Hail to the Chief

It occurred to me before I left for my Annapurna hike that I would be on the trail during the election. I wasn't going to let that delay my departure, though. On the way up I stayed at a lodge that had internet access so I busted my butt to get back there so I could check the results online. Of course, the internet was down that day...

A guide at the lodge had to call Kathmandu so we asked him to find out the result. Everyone cheered.

Way to go, America.

I try to keep a low profile as I travel. Partly it's because I don't want to live down to the stereotype of the obnoxious American traveler. (Sadly, it's true.) But it's also because we're not very popular thanks to our current president.

Now I stop pretending to be Canadian and start saying 'about' instead of 'aboot'. I'm joking, but I have encountered Americans who claim to be Canadian.

While I was on the trail I was often asked if I had any news about the election, as if, as an American, I was privy to some secret information source the other trekkers didn't have. Sorry, folks, I'm in the dark, same as you!

I've been traveling for nearly six months now and find myself talking about American politics quite a bit. What happens in America affects the world, after all. But I'm often asked to "explain" Bush. People are genuinely baffled by him, as if he's some peculiarly American practical joke the rest of the world just doesn't get.

For what it's worth, everyone I've met since I've been traveling -- and I mean literally, without exception, everyone -- wanted Obama to win. I saw this election as an opportunity to restore America's credibility in the eyes of the world. If McCain had won the world would have slammed its doors in our faces for good. Now they'll at least be willing to listen again.

I should point out that in my days as a cub reporter in Washington, I ran into McCain a lot. Because I worked his "favorite newspaper", one with a strongly conservative agenda, he was always friendly to me. I really liked and admired the guy. Back then he was the guy his campaign tried to portray him as, a straight-talking guy who didn't bow to the party line.

We should have elected the guy 12 years ago.