LONG JOURNEY FROM MIAMI FLORIDA TO QUIBERON BRITTANY FRANCE

If not for a turn of fate, France would have not been in my worldview. During the time I studied in London, did not have much of a desire to visit France, despite the proximity.
Things turned out differently, for better or worse, I make the journey from La Habana/Miami to France on  reasonably regular intervals.
There are holiday periods that France is best avoided but even with this knowledge I seem to get caught in it. The month of August is ending, so are the month long holidays for half the French workers as well as the students who prepare to "reentre" on the first working day in September.
When I checked some months ago for  flight to Paris on the 27th August, nothing that suited my taste in trael appeared. All flights to Paris were full, but a kind agent found a seat for me to Barcelona. I never thought it would be this difficult to get from barcelona to Paris,  I was forced,  to fly to Madrid and then after a long break (at the Lounge) arrive at Paris close to midnight. Had to beak the journey in Paris and then on to Quiberon, my final destination, the journey taking 48 hours instead of the 24 hours.
All flights were full, the airports and the railway station looked like refugee centres for the French trying to get back home, everyone with large bags and sundries.
I confirmed my earlier suspicion that service on the world's airlines are decreasing rapidly and when I loose my privileges of flying certain airlines, I probably would stop flying. 
One such privilege was that I was upgraded on my journey: Miami to Barcelona on American as well as Madrid to Paris, making the journey more bearable. Having wifi on AA made sure that the time flitted past.
American Airlines Miami to Barcelona
Lounge in Barcelona
Barcelona to Madrid   Iberia 
Lounge in Madrid  (I recognized the lounge)
Madrid to Paris  Iberia 
IHG Holiday Inn Express at CDG
SNCF CDG to Rennes to Auray, then to Quiberon

 That morning I had gone walking for exercise amidst the tranquil roads and canals where my sister lives in Miami.

Even though I would be gone for more than two weeks in 
France, Belgium, Israel and Qatar, I had a small carry on luggage and a shoulder bag.

 As usual, the taxi driver was a Venuzuelan, reflecting the recent exodus of qualified people from that tragic country.

While walking towards the Flagship lounge at D30 it was nice to see a display of Tortuga Rum Cakes at Books and Books (an Institution in Miami as is the founder, Mitchell Kaplan). Tortuga Rum Cakes which is the number 1 export from Cayman Islands, is strongly associated with my sisters daughter and her husband. 

 The Flagship Lounge is an innovation of American Airlines, much higher in quality to their regular Lounges. As you can see the best food offerings : healthy and interesting such as the above Zuchini latkes

 This was my meal at the Club, a small piece of fish and others were all salads, as well as Zuchini Latkes.

 Nice to begin the journey with a glass of champagne

an unique way to present sugar for use .

 American Airlines have these reverse herringbone style seats and they were comfortable to say the least.

 You almost always get a good view of Miami as you take off.

 American Airlines cabin staff based in Miami have a reputation for poor service and on this trip they didnt do much to improve their reputation. The service was poor. They wanted to serve you food and get out of the way and were not seen for much of the rest of the flight.
But the best show was outside the aircraft with a stunning sunset presenting tableaus of colours

 I had preordered Salmon and the presentation and quality was okay. I usually have ice cream on these flights, for no other reason than to sweeten the bitterness of poor service..

 The flight has wifi and when connected, was able to chat with friends from far and wide. Unfortunately didn't sleep much either.

 The map of the journey showed also the sky ahead and the milky way shone bright and while I was taking a photo of it, my face was reflected onto the phot 

The screen shot of a flight app, shows the crowded skies of eastbound traffic from the USA to Europe. this is the most heavily travelled air corridor in the world (long distance)

 Just before arriving in Barcelona, an ordinary breakfast was served.
Service without a smile, of course.. (it made me long for Qatar Airways, I will be flying them shortly from Doha to Miami)

 Approaching Barcelona airport 

 Barcelona airport above and the view from the lounge below.

a small lounge, comfortable and not crowded at the time I was going to fly.

 The facilities at Madrid airport was superior and the food was varied. and one could have a shower as well (below)

 On account of my FF status on Qatar Airways, I was upgraded on the Madrid to Paris flight. As I am abstaining from meat altogether, I enjoyed the salad and rice that came with offering. The Verdejo from Spain was drinkable 

 It was close to midnight arriving at the hotel in Paris and ther was a lovely moon over the hotel silhoutte

 Entrance to the IHG Holiday Inn Express, a nice hotel for a transit stay at CDG airport in Paris 

 This rather new hotel had the facilities necessary.

