Gilligan's Short Bus...

Our three days in the Sahara Desert were indeed cramped. You get to know the nine people you ride with intimately over three days.

I spent the majority of it, as I said, in the back with the luggage but I loved it. I loved it most of the time except when we turned a sharp corner and a small hill of backpacks fell on me. The back of the bus has its own mythos I think, it's where bad kids sit. It is for bad kids who want to be known as bad; it is also the bumpiest place on a bus. I liked it because there were windows behind me and beside me and if I didn't want to talk to anyone I didn't have to.

I never used to like the idea of taking tours. On tours, other people control where you go and what you see. You aren't necessarily travelling with people whom you know or want to know. I have been on tours that made me regret taking a tour and swear never to take one again.

Tours are a litmus test for personality though, they reveal who you truly are. Think Gilligan's Island on a bus. Are you the snooty guy who wants everything done for him and who won't be bothered with details, or are you the problem-solver who can make do with anythigng at hand when a problem arises (Think of a dentistry made out of two coconuts and a piece of fishing wire!) Or maybe you are the comedy relief who makes everyone laugh when they desperately need to. We all fit in here somewhere!


I'd like to think that I am the ideal travelling companion; Jeff would, doubtless, argue with me though! But I think I came to appreciate the tour as a way of giving over control of my life for a short time. Control over your life is a wierd thing. Some people happily give over control, others flatly refuse and do anything to keep it. On a bus in the middle of the desert, you have to give over some control.

I started in the front seat, then I moved to the back because Jeff wanted a turn. Over a few days, almost everyone got their turn in the front seat. That was, I think, one of the most telling points on the trip. Children need to be governed over who gets to ride shotgun (for non-north americans, the front passenger seat is referred to as 'shotgun' - I presume because that person could hold and shoot a rifle out the window better than the driver!)
Adults, STRANGERS -- on a 3 day tour have no other adult to govern who gets the front seat. Nevertheless, almost everyone got to ride up front at some point. This is real teamwork and group mechanics at its best.

Sociologists could write a paper on minibus seating etiquette.