Travel Tips

I've been getting emails asking me what Hakuna Matata means….. hmm….. it seems people do read everything on vt. Hakuna Matata is a way of life actually. Anyway…. Here's an attempt at explaining it:
Hakuna Matata is a song from the Lion King movie - the first one. It was sung by Pumba, Timone and Simba. Pumba and Timone were trying to help Simba get over his depression and anxiety. And they did it with the song "Hakuna Matata".
Literally, it means "no worries".

Hakuna Matata…. What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata … Aint no passing craze
It means no worries for the rest of your days…
It’s a problem free… Philosophy
Hakuna Matata….

One time, I was trying to tell my cousin that I've changed my attitude towards life. I said, nowadays, I just try to take things as they are and enjoy whatever is before me and not think too much of problems. I said, life is hard enough as is and if we always have to worry about everything, pretty soon, we wont have anything to look forward too. I also want to try new and more dangerous things, I said. And he summed up all these with just two words… Hakuna Matata.
Anyway, whenever I find myself afraid or hesitating and am tempted to go back to a very safe and sheltered existence, I try to think of how short life really is and how sometimes, we let opportunities pass because of fear. So before I chicken out from something…. I try to say "Hakuna Matata" and to hell with the consequences. You die, you die! (if you were meant to die today, you would anyway) Hahaha. It’s a good phrase to say just before you bungee jump or just before you try that dish that looks like it would eat you instead.

More on HAKUNA MATATA
My friend Harj (hsm) sent me this info:
The words Hakuna Matata are Swahili.
The literal translation of the words Hakuna Matata is "I have no troubles". To say that :" I have no worries", one should say " See hakuna hiko fakiri". or to say "Don't worry", one should say, "See fanja fikiri".

Birgitte is a character from the Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan. Yap. I'm a WOT fanatic and still am not over the news that one of my favorite authors is dead. Imagine patiently waiting year by year for each of the sequels and just when you're really really hooked, the rug is pulled under you. Sigh!

Back to Birgitte. She is a woman of legend. A heroine in several lifetimes. She's like Lara Croft, Sharon Stone, Milla Jovovich all rolled into one super fighting femme fatale. In short, a kick-ass lady with an attitude. Which is exactly how I picture myself to be (of course, in another lifetime hehehe. Hey, no harm in dreaming). In the story, because of her innate goodness and impulsiveness, Birgitte's punishment at the hands of the bad guys was to be yanked out of the normal flow of history. What made the punishment worse was it might mean she would never get together with her soulmate Gaidal (perhaps the greatest damage you could ever do to her short of killing her). Still reeling from the blow, this lady still manages to find the strength to pick herself up and do what is right. It was while I was deeply into the WOT series that I came across VT. And thus was born Birgitte of VT.