Being an american chain, I was not surprised to see very poor quality breakfast, self service the type you see in USA hotels.

 A nice shower is always welcome and by noon I was at the raiway station which looked like a camp for displaced persons, metaphorically yes, with their large bags.

I had managed to snag some good fares, and soon was ensconced in a comfortable seat watching the French countryside passing by. The train was quite rapid.

 The train from Rennes to Auray 

  At Auray, I changed into a smaller train going to Quiberon and once again the train journey was comfortable . and one could see the  
 bay and the sea approaching 

I reached the house of my Breton host 48 hours after leaving Miami and the typical Breton hospitality, a nice healthy meal was waiting.

My sister had sent the host a gift from Jamaica wrapped in a Jamaican flag which the host was proud to display.
A long but nevertheless enjoyable journey.
there was wi fi on the plane from Miami to Barcelona and the train from CDG to Rennes as well as at the airport and the hotel.
Thanks to all my friends who through their messages and emails kept me company, from different parts of the world.
This journey was also memorable for a long chat with a friend from Asia. 

MAKE SHINRIN-YOKU PART OF YOUR LIFE .. FEEL THE FOREST AROUND YOU

Shinrin-yoku

A young Indian man drove me around the National park in the USA, and said how he feels good when he is in the forest. He listens to the trees and feels very content when he reaches home within the forest itself.

It was Meskwakia elders who had taught me about the importance of connecting with trees and animals and especially to talk to the trees and listen to them. When I lost a colleague in an accident, the elders asked me to go to a secluded area and talk to his spirits, in the presence of a tree.

Over the course of working with indigenous people I have come to respect their connection with the Universe, which is the world that surrounds them. Ticuna Indians always send me greetings from the Forest and often invite me to go walking with them in the Amazon forest.

So I was very pleased to read about Shinrin-yoku. In their website they state:

Go to a Forest. Walk slowly. Breathe. Open all your senses.
This is the healing way of Shinrin-yoku Forest Therapy,
the medicine of simply being in the forest.

The treatment is just being in the forest.

Researchers are finding that the forest dwellers are some of the healthiest people. Yanomami in the Amazon has the most diverse Microbiome in the world. Ticuna by and large do not have Diabetes or Hypertension or other diseases of “civilization”.

Carl Gustav Jung and Laurens van der Post, great observers of the collective consciousness of the Indigenous people had noted the sane way of their lives. In the name of progress the outsiders destroyed them or continue to destroy them, but at least some enlightened people such as the followers of Shinrin-yuko in Japan is learning from what has been available for thousands of years in the forests around us.

I am not suggesting that we live like the Ticuna or adopt a Ticuna style diet. I think we have to understand what has caused all these diseases of “civilization”, not to mention the too often used word STRESS..

Why are we all so stressed, when the word was not associated with emotions until Sir Hans Selye popularized it in 1950s!

Something has gone wrong with our societies. We want to work, but others want us to work more, we want a comfortable life with our families but the society wants you to sacrifice your family and friends so that you have enough money to spend .. But not time.

I think people should understand their priorities. For a starving man, a full meal is a priority but an over worked, obese office worker, the meal is a symptom rather than a priority. What made him obese? Why does he not have time? What forces him to stay where he is? To suffer more punishment? Can he get out of it?

Lifestyle Gurus abound, more people practicing Yoga in the USA than in India, its birthplace. Money as an objective rather than a hobby.

More people should go for a walk by the river, watch the waves idly staring into the horizon, walk through the forest or be under the canopy of trees.

Both Carl Gustav Jung and Laurens van der Post would have agreed:

The Indigenous people say, Man is not the supreme creation of the Great Spirit but he is one of the many supreme creations of the Great Spirit.

Let us learn to respect some of the other great creation.

For a starter, go and be with a tree, in some silence, you can talk to them and

Feel solace..

UNTIL DEATH DO WE PART: MODERN WORK CULTURE AND DEATH AND DISEASE

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Over the years, I have observed a phenomenon, in New York, in Kuala Lumpur, in Europe and in Miami, people putting in long hours at work. The ones I knew worked for Multinational Enterprises such as KPMG or EY or something, usually in their forties. I also noticed that they had few friends or partners.

What has happened to the work force around the Globe?

