WHEN mountain guide Jimin asked those in our small group who had climbed Mount Kinabalu to raise his or her hand, I kept my hands in my pockets and moved to join the first timers. My friend Nurul nudged me but I replied her by putting my index finger on my smiling lips.
That climb done over Christmas Day and Boxing Day last year was actually my third. Except for the knowledge on what to do over the two-day expedition, I was as nervous as fellow climbers as I know things change.
Over the years, the earth has changed. I have changed — five years older and probably weaker than my last climb. And I was with a group of new friends who gave me an experience I wouldn’t have gotten with my other sets of friends. So it was a climb as new to my friends as it was to me.
Nothing will be the same. We may go back to the same place again and again but like it or not, we will never get the same experience. The coffee may taste bitter just the way we like it as we now know that coffee is better bitter than sweet (and sambal may be spicy but what is sambal if it doesn’t hit the heat bar?).
We may pick up where we have left off like Nurul, who came back after 14 years to complete her climb. But she didn’t get back what she had before. She got it better.
She was more prepared, mentally and physically, and better still, now she has more and bigger platforms (read: Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to show off her victory poses on the peak.
So it’s true that no man can step in the same river twice, as both — the flowing river and the living man — won’t stay the same. Not even for a second.
I guess that’s why we don’t mind packing our things in a small bag and journey to a different destination to experience things out of norm, to see scenes beyond our walls of comfort and to find the borders that define us.
These are my reasons to travel and see the world. I am a traveller. Not a tourist for I can’t afford a holiday.
I don’t go for a holiday but I do take breaks from the office to walk in the mountains, to run a marathon in a new city, to hop from bus to train and check into a hostel, or to simply drive home to my mother and enjoy the love and warmth of my family.
Each of us is a traveller in our own way and we have stories to tell, tips to share and tales to amuse.
And, JOM! is our travel stories — yours and ours. While we go to places and come back with stories people like to read, we also want to read your stories and see your photos.
Going along the line “by travellers, for travellers”, the new JOM! has you in mind — more reader-centric, more streamlined and, of course, more vibrant and fun.
And for that very reason, the first issue of the year celebrates the travel writer in you, our loyal readers. Our sincerest appreciation to readers Tan Cheng Li, Fazlynn Nadira Azrul Raj, Sharifah Nabihah Aljunid Syed Abdul Nasir, Billy Lian, Abdul Shukor Sultan and Safiah Osman for their stories.
For the rest of you who enjoy sharing your travel stories gratis, send in your travel stories and pictures. Or if you prefer to share your photos on the social media, check us out on Facebook and Instagram.
In the meantime, read on, be inspired and jom travel... from Hanna Hussein and me!
Zalina Mohd Som is an easy-to-please traveller, as long as there’s coffee and chilli. Reach her at czar-lina@nst.com.my. The writer is Jom! editor. This is her fortnightly column.