Routine

This photo was taken on one of the many long walks through Yangon. I found it between two other unrelated images and remember the exact moment in time when I took it. My life these days, although it occasionally involves a long walk, is far different than my life this summer.

I feel that I have already settled in to a routine here.

During the first week back, I was convinced this was going to be the longest few months of my life. Now I’m convinced of the opposite. Days move too fast and I’m already overly committed, involved, and invested.

Weekends are long, fun, and filled with new adventures. These tiny trips have kept me feeling like myself.

This weekend –> a wedding, some car time, and time spent driving motorcycles at the beach!

The travel days

The other day, he shared this quote with me.

I think it fairly summarizes how I feel right now.

“What we want out of a vacation changes as we age. It changes from vacation to vacation. There was a time when it was all about culture for me. My idea of a real break was to stay in museums until my legs ached and then go stand in line to get tickets for an opera or a play. Later I became a disciple of relaxation and looked for words like beach and massage when making my plans. I found those little paper umbrellas that balanced on the side of rum drinks to be deeply charming then. Now I strive for transcendent invisibility and the chance to accomplish the things I can’t get done at home. But as I pack up my room at the Hotel Bel-Air, I think the best vacation is the one that relieves me of my own life for a while and then makes me long for it again.” – Ann Patchett

One more wonderful yoga class, one more long bus ride to Bangkok, two final travel days, and several flights and then I’ll be home.

All of these images are from just one of the many boat rides this summer –> this particular trip was the one from Ao Nang to Railay.

Alone in the woods

Current obsession –>

The rocks and cliffs at Tonsai.

I just cannot seem to get them out of my head. They’re so entirely beautiful and powerful and I’m anxiously anticipating my next trip back!

I’ve tried drawing these cliffs dozens of times, but now I feel what I really need are my paints.

The past few days

Back in Thailand, in Krabi Town, and in recovery mode!

Up to this point, my days back in Thailand have been a hilarious blend of extreme highs and lows. In Phuket, I got to spent time with Eva, Peter, and Donna (for a few hours). Once they left, I realized Phuket and I didn’t like each other much and I made my way to Krabi.

From Krabi, I somehow ended up on a boat, then on a trek through the jungle barefoot (with my pack and all my gear), and then to a tiny beach surrounded by beautiful cliffs made for the real rock climbers of the world. I had made it to Tonsai beach.

Tonsai is certainly one of those places that will be hard to ever forget. The three nights I spent there all seemed like a dream. The views are glorious, the people cool and friendly, and the activities are endless (Tonsai is where some of the best rock climbers in the world hang out and now I know why).

I would still be there now in my little jungle hut without electricity if it wasn’t for getting sick. On night three, all my years of bragging about not getting any stomach sickness from Indo, India, Nepal, etc came back to me and hit me hard. Getting sick is fun nowhere, but getting sick in the jungle without electricity or running water (*and with only roaches, frogs, geckos and mice as company) is really fun. The next morning, I found another boat and a truck and made my way back to Krabi Town (apparently the place to get sick, electricity everywhere, real showers, and a pharmacy on every corner).

Although I still feel weak and only like a fraction of my true self, I’m trying to learn the importance of rest. My sick days have reminded me of the importance of yoga breathing and of giving myself and my body permission to recover.

Hoping for health and the strength to explore in the coming days.

Where I am now

And I have no intention of ever leaving.

Koh Tao is one magical little place and I’m fairly certain I was born to one day live on an island.

The past few days have been incredibly happy, peaceful, fun, and important. I’ve met lovely new friends, practiced yoga on the beach and on bungalow balconies, and most of all, spent my sweet time in the water.

Race day | Wilmington, NC

I recently got around to developing an old roll of film.

This is some of what I found –> late summer trip to Wilmington and images of a marathon.

It is amazing how our brains choose to remember only bits and pieces of days months ago. I forgot all about how green the grass was there, how J looked an awful lot like Lincoln then, and how I broke my shoes that night while running to get watermelon.

I’m increasingly anxious and excited for this summer, for warmer days, and finding the balance between making and not making plans.