Every time I go away, I feel that I understand myself a little more. Of course, more confusion and uncertainty come with it too.
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I can run around everywhere, but I cannot stand an ultra-packed, special-forces-style itinerary...
I can become very extroverted, but I need time and space that belong only to me...
I can skip the iconic attractions and stay in one place for an afternoon or most of a day...
I can wander anywhere with no destination or sense of direction and never look at navigation...
I can think about nothing, but I cannot do nothing. Pressing the shutter and leaving behind a keepsake counts. So does looking everywhere with the feeling that my eyes are searching for prey...
I can know nothing about the city's culture, history, or changes over time, and simply interact with the place in whatever way feels most comfortable at that moment, using what I see, hear, and notice to observe everything happening to me...
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There are many moments worth recording.
Everything I saw through windows...
A man smoking while facing the sea...
The cool ocean breeze I felt while standing on a bridge...
Small talk with the owner of an ice cream shop...
Meeting a Chinese international student who owned a dessert shop...
Being a tourist and still getting asked for directions by a native Korean speaker...
Every person who kindly helped or gently reminded me while I went up and down stairs or in and out of subway stations...
The guesthouse owner learning English on Duolingo and using every minute while the guests were out to practice guitar...
A man walking two big dogs by the sea...
A twenty-four-hour unmanned bookstore one floor underground...
Discovering that photographs taken by ordinary people can be sold as products too...
Discovering how cute and moving it is when a traveler who can draw records the journey along the way...
Discovering that hearing a live performance by a band from home while abroad can make me want to cry (mainly because the lyrics hit too hard, sob sob sob)...
Discovering that in places we have not yet reached, people live with such respect for order, such respect for rules, and such pride in the land beneath their feet...
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What was strange was that, during this trip, I actually had a moment when I thought, “Ah, I want to go home”... I do not know whether it was exhaustion or weariness, or whether envy had become jealousy and even a desire to escape...