Almost 32

Seoul, South Korea

Jemima Kirke (Girls’ Jessa) recorded a video of her working out the day she turned 32, and she had this to say about that day.

In Jemima’s words: 

Those transitional, soul-level-change moments we experience are never dramatic. Epiphanies don’t really happen. They’re a myth. Real transformation is boring and uncomfortable, like working out on your birthday when you have no plans. Change slips in unnoticed while you’re busy trudging through something pretty unremarkable. 

The Tao Philippines Experience

Daracuton Island

Note: Some of the photos are from the other travelers in the Tao Expedition. Thank you to Venediktos (or Ben) for giving me permission to post his beautiful photos especially the night and underwater photos. Thank you Ben!

Coron felt unfamiliar. It wasn’t like the small and sleepy town I remember from seven years ago. It was busy and crowded with so many tourists. There were now bars for partying. But we were only there for less than two days before we start the five-day boat expedition with Tao Philippines. So it was all good. I was ready for a few days of isolation and escape from the 'real world'.

Tamang Heritage Trail

In March 2015, I trekked the Tamang Heritage Trail. A month after, the April 25 earthquake struck destroying the villages and the trail. Rebuilding of the villages and reconstruction of the trail are still underway. The ongoing fuel crisis has it made quite challenging recently, as in the whole of Nepal. But along with the Tamang people and of all Nepalese, I have hope that one day (hopefully soon), the villages and its people will recover.

The Obligatory Turning 30 Post

2015 was the year I realized that approaching 30s can be quite daunting. When you reassess where your life is heading. But I also learned along the way that it shouldn’t feel that way if you don’t allow it to. That it’s really just a number.

I look back to the past almost-a-decade since I graduated from college, the last 5 years since I quit my investment banking job, and I realized how much life has been great and fair to me. That a certain age shouldn’t decide what you can and cannot do. That life will continue to evolve and surprise you. It’s a matter of how you cope and allow all those changes in your life.

This Past Decade (the 20s)

Togakushi, Nagano, Japan // November 2015

This is a post I wrote January of 2015, and realized that I haven't published it for reasons that I can not remember anymore. I actually didn't post anything in 2015, only that of Togakushi at the end of the year. It's the first Monday of 2016, and I just turned thirty over a month ago.