Tag Archives: backpacking

Day 154 of 154 days of Wanderlust: The Last Few Minutes…

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5 Months. 9 Countries. 13 boats. 15 planes. 32 bus journeys. 154 daily adventures. & Too many breathtaking moments and people to count… After undeniably the most exciting, wonder & wander filled journey… the time has somehow come to head back to the homeland.

A number of people have asked me what it is that I learned while traveling.

And in 154 days, I’ve learned countless lessons. Lessons about life, about myself, about the world and society as a whole… but what I feel I learned that is most important?

My answer is this: “There is no time to be bored in a world as beautiful as this.”

There is a sense of urgency to LIVE while traveling. And I mean living beyond waking up, going to work or school, eating, sleeping and repeating.

Somehow, when we get wrapped up in the routine of our daily lives and complacent in the structures society has set for us, we go numb to the world. We watch impatiently as the clock seems to drag at work or class. Or we press snooze for the comforts of our pillow are more attractive than waking up to live. I’ve been plenty guilty.

When you are backpacking through a foreign country though, you have this urge to make the most of each moment in each city or province, quite simply because you are constantly battling time. There is always too much to do and never enough time.

When you have 2 days to see everything one city has to offer, there’s no time or desire to sleep in or fix your boredom with YouTube. You jump out of bed, put your trekking shoes on and grab an old school printed map courtesy of the hostel, and go on your own unique treasure hunt for the day. And that’s how each day feels. Its as if you’re living this epic adventure tale in search of the next chest of gold which comes in the form of a viewpoint on top of a mountain, a swim in a new lake, a bungee jump from 134 meters high, or a conversation with a stranger from halfway around the world.

…An adventure constantly battling against the clock to see, feel and experience as much as possible. And well that battle against the clock doesn’t just happen abroad.

It happens right at home. No matter who you are or where you come from… there is one thing that is true to every one of us. You can make all the money in the world and you’ll never be able to buy back time. Once it’s gone and spent, it’s gone forever. There’s no pressing pause. No rewind or fast-forward for that matter. You have absolutely no control over it and no knowledge of how much of it you’re actually promised. That’s the terrifying truth. The second hand of your clock will move relentlessly without your permission or blessing. All you have is now.

This idea has become somewhat of a basic cliché: from “YOLO” to canvases painted with “Yesterday is a History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a Gift, that’s why we call it the Present.”

But despite the overflowing number of articles, blog posts, and insta captions written on the topic of “fleeting time”, “living in the moment” and “the inevitable cycle of life”… few really start living as if they understand it.

I’m not saying you should drop everything and travel right now, (though it is a great option.)

Heck, I’m not even saying you have to travel period. Some people have little desire to ever leave the comforts of their hometown, and that’s okay. If that’s what makes you happy, every being is entitled to their own pursuit of happiness, whatever that looks like.

What I am saying is to live. To really LIVE. And to do it NOW.

Whatever it is that you dream of, whatever it is that you want to work towards, whatever your “happy” life looks like, whatever makes you feel alive… Create that now. Do it now… For there is no time to waste and definitely no time to settle for anything less than your dream.

Breathe and feel every spectrum of what it means to be alive.

Love generously and passionately as if you didn’t have much time left… cause truth is, you don’t.

We’re all going to expire one day. You get one chance at life.

So live the life you want right now.

And if you are ready to drop everything and travel… If it’s even crossed your mind. I urge you to do it. Cause there is no time better than right now.

Now for the scariest part of my own journey yet… going home and the “to-be-created” path ahead.

Live & love fearlessly ❤

DAY 100.

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of 117 days now 154 DAYS of Wanderlust! (woops… just changed my flight date home…)

I feel as though I blinked and 2014 came to a close.

Maybe it’s been the unconventional holidays spent abroad, the lack of keeping track of what day of the week it is and the daily adventures that made it seem less “New Years-ish” per say…

Or maybe it was all the change and transitions that defined 2014… changes and transitions that continue and make it seem less like the close or start of a year but rather a continuous and growing journey… Simply the turning of a page in this novel you could say…

2014 brought the bittersweet ends of some very prominent chapters titled: I. Undergrad at the []_[], II. Red Road Commons Apt. E416, and III. The Miami HEAT Dancers… These three chapters defined much of my identity for the past 4 years. It brought my character much growth, challenges and conflicts, as well as victories and resolutions and most importantly lifetime connection with other characters of other stories all written in the collection of the universe, connections that continue to grow and storylines that intertwine beyond the ends of these chapters.

2014 also brought with it the start of what I call, Part X: “The Unknown Path”… much of which is still being written… well actually, all of it is still being written with each minute, even as I write this.

Part X so far has been filled with wonder, confusion, war between heart and head, spontaneity and chance meetings, shared dances from Mad Decent Block Party to under the Full Moon, awareness and learning, change in perception and perspective, and an opening of parts of my heart that I didn’t even know I had closed off.

Part X made the idea of a start-up with my best friend possible as we dreamed up and drafted designs and business plans, filling our hearts with ambition and drive to create something of our own, that if you had told us four years ago, we would have said you’re absolutely crazy.

