Membuat perjalanan yang dilakukan banyak orang terasa berbeda atau memiliki sentuhan personal? Salah satu cara saya -juga banyak dilakukan para pejalan sejak dulu-adalah mengikutsertakan boneka, maskot atau benda-benda berkaitan langsung dengan pribadi.

 design and lay-out oleh Asteria Iskandar

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ketika ekspedisi national geographic traveler: wisata lintas barat sumatra berakhir dan saya menuliskan tentang D12+, masih saja tersisa kebanggaan.

kebanggaan di urutan terdepan, tentu saja misi institusi yang telah dilaksanakan sebaik-baiknya. kedua, keinginan untuk menyajikan yang terbaik bagi pembaca kami –meski harus menunggu jadwal terbit yang tidak dapat disebut sebentar.

tapi di luar itu semua, terselip kebahagiaan saya pribadi.

(c) ukirsari, automaticly taken in 2007, winter soltice

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dua hari silam (08/05), tepat pukul 18.18 wib, faisal lubis dan ucok syofiardi lubis, dua driver andalan Team A dan Team B dari ekspedisi “Wisata Lintas Barat Sumatra” mengabarkan kepulangan mereka berdua dengan toyota innova ke jakarta.

senada, toyota hilux double cabin –wahana transportasi saya bersama Team B– telah dipulangkan ‘daing’ azril dan bayu ke medan sehari sebelumnya.

dengan pemberitaan itu, ekspedisi yang melibatkan rekan-rekan kerja dari National Geographic Traveler dan harian Kompas ini resmi berakhir.

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thanks so much! this is flight lieutenant t-bear and this morning, at may 5th at 09.48,55 am my mum bought me a smallest tee-shirt entitled “i crossed the equator line”. this marked that both of the team in the expedition of “Wisata Lintas Barat Sumatra” had been done completely. wow, congrats, mum! i see how busy she is to take my picture and mingle around both team then smile and hugging to each other. if i can borrow a mountaineering idioms, i feel it’s just like preparing for a summit attack and there you go. all members gather in the finish line. mission accomplished, guys! and oom reynold –who’s shy person to be in front of camera– took me to cover his face and asked mum that he wants to be pictured. daddy … we’ll be home again soon!!!

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this is your flight lieutenant t-bear speaking, today is chill-out, all of the team members are ready to explore mandailing natal. my mum, oom feri, oom mahdi and oom ucok can not help but laugh sometimes somehow since all the acronym sounds funny and out of their mind. but that’s part of the journey, how local “celebrate” their ability to build communication and speaking its language, called “melayu pesisir”, so here they go. ugd doesn’t mean “unit gawat darurat” or emergency unit in formal language, it’s mean ‘ujung gading’. same as they say “madina” to express the complete name “mandailing natal”. all nice high ground to see the scenery (normally at the hill top) or we said in english as simple as ‘panoramic view’ said as “panatapan”. i just remember one of my parents’ friend from france, alois aurelle who likes to say “it’s so zimple”  (with ‘z’ in the end, hehehee). this is the full report, written by my mum as usual.

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this is flight lieutenant t-bear and i’m sorry to use one of drew barrymore’s movie “riding the car with the boys” as entitlement. i just want to explain my mum’s feeling to be in a team with the boys. They’re helpful, fully dedicated to their works and ahem, handsome for sure this is what my mum’s writing today.

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yipiiii … flight lieutenant t-bear is on the road again with Team B from the expedition of “Wisata Lintas Barat Sumatra”. from the small lively city of pakkat we’re heading to barus, known as one amongst the oldest cities in the west coastal zone of sumatra. here the complete report written by mum.

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this is flight lieutenant t-bear, reporting live from our beloved car, toyota hi lux double cab in the very memorable event “Wisata Lintas Barat Sumatra” in B Team (b … is that taken from “bear”, since mostly team members looks like a cuddly bear except a skinny one, oom ucok? hehehe … do not ask me, i just jokingly said). what i want to tell you all for this daily report just be careful along the way that lead you home again!

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hi everybody … flight lieutenant t-bear is reporting. live from lake toba, tau toba nauli, northern sumatra today. after adventurous trip in n.a.d, we’re reached samosir island by overland. no need to take ferry crossing as normally travelers do from parapat or medan. so chill out here, me and my mum were playing with buddy, a lovely dog that have special bonding with the cats. my mum told me that back into 2004, when she was here with my beloved dad, they met up with this cutie chocolate fluffy [aha, just like my skin!] doggy which had breastfeeding by his mum, altogether with 3 cats! and he’s now about 6 years old. oh, forgive me to keep on talking about buddy –the way my parents address him– now is the time for the daily report of Team B in their expedition “Wisata Lintas Barat Sumatra”.

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good morning to all of you, this is your captain, flight lieutenant T-Bear. yesterday evening we’re entering northern sumatra province and hardly to say goodbye to the enchanting nanggroe aceh darussalam. i can say, all of the Team B members looks very happy to do “something” that remind to a title ‘the lost city of atlantis’ and afterwards, pretty sad to leave aceh. but as the show must go on …. we did it. read our full report here.
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