Tudong or not Tudong ? That is the question

I've decided to abandon my plan to undertake a tudong around the UK using nothing more than my free bus pass as things didn't work out as I hoped after my little pilot study here on the Isle of Wight.  For the past couple of months I've been turning up at my local bus station at 9.30am each morning intending to start my tudong journey.  Why 9.30am ?  Well that's because the local bus company won't let me use my pass until then as they think older folk don't really need to go anywhere until after a late breakfast it seems.  When I get to the bus station I get on the first bus I see without looking at the destination because it's all about travelling rather than arriving I'm told.  

Mind you, a couple of times this has back-fired because I've ended up on buses that just do a circuit around the town - I call them "samsara" buses and avoid them when I can.  When I do finally get on a bus that takes me out of town I have to make sure I have what I call my "three jewels" with me - bus timetable, sandwiches to eat before noon, and my precious "Isle of Wight Loo Guide" as you never know when you might be taken short.  Then I just settle back and just see what happens.

Observing fellow passengers is always interesting (the fact that I'm nosey helps) and sometimes I get the opportunity to chat to them about life, the universe and everything.  But mostly I seem to spend time listening to endless mobile phone conversations that begin with "I'm on the bus....".  And I also watch the incessant texting (oh the joys of the opposable thumb).  I sometimes wonder how we might share Sid Arthur's teachings if he had been born today - and "Thus I have texted..." comes to mind.  Still, I do get some respite from all of this as my main practice is "power napping" and so I do nod off occassionally if I feel in need of an empowering sleep and a snoring mantra.

So, tudong or not tudong, that's the question ?  Well, for me it isn't a question I need to address.  I think what this has taught me is that I don't really need to go anywhere else because wherever I go, I'll still be in the same place - right here.