I like the pub sign - PITA for sure...


I've worked with all of those companies aside from Aramco, FWEL and Statoil in one aspect or another (either the clean-up side or assessment). Have met quite a few interesting folks with stories to tell, much like you I can imagine that you'd be tired of air travel - I sure would be! Thankfully I don't have to travel much for work. I'm pretty much a home body, like to nest and relax after a good day's work. I live vicariously thru my colleagues who travel over to the Middle East quite a bit. Not my thing I'm afraid...

 

Interesting thread this has turned out to be!

I have also traveled a lot in my career as a "hired gun" on field service for big truck /bus and equipment makers. A Mr Fixit, Troubleshooter and Fleet specialist and I have a degree in Engineering. I lived on planes and in the 1970's it was the good life traveling to distant parts, but today like you both I hate it. I suppose the worst part is being treated like cattle or medium risk prisoners AND being made to pay for bad service crappy in flight meals and less than friendly cabin staff. I think the US flag carriers rank high on my list to best avoid at all costs.
I can't help thinking of that bloke (Judge retired) in Best Exotic Marigold Hotel film--"Crap talk, crap wine, crap cheese!"

And
Yes I have met some quite famous people but ordinary folk are probably the most entertaining I have discovered.
I too have lots of experiences I could fill a book with like Landrover stories but sometimes I think of a country doctor on a Honda 50 somewhere outside an obscure village between Mashad and Tehran when I lived there, and me on a 1956 Triumph Tiger 100. Stranded on the roadside he had broken his chain; by a stroke of luck I had enough tools to fix it and he bought me tea at a local chai stand! He was much appreciative of my help God bless him!

And on one trip I had to go to Mozambique for a big Brit bus maker. Being communist I expected not to find much in the way of food at the hotel where I was staying. So on the flight from Zurich to Maputu I stuffed myself with Swiss in flight food and concluded I could make the five day project work by a diet of snacks and beer! It would have worked but I had to stay two extra days to complete the job. I was hungry by the 6th day!
To my relief the concierge mentioned there was pork steak on the menu--manna from heaven!
I sat down in the dining room ordered a beer and received a soup like deep plate with mashed potatoes lots of gravy swimming about and the pork steak submerged in the bottom.
It tasted very good so I soaked up the potatoes leaving the steak for last.
Stabbing the steak with my fork it felt a bit rubbery--as I lifted it up it had two holes and hair! A pigs nose!

T/V

 

Hi tuercas viejas, I visited Aus in the outback and lived with some aboriginies, now I wouldn't like to describe some of the things they expected me to eat. And then there was Borneo and Malaysia, fine in the cities but unfortunately I wasn't in the cities too much and the local fayre was, to say the least, eeerr.......different.

I think we are spoiled in the west particularly in the US and europe.

Seems funny though, now pushing 69 and I/we have only experienced McDos for the first times this year............they're great.......food not messed with, can be in there order, eat a burger and fries, drink an espresso and be out again in under 30 minutes..........fantastic. You go into a French resto for the plat de jour at lunchtime and it can take around 2 hours.

 

We are spoiled and very fortunate although I think Americans are more materialistic than any other country in the world. We live in such a throw away society, if something breaks people don't think to fix it - they just toss it in the trash and 'go buy another'. I think my dislike for this mentality of wastefulness is why I lean toward collecting antiques and classic styled décor. I much prefer the feel, appearance, and texture of time worn wood - dings, dents, scratches and all. More character. And I hate the fact that we're thought of as 'ugly Americans' when traveling around the world due to loud mouthed obnoxious behavior. I always try to watch my 'p's & q's' and be polite to all those I meet along the way.

Before I met my husband I used to have a list of things that I wanted out of life. I would say that I was somewhat materialistic - it was the late 80's when I was heading off to college and of course the 80's were all about excess. Nothing was over the top, the sky was the limit and more was always better. I had lofty goals and I hit the pavement running when I graduated. I have to say that my husband has grounded me and has shown me what is important in life. He comes from a very modest background, grew up (and his family still lives) within a council estate in a busy borough of London. His background is so different than mine that he has made me appreciate the simple things in life. I have realized over the past 13 years that life comes down to family, health, love and laughter. It isn't about the big house (although I'd still love to restore a farmhouse someday..), the shiniest car, the yearly trip or the biggest bank account. It's about the journey, the daily living, the experiences, memories and love.

I love the fact, France, that you can go to a restaurant for the plat du jour and sit for two hours. I think that is absolutely awesome that people in other parts of the world actually sit and reflect and enjoy... I have experienced McDos far too many times for my comfort zone. It's just too easy and too accessible. My husband and I made a pact this year that we wouldn't eat McDos or BKing for six months straight. We're going on month #4. See? Isn't that sad that we had to make a pact NOT to go there? Years ago I would never set foot into the place, would never think of driving thru just because it didn't interest me. I actually would have to stop and think 'when was the last time I had fast food?'

One of the best dining memories that I have was an 'impromptu' rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding in the British countryside at a small pub. I say 'impromptu' as it was just supposed to be my parents and my husband's parents together with my sister, my husband and me. As it turned out, and to my surprise, half of the wedding guests showed up that night and we were there for over five hours. Cocktails and drinks before dinner, starters, a loooong dinner at a loooong table with many laughs, coffee and dessert. It went well into the night and was one of the most memorable and enjoyable dinners I have ever experienced. Not necessarily because it was the night before our wedding but rather the slowness of the evening, the seduction of conversation, the feeling that time stood still and no one was in a hurry. Americans hurry way too much... and what for?...

