Another overland trip

Shipwrecked from normal life, afraid to sink, we float
a surging sea of foreign-ness in a lifeboat
of overlanding truck provisioned with alcohol,
protected from the press of people critical.
Embarking alone shows courage past mere posturing;
adventurous self-image now needs bolstering
by tales of previous travels, funny anecdotes,
with all in harmony and no discordant notes.
'Don't rock the boat' becomes the order of the day
when saying something matters more than what we say:
as long as you don't disagree or question things,
we can enjoy the comfort group acceptance brings.
Now every comment ends with prompting laughter
and jokes echo around the group for minutes after;
each adds another verbal pebble to the pile
then basks in mutual admiration with a smile.
For some it's an extension of the mating game
not played too well at home perhaps but all the same
upgraded to an international event -
results unknown but definitely overspent.
For many it's adventurous to leave their work
so even necessary chores are cool to shirk.
For most the famous tourist sites are only seen
through eyes obscured by cataracts of what has been
absorbed through years of travel documentaries
and writers' hype about romance and mysteries
of foreign travel. So we cannot separate
the sights we see from our expectancy and rate
'fantastic' what we think we see, quite unaware
it's just excitement at the fact of being there.