thoughts

I always get a little nostalgic when the new year is about to begin. I sort of like clinging to the old year and remember what happened. At the same time, I like to imagine what the next year will be like -- always hoping that it will be (even) better than the last one. A few years back, a friend and I started to write something we called "The First Time List" during the holidays. We wanted to end the year remembering all the things we had done for the very first time that year. We would put big [...]

I vividly remember when it happened to me for the first time. I was 19 years old on art major class field trip to Rome. We had spent the entire year before learning about Renaissance and Baroque architecture and the history of the Eternal City. Dates and countless names of places, popes, and artists had to be learned by heart to prepare those seven September days studying real art in Rome. When we finally arrived, we had to practice our architecture sketching skills in front of ancient ruins and give presentations in front of famous fountains, half-screaming to be louder than [...]

It was my 27th birthday this week and after my last post on turning older was filled with self-doubt, question marks, and worries about the future, I thought it was time for a little comic relief. Because no, I'm still not a proper grown up yet. Here are 27 things I still have not learned in 27 years: 1. How to not spill food while eating. Just look at my vast scarf collecting and you'll find a detailed summary of what I ate this week. A work friend even just gave me a baby bib for my birthday, because I [...]

Maybe I'm a bit too dramatic about numbers, but I'm turning 27 in a week and I somehow I'm afraid of turning older yet again. It's not that I'm afraid of growing older in general, or getting wrinkles, but of the thought that I will soon be categorized as a 'girl in her late-twenties'. However, it's not the term "late-twenties" alone that makes me anxious, but comparing myself with others my age and younger: There are so many people out there who know what they want in their late-twenties, who have achieved things I don't even dare to dream of. Of [...]

Admittedly, my travel life has been quite dull lately. I'm truly not happy with that. Plus, it's really not helpful when writing a blog in the travel niche either. We all know that I can't keep up with the long term travelers anyway, but I still feel like I need to justify why I haven't been anywhere exciting ever since last fall. But you know, somehow, life got in the way of travel these past months. I know, I know, there are hundreds of lists and articles out there in the blogoshere naming all the lame excuses for people not [...]