The humble horse so revered in Central Asia,
transport, play mate, friend, and food.
So much more than just an animal,
worth more than just it’s bill of goods.
A life style and life giver,
for those who make their living on the steppe.
A rugged brutal country,
which can break the will of man,
Without the humble horse,
so much harder to survive…
Beshbermak, a carb and protein attack,
made for hard living horsemen,
working hard out on the steppe.
Each family their own version,
handed down through generations,
lamb, horse even venison,
all made with love and affection.
The first true taste of Kazakhstan,
that wonderful country on the Silk Road,
which stands so tall and proud,
in the heart of Eurasia…
The Khan of Khan’s out riding the steppe,
in fear for their lives his rivals wept.
Fierce and determined he mowed them down,
world domination the aim, his jewel and crown.
A fearsome empire stretched half the globe,
powered by the silk road if truth be told.
From central Asia he ruled the world,
outwardly his view point turned.
Onwards and upwards to greater things,
today if you are central Asian you must be related to him.
The Khan of Khan’s Genghis is his name,
millennia later his name still brings fame.
The wild hills of Scotland,
the land thats home for me,
rugged land of beauty,
and a mix of weather too.
The glens, lochs and valleys,
so much to explore,
a wide expanse of nature,
experienced by air or foot.
So much to see and visit,
natural beauty to adore,
we are so lucky in Scotland,
to have such nature at our front door.
Scottish, British, European,
which one do I choose,
only one identity,
or citizen of the globe?
What was once a big space,
compressed by air travel and internet,
no longer unexplorable,
all of earth within our reach.
All of the world is home,
not just one country or destination…
Sunny days and golden rays,
shine down the dee valley,
the river flowing to the sea,
narrow, rough and rapid.
Salmon there they leap and climb,
life born in the dee valley.
A microclimate full of grace,
sheltered from the wind and rain,
hidden jewel of Scotland.
If you ever visit my home land,
make sure you travel there,
to the heartland of the North East,
the Dee Valley paradise.
Another Poem About the Silk Road
There’s a town twixt Europe and Asia,
where the Ural river splits the land,
a bridge of golden promise,
where the silk road stands so proud.
History all around us,
centuries old trading post,
today’s its the home of black gold,
on the shimmering Caspian sea.
If you want to explore its rich history,
it’s only a plane ride away,
beautiful, rich land and cultural,
Atyrau, Kazakhstan is its name.
A poem about the historic silk road
A road and a story as old as time,
Asia and Europe crossing a line,
bridging divides between people and culture,
crisscrossed with danger, predators and vultures.
Dusty and hot, snowy and cold,
lined with silk and incense and gold.
Through valley high and river deep,
the road is so long and no time to sleep,
goods to buy, to sell and exchange,
travelling by horse days out on the range.
Riches in person, in life and in spirit,
life’s an adventure, go out and live it.
Well if you are remote working right now, then yes this might be an option.
I’m not suggesting that everyone is going to be able to chase the 4 hour work week dream, but the new normal for many is going to be increased flexibility in terms of how and where we work.
This is something that companies are really switching themselves onto.
Employees can start working again, but don’t need to be in the office environment.
The cost benefits for business are huge, albeit there is a crash coming for the commercial real estate sector.
As employees its also good news, we are not going to be limited to living and working in one place.
There might be some limitations on us to be working in a certain country or time zone for periods of time but the biggest change to working conditions in living memory, maybe even since the beginning of the industrial revolution 250 years ago is coming our way.
At the moment that is still a little unclear, what we can say is that there will like every other change we go through, a period of adjustment along with positives and negatives.
The negatives are likely to be around:
Like any big change with the negatives comes the positives, which in this case are likely to be around:
It will be different for everyone, but one thing is for sure change is coming, and fast.
As usual the folks who are most comfortable with change, who are optimistic and see the opportunities to be grabbed will make a succesful transition.
If you have been happy working from home and/or if its always been the dream to pursue life as a digital nomad, now might just be a good time to start working up the plans for how you would do that.
The early bird catches the worm as they say.
Change is coming fast, for some of us it is already here, I know of at least 12 companies allowing their employees to travel (restricted today of course) and work today, albeit for trade off in pay or benefits.
This is not going to go away, and as businesses look to save costs in order to recover from the disaster that has been 2020 so far.
If you really want to be a digital nomad but need the security of a salary, your time may well have come.
The age of the internet really does mean that the world seems smaller and is certainly more connected than ever before, but that doesnt mean we should’nt take the change to explore it.
The experiance of the sights, sounds, smell and culture of the places you travel to and experiance, just cannot be replicated by watching or reading something online or in a book.
The magic of travel is soaking up all of those things in person, meeting the people, visiting the landmarks, travelling between places and trying new things, new experiences.
This is one of the single biggest fears that a lot of people have.
While I can’t say that this isn’t totally untrue, travel today is much cheaper than we tend to think it is, and in fact there are more opportunities to be paid to travel for work than ever before.
Budget airlines, air bnb and group travel options all make it cheaper than you might think to go take a life changing trip.
Or you could explore the career options which allow you to travel for work, these are almost endless and go from long distance track driving and sailing through engineering, sales, management, the list of jobs and list of industries is endless.
If you want to travel and see the world, the options to do that are endless.
The world really is smaller and more connected than ever before, yes they are some challenges and getting out there right now, but once those end the world is out there.
If you want to make the most of it and see what you can, then the options are there.
Writing for thought - expanding creativity through the joy of writing 