I know that Americans have earned a poor reputation for being loud, driven, and obnoxious as all get out. I'm proud to be American but wish that sometimes we could all just slow down a bit, smell the roses, enjoy each other and reflect on what is truly important.

 

LOVED that movie, T/V! One of my favorites lol.. 'Crap talk...' :-)

I love your stories.. you and Offroad France have lived fascinating lives. There's nothing like the kindness of a stranger to make anyone's day. Your descriptions are so detailed - I can just make out the image of you and the doctor on the side of that road - and the chai tea! Yum!!! The pig's snout? Not so much

 

Hi Kernow, it always sounds fascinating in retrospect to others but believe me it sometimes is pretty trying and often humdrum rather than fascinating or glamorous. Many people have said to me "oh what a glamorous life you lead jetting around the world visiting all these exotic countries" but often the average tourist sees more of the country than I did. In some places in those days the hotels and accommodation was less than ideal. Having said all that, I thoroughly enjoyed my job which made up for the hardships encountered sometimes and I would have hated being in the same place doing the same routine day in and day out. The only time I regretted my overseas work was when we became 'entangled' in two wars in the middle east in the late sixties and early seventies which was fairly hair raising at the time. On the upside I've enjoyed the rewards and compensation attached to such a worklife which has enabled me to have some truly unforgettable holidays in Australia, Malaysia, Sabah/Borneo, Burma, Thailand, the US and most european countries. By comparison retirement seems so boring sometimes as in truth I'm not a good regular tourist and prefer the rougher and tougher side to my holidays and not lounging next to a hotel pool drinking aperos and soaking up the sun. I suppose different people enjoy different things with differing ideals.

 

Folks
I think working overseas for a long periods and meeting local people is probably the most rewarding part of life. Boiled down we are all the same only culture and religion separate us. You may know that humans can be categorized into three distinct culture groups.

In our Western culture we are of a guilt culture always seeking forgiveness for our sins. More primitive societies like Amazonian Indians have a fear culture and care as a westerners has to be taken since they fear outsiders and become violent in situations that might be perceived as harmful to them. Then there is the shame culture group like Asians who fear being shamed or losing face. All that stated food and drink is a great social meeting point of cultures and a football soccer ball is the best way to make friends in any culture.

In another thread on this forum I mentioned large trips in Landrovers. On one of these trips I had to go from Baghdad to Amman then up to Damascus (El Hisham in Arabic). Jordan is fascinating place and the people are very hospitable. Amman was called Philadelphia by the Romans when they occupied it and it is built on a number of hills or Jebels (Jebelat).
On the road north to Damascus just north of Amman is a Greco Roman town called Jerash, its as though the Romans left there only yesterday!
The Kingdom keeps good care of its antiquities:-
The Ancient Greco-Roman Ruins of Historic Jerash in Jordan » Ken Kaminesky Travel Photography Blog

On the day I decided to go north to Damascus I thought it a good idea to wander around the ruined ghost town for a few hours so I stopped in my Landrover for a stroll about leaving it in the visitors car park. After about an hour or so, I found myself in the amphitheater and listened to the acoustics created by the human voice but every so often I could here Arab chatter from over the back side of the ruin. Curious I climbed the stone steps to see the Jordanian Army bivouacked in a dell behind a wall. They had Landrovers too and were lighting barbeque fires and making tea. Since I speak a credible amount of Iraqi Arabic I introduce myself and made welcome by a glass of black tea with lots of sugar!

Amongst them was an young officer, who was at pains to explain he was a graduate of Sandhurst Mil College in the UK; his command of English was very good. I was invited to eat kabobs and tubule salad with them.
Then someone had forgotten the drinks it was discovered. Two squaddies were verbally chastised for ruining the picnic. I then offered some solutions in my Landrover I had Lemon tea on ice "harmouth" and orange juice fresh squeezed by female hand in Baghdad "only yesterday" it saved the day. An instant hero I suppose
I retrieved my Landrover parking it amongst theirs, much to the surprise of the soldiers since it had the Iraqi Mil insignia stenciled on the door and "Military civilian adviser" in Arabic script underneath. This piqued everyone's interest and we discussed all sorts of things around the fires and over the teas and juice; all five gallons of it as the sun went down in the late afternoon.
It then became clear that there were some cultural and social differences between us. I was asked if I was unmarried , Yes and why was I single? Was I Christian or Muslim? Christian! several soldiers were pointed out as being Christian.
One of the young soldiers was about to be married and I was told I should become a Muslim and have up to four wives, maybe all Iraqi!!! --the group I was with all erupted into giggles and howling laughter! DON'T THINK SO!
I said NO!--Why not Mister! Because ONE is enough! No Mister why you think that way? Because I would hate to have four wives squabbling over all my money and possessions--Ah ha Mister you have been in Iraq too long! Come to Jordan---stay!---All Hashemite woman much nicer mister.
What about Kuwaiti or Egyption? They are nice I have a Kuwaiti girlfriend! Very nice lady--- Lah! Too rich and spoilt was the consensus of opinion --noses were turned up!
The laughter continued into the evening, it was clear I was NOT going to Syria that day so I returned to Amman in the evening after bidding farewell to my gracious hosts . Stayed two more days and then went north.
Tomorrow God willing there will be apricots for breakfast.
East meets West--can be an eye opener.
T/V

 

Good one tuercas viejas