According to the data published by International Labour Organization, nearly one in five to one in four employed people work more than 49 or more hours per week, in my estimate, more than just 49 hours, many many hours more.

I also noticed that people were wearing this exhaustion and long hours of work as a badge of honour, without realizing what it is doing to their physical and mental health. More alarmingly, this culture of overwork is being exported to pristine work landscapes such as Siem Reap or Hanoi. Singapore is immersed in it, KL less so.

I am busy; I have no time for myself have become oft-repeated mantras of the overworked.

Is there a choice? Is it a choice or volition?

It has come to such a stage that the vicious circle forces them to say: I cannot afford not to work, not work decent hours but these long inhuman hours.

GOOGLE found out that when the workers were given free rein for two hours, they were more productive than the other full day they put in, at work. Long hours reduces your capacity to be innovative or produce, and from a doctors point of view, less healthy and feel ill. (Many Doctors are guilty of the same behavior)

You hear the term, “burnout” among health care workers who are forced to work long hours. There must be a reason why Laws require the Pilots do not over work or do overtime!

In an article published on BBC, I quote: For instance, if you woke at 8 a.m. and were still awake at 1 a.m. the next day (that is, if you had been up for 17 hours straight), your physical performance would likely be worse than if you had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%. This the level that an average 73 kg male would get if he had drunk two 355ml cans of beer. That’s right, you’re drunk on overtime.

If you remained awake until 5 a.m., the impairment would be similar to having 0.1% of blood alcohol – more than the 0.08% that is considered the legal driving limit in most countries of the world.

So, an all-nighter will make your physical performance (things like your reaction time or coordination) as impaired as if you were too drunk to drive. And if you can’t drive, will you be able to work safely and competently? Maybe typing on a computer is not very risky, but this is something definitely worth considering when doing manual or physical labour, or if your work demands attention to detail.

The one year I was hired to work at a University in the USA, I questioned why we were supposed to show up at work on Saturday mornings, even if we had no duties to do. It shows you are interested in your job, said a tired colleague. I have better things to do with a free Saturday morning!

It is not unusual hearing sudden death among shift workers in the Call Centres in India. Whoever is responsible, they make these jobs glamorous and extract long hours and strenuous work (from the BBC: Still, in the Global South, there are signs that this cycle of overwork is becoming ingrained. More than half of the workers interviewed by Wood and his team said that they had to work at very high speed, 60% worked to tight deadlines, and 22% experienced physical pain as a result of their work.

A vicious cycle has been set, you have to work harder, meet strict deadlines and then when you are supposed to be off, you are on call, you are on the other end of the telephone or email and as my Turkish friend who works for KPMG said: I sleep with my ipad and iPhone and they are constantly going off during the night.

Cortisol rises quickly in these people who are trying to break the barriers natural hormone cycles. This leads to disease and death.

They are dying for the wrong reason! No Time to enjoy Friends, Family or Literature or Theatre.. Just No Life, they are shadows of their dead selves walking on this earth.

At least in the West, they have a choice to leave that, if they choose to suffer, it is of their volition and please don’t tell me:

I HAVE NO TIME..

What do you have time for?

While flying across the Atlantic, I sit in a section occupied by these people, who cannot wait for the Plane to each 10 000 feet so that they can open their Laptops and connect to the Internet.

They hate people like me, who start the journey with Champagne and have a nice thick book to read and a collection of newspapers and journals in various languages.

One young woman sitting in the same cabin, clutching her Laptop once asked me, with a great sense of honour, I don’t have time to read anything.

At another flight, a dapperly dressed African American with his laptop, said he had just flown across for a two-day meeting and he had no chance to see or enjoy the city in Spain he was visiting, he said that smugly. And unlike my usual refusal to engage in conversations with these people, I said: have you ever thought of buying yourself a space in the cemetery and lying down there? Death will come soon enough.

All scientific studies now show that, people who work very long hours, who are on call, who continue to work at home when they leave work, have fewer friends or companions, do die earlier.. So my advice was not totally without intention.

What a difference from my friend Pak Joe from Bogor who runs an enterprise which employs about 150 people who goes out of his ways to provide his employees free time. Are you doing all these, Pak Joe, I asked him, so that they would work harder for you?  He said, absolutely not, I do these things for them because they would be HAPPIER.

Be Compassionate to Others

Be Compassionate to Yourself

Accept a Little Happiness that others give you..