Part X then gave my character a choice… multiple directions in which my story could unfold, and so I chose.

The setting of my storyline changed drastically, making way for some breathtaking journeys to places that I only dreamed of last year, dreamed of and said I wanted to travel to but wasn’t actually sure that I’d be going to honestly. Heck, I wasn’t sure I’d really be going even as I booked a flight, fairly last minute I might add, staying true to my character’s habits of course. We’ll call it a personality trait or even character flaw, every heroine has one after all. The chapters of Part X have set scenes in arguably some of the world’s most beautiful countries: South Korea, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia so far.

And somehow, in the midst of getting lost in new lands, hours on flights, overnight trains, conversations with strangers who have turned into friends, bowls of green curry and bottles of Chang, writing new chapters and imagining alternate endings, I’ve reached this mark of my travels: Day 100!

And in 100 days the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that truly, truly, truly, HAPPINESS is a CHOICE.

Choosing to remain present and happy no matter what is an active choice that you make.

It is one me and my friend, Medya, made tonight while walking back from yoga and getting caught in the rain. We chose happiness. Chose to dance in the rain, it is wet season in Bali after all. We laughed the entire 40-minute walk back to our hostel, avoiding slipping and occasionally jumping in puddles as we took in the sounds of eager locals asking, “Taxi? Taxi?” and the confused faces when we politely said “No, Talimakasi!”

It is easy to be happy on the islands of Thailand dancing the night away with friends from around the world, vibing to good music while sipping on buckets. It is easy to love life when you are cruising in the middle of Ha Long Bay.

It is harder when things don’t go as planned… which well it often doesn’t in SE Asia, which is really the draw of this part of the world and travel itself in my opinion. The thrill of daily adventures that force you to live in the moment… like simple 2 hour journeys that turn into 5 hour journeys and require you to bring your yoga off the mat. The work is to still enjoy the journey even as you sit in traffic that you can’t do anything about or as you mend your wounds after a motorbike accident or as you vomit profusely into the hostel’s toilet from catching the bug in Pai.

We’re human. Not every day is going to be a perfect day, even while traveling. Yes every day on Instagram looks beautiful but there are days where things don’t work out as planned. There are days when you miss home. Days when it is hard to stay in the present moment as fears of the unknown future that lie beyond the remaining travel days sneak into your thoughts. Days when you are sick to your stomach and are grateful you brought those antibiotics and Imodium. And that’s okay. It is all okay!

Experience it all, the highs and lows for they make the story. What is a story without conflicts, climaxes and resolutions right? (& yes, there is always a resolution so have no fear!) More importantly, experiencing it all with a grateful heart will make for an epically different story than experiencing it without one. Either way the time will pass, the rain will pour, the accident will happen, the sickness will run its course. The way in which you choose to experience it and react to it all is up to you.

And well, choosing to be in love with every minute of your life through it all?
TO LIVE IN BLISS?
To really choose above all else to enjoy the ride no matter what?

There is nothing wrong with that. And again, it is a choice.

I think what happens is that we often cut ourselves short of the happiness, greatness and love available to us because we feel that we aren’t ready or we don’t deserve it. But we do. You do. We are all enough as we are.

If you want it, whether it is happiness, adventure or love, choose it. Because at the end of the day, this is your life, it is your story. There is no one way you’re supposed to live it or one plot frame it should follow. There is no one other than you responsible for writing it. So own it. Make it yours. Write every line the way you want it to be written, every sentence or fragment. Every introduction, middle and end in your beautiful and unique prose.

2015 gifts us with 365 blank pages. What will you do with the next chapter of your life?

Write a great story.

Be bold and choose adventure.

Choose happiness.

Be open to love. Give it. Receive it. Then GIVE SOME MORE.

Believe in your inner hero/heroine for you have a large role to play in your story and in many others.

Cheers to the new year!

And now an early goodnight world, I need to take a nap before I go night trekking to catch sunrise on Mt. Batur! Just the next adventure in my Bali Chapter…

Live & Love Fearlessly,

117 Days of Wanderlust: Ready or Not… So it begins.

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Sending lots of love from around the world! Still haven’t quite adjusted to the time change but I’m currently at my grandparents’ apartment in Korea where I’ll be for the next few weeks before really beginning my solo backpacking. Its pouring out which canceled my early morning game of badminton against my grandma (which probably saved me from a good ass kicking..) but did give me time to finally get on here.

So I wrote this while on the plane Friday-Saturday to flush out some thoughts and well figured I’d share… (I feel like I was treading through an influx of feelings and well that might be exactly how this is articulated haha)

Location: In the air, about 5 hours outside of Seoul, Korea… with a little bit of turbulence… (but hey I love a good roller coaster)

It’s a peculiar thing coming home after living on your own. Throughout my years at the University of Miami (arguably the best four years of my life to date) I spent the majority of my winter and summer breaks in Miami, working for the best sports franchise in the nation (okay, so maybe I’m a bit biased.) And while I missed Christmas with the family and time with old friends from high school, Miami enthralled me and became a place I truly call home. It enticed me with the fierce independence it forced me to develop. It embraced and helped flourish my quirky individuality. It seduced me with its art, music, food, nightlife and its lively, loud and spontaneous culture… not to mention its Cuban coffee. It opened my eyes to new people, new perspectives and new understandings.

