Thank you for these five days to explore Saigon – a city about which I knew almost nothing before arriving.Thank you that it’s possible to travel so far from home and yet find a home here. Thank you – or as you taught me to say, cảm ơn.
Here in Vang Vieng, I am reminded of what it means to go beyond your initial encounter with a place. If you’re patient, and persistent, sometimes there is hidden beauty to be found – beauty hidden in the hills.
Sometimes, when I think about all these little pockets of existence around the world – existing with only bicycles for cars and docks for roads, existing without us ever knowing it – it’s almost too much to comprehend.
I’d come to Jimbaran Puri Bali resort to sketch, not be sketched, but my brief friendship with Made is humbling, reminding me for the thousandth time that we have little idea of the vast web of connections around us.
And, really, couldn’t much the same be said of harmony in travel? Not only staying aware of what notes a place is striking, but conscious of the notes in your own journey as well – two melody lines, two journeys, one beautifully agreeing arrangement.
While I exult in the natural beauty of Pandant Beach, I exult furthermore in the gift Made has given me – the gift of solitude. The gift of space. The gift of an illusion – of being able to imagine I’m the first one here.
Sometimes you don’t notice the constant presence of something until faced with its absence. That thing for me here in India is noise – everywhere except, I recently discovered, in the Thar Desert, on the far western edge of Rajasthan.
Words and photos only tell so much – I love that this video captures sounds, too: the crunch of our boots on the path, the ever-present din of cowbells, and the cheers and claps that often erupt in front of the cathedral in Santiago.
If you travel alone, you’ve got no one else to bounce ideas off of, to debate having an early dinner versus a late one, or to perhaps even tell you it’s okay to take an afternoon nap. Here are a few tips on what to do when you travel solo.
When people find out that I usually travel alone, so often the first question they ask is, “Don’t you ever get lonely?” What surprises me is the terribly concerned look on their face, as though loneliness is something to be afraid of.