Travel Memories

As we spend yet another week indoors, I wonder if things will ever get back to "normal", or what the new normal will look like. I've spent the past 10+ years wandering around the globe, thinking about my next destination, but I'm not sure if travel for pleasure will exist in the next year or two. Obviously this is of low priority at the moment because, you know, pandemic.

I've been thinking about my previous adventures and for whatever reason, some moments stand out more than others. Some random memories to share:

On a restaurant rooftop in Istanbul with the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia on the horizon while the call to prayer echoed around the city.

The delight of riding a scooter on Cat Ba Island and the beauty of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

Christmas Eve in Kuala Lumpur: people on the streets spraying cans of fake snow at each other in 30 degrees C weather.

Spending a month in Hong Kong in 2009. I did the usual touristy things but mostly hung out with my grandparents, having dinner or going to dim sum with them. This was back when they were both mobile and my grandma was still cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I can still hear the delight in her voice when I returned from my six week trip to China.

Watching a rainstorm moving inland in the Azores.

My friends and I accidentally trespassing onto private property while exploring Park Guell in Barcelona and being scolded by an elderly woman. The shame!

The snow globe effect of standing in the middle of a snowstorm on a deserted red sand beach in Nova Scotia. 

Going for runs in my picturesque town in Japan, where I would end up by the water to watch the sunset. If Instagram existed back then, I would have posted daily.