saigon, more recently known as Ho Chi Minh City. As I've mentioned, sleeping isn't particularly easy to come by, and the lights are off so I can't wile away the time reading, I am almost forced to lay here and think.
Being one of the only people awake on a bus makes me philosophical. Or maybe it's just the pace of life recently, slow and steady.

My mind doesn't want to focus on anything specific but flits to lots of things that have happened throughout my life, things that have yet to happen, and all of the different paths I could go down depending upon tiny choices that affect life in massive ways.
I feel like I'm in the tunnel scene on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Faces of past loves are running through my head after a recent conversation with Cat. Wrong words spoken in the heat of the moment are replayed evoking quite a heavy feeling in my heart. These are replaced by thoughts of utter gratefulness for the love and enduring kindness of my family and most of my friends. Moments that have made me smile, times I've fell to the floor from laughing so hard my knees just give way.
Thank you for being there for me you lovely people.

I've begun to miss "home" a bit...