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| My layover in Guangzhong, China. |
Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I've blogged but I wanted to document my travels this May to South Korea and Thailand. About two years back I traveled to Taiwan and I documented through photos and the daily doings I did.
This time around (seeing how extremeeeeeely time-consuming it was last time to provide a detailed photographic and written account of my day-to-day), I will be writing about the different themes or thoughts I've had during this trip. My posts will be extremely honest and they are only my opinion and thoughts. I say this in case you find them offensive because I will be brutally honest and vulnerable about my feelings.
My Asia trip came quite spontaneously and it was my "Eat, Pray, Love" moment during a time of quarter-century-and-then-some-age-crisis. I was feeling quite burnt out with life. The beauty of travel is that it expands your heart and mind. There's something about experiencing newness and culture that's different from your own.
Here's some misconceptions that I did come to realize by going on this trip:
- No such thing as leaving your problems behind:
I came on this trip to escape in a way. There was a lot going on. I have this flight-or-fight syndrome dealing with problems and more often than not, I choose flight - at least for a little while until I can gather my thoughts. Usually it's to a cafe or quirky bookstore across the street; this time, a plane. But then I realized once I landed, that though I flew an ocean away to leave my problems, they came with me nonetheless. It's because these problems ARE me. Some things just take time. - Homesickness:
Though traveling has brought me lots of joy, it has also given me an appreciation for my hometown Seattle. I'm not ready to go back yet but I've begun to realize that I love the place where I've grown up.
This trip has definitely been of different flavor than my last. Maybe it just comes with being older. It's a strange thought on how we can use money to buy food, clothing and accessories or even use our physical bodies to experience exciting adventures such as zip-lining or hiking. We find ourselves capable of many things as human beings but life and time are things we cannot control. They are sometimes the most important.
We can plan all sort of things with our lives yet we can not plan growth. You cannot just gain experience just because you want to. There are things that can only be done and gained by time. A broken heart can only be healed by time.
Happy Readings,
Nina