So coming back home to the suburban of all suburban towns, in the state where pizza and bagels are second to none, and back to living with my parents for the past three weeks has been an adjustment. (And I don’t really mean this in the way that I feel like I was under “parental supervision,” though the walk of shaming is way realer coming home to mom making breakfast than it is to your apartment with hung-over roommates.) But I say adjustment in a sense that the way I see my hometown, which no longer really feels like a familiar place, and the way I see my parents has shifted.

This was the first time in four years that I got to spend over a week with my parents and the first time I began to really see them as well humans. Through stories at lunch with my mom, I saw the 22 year-old versions of them… the newlywed versions, the new parent versions.. and now the empty nest versions.. The funny thing was, they weren’t new stories, but my listening had somehow shifted within the past four years. I began to understand all the losses and wins they went through together and continue to go through together, the experiences that forged their wisdom became tangible and relatable.

I began to listen to the way I spoke to them, sometimes so harshly, in ways that I would never speak to anyone else, forgetting time and again that they were people just like me, with feelings, experiences and dreams like my own, who were for the first time aging before my eyes. I saw my dad, day in and day out, still working his ass off to support our family, sacrificing his health and time to entertain clients, taking long and exhausting business trips, in order to send all of his kids to school without leaving us with any loans to pay off and without knowing much want. I saw my mom, still pouring her heart into caring for us, making sure we are well fed, waking up each morning at 5 am to go to morning prayer to pray for all of us. And for the first time I realized how my choices, which I’ve always felt entitled to make in leading “my” life, affected and continue to affect them…

I am beyond grateful for the extraordinary human beings my parents are. My mom has said it over and over again these past two weeks as I’ve been preparing for my trip, “You’re crazy for going alone… and I’m crazier for letting you go.”

The really beautiful thing about my parents is this: they love me and support me DESPITE how they feel about my decisions, despite how it affects their dreams for me or their personal feelings or experiences.

They have never agreed with all of my choices and yet despite this, they’ve supported me in all of my endeavors. See at first, I couldn’t get over the fact that they didn’t agree with some of my decisions. Why couldn’t they see why certain things were so important to me, why couldn’t they love the things I loved so much? I thought to myself, what kinds of parents don’t love and believe in what their child is passionate about? It frustrated me and for a time hurt me. Then I realized, despite how they felt, they’ve supported me to the best of their ability in every one of my dreams, “despite” being the key word. I believe it takes more love, more selflessness and understanding to “despite” their personal feelings or sentiments, support something they don’t agree with or believe in simply because they LOVE me, all of me and my at times selfish aspirations.

And well this trip is no different. It is absolutely selfish of me to venture to the other side of the world and leave my parents at home worrying for the next four months, and for that I am so sorry. Yet despite their feelings on this trip, they are letting me go without further arguments. (Not that I gave them much choice because well I can be a stubborn ass.) Despite their feelings on this trip, they stayed up all night with me last night helping me pack. Despite how they feel about this trip, they gave me a little extra spending cash just in case. Despite how they feel about this trip, both my parents drove me to the airport at 3 a.m., told me to be safe, to be kind to my grandparents during the time I spend with them, to learn and grow a lot, to live my adventure as I please, hugged me tightly and sent me off.

Everyone keeps saying how fearless I must be to go to the other side of the world alone. Parents of friends look at me wide-eyed and tell me how brave I must be… and maybe I’ve put on a brave face. The truth is though I am not fearless at all. My brother called me this morning during my layover in San Francisco and said, “You sound nervous.”

And to that I answered, “I am.” I am nervous.
Hell, I’m scared shitless. I don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified in my life.

Not just for the traveling solo part, for I know the dangers are real and that there will be times I get lonely… but more so for the unknown path ahead… and I mean this beyond the backpacking.

For the first time in my life, one that has always involved tons of planning, analyzing and goal setting, (*which is not a bad thing), there is no preview to this new chapter, no chapter summary, no one that’s read it before to clue me in on how it will unfold…

What lies ahead is a path untraveled with no clear “destination,” and no map to tell me the right way to venture on. And yet for the first time, I am able to focus on just the present, extraordinary moment, to create my path step by step and really be in the listening to what may open up. No thesis to finish writing. No project on InDesign to finish. No dance to clean. Just the Here and Now.

Yes I am nervous, yes I am scared, but never have I been more excited. You know that feeling when you reach the top of a new roller coaster, right before the first big drop, when your stomach is filled with tons of butterflies and adrenaline is kicking in, and you can’t help but be a little scared (even though you are fastened quite tightly and you will surely make it out alive and wanting another go around)…and well whether you are ready or not there’s literally no turning back? That’s about the best way I can describe how I am feeling right now.

To everyone who’s encouraged me to take this adventure, to leap out of my comfort zone and get comfortable with the uncomfortable, whether it was in a brief meeting or multiple conversations, my gratitude is unending.