my buddy.

meet amanda, my travel partner. she's great, it's great. i learned a long time ago that the beauty of travel is dulled by lonliness. i have heaps of glorious memories around the globe that i shared with my camera and strangers. in some strange fate my computer crashed with those pictures and emails became infrequent; so its solely up to my lacking memory. so i'm grateful for her postponing long-awaited reunions, family and a boyfriend for a few precious moments of adventure.

amanda enjoys watches. the always-knows-the-time kinda person. maps are her friend, she likes locations. how much is the taxi? she knows. responsibility is her game, and she does it well. she's a woman of purpose and direction. i need that. she's feisty, i would't mess with her in a dark alley. i need that, too.

and then there's me...late is my middle name, i only gauge time by day and night, i emphatically trust taxi drivers (despite better judgement), i rarely know the contents of my mid-day snacks (ie: rice, coconut, brown stuff, some orange bubbles, wrapped in a leafy bit) and i tend to wander with successful expectation. my travel is a bit looser, a bit unconfined, a bit unpredictable. she keeps me safe, in well-lit areas, with people i can trust. i've tested God's grace too much in the past to know that's the better route.

we meet in conversation, intelligence and our desire for adventure. we're quirky and like-minded enough, and moreso, willing to forego domestic pleasures for awhile...a perfect fit. our paralleled internet and ice cream addictions serve us well too. despite our year long friendship, the plethora of time has allowed us to find new territory and conversation in our friendship. you know someone over dinner, coffee and weekend trips. and then you see them at their hungriest, tiredest and dirtiest and then you KNOW them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 30 cent, road-side, sandwiches in Vietnam, with undiscernable contents. she shook her head and reminded me of our lack of western toilets and toliet paper alike. i shrugged in gastronomic pleasure.

in short, we have a good yin and yang. i take the cheap places over comfort. she buts in when necessities become necessary, like electricity. we've a good balance of logic and spontaneity. and have grown to the rare intimacy of silences. after 10 days x 24 hrs x shared clothes, food and lives x every hygine secret exposed = intimacy. maybe in 20 years she'll be in canada and i in america, but we'll look back and laugh. and pick up the phone and laugh some more. these travels will be irreplacable, and i'm glad to have her in them. i heart amanda.

P.S .she's also taught me more about Canada than i ever thought one American could learn...(ie: they have thirteen proviences, i'm being tested daily)

outANDabout.
i consider travel a priveledge not right. each time i travel i think i get the bug out of my system, and each time i come home i realize it's a lifelong affair that will only be postponed, never cured. some have the burden, some don't; none the better or the worse for it. i have been blessed with the time and money to forego hot water and a dependable night's sleep for the next few weeks. vietnam, cambodia, and thailand are on the agenda. avoiding malaria, tuberculosis and pepto bismol are my only goals. cheers to dirty feet, 12-hour bus rides, and a unmistakeable smile.

go, then goodbye.
i've done it. finished the fight, laughter, tears and dancing that composed the past 12 months. my hatred to a new place and life became a timid love affair. a place rich in culture, custom, and discrepancies. too much to put into words.

in it all i came to find, there is never a right time for goodbye. you're always too; too angry, too scared, too attached, too confused, too busy, too in-love. the best move is to just go. go and deal with the sadness and separation in a new place. goodbye to people, places, memories and love; in it all, there's no perfect moment to depart. i grew to love my life in korea, but to stay longer would be improper. i've got a new page to write starting in this moment. lacking a permanent address for a bit more, then the dreaded comittment to these anxious feet. comittment to a zip code, phone number, friends and bills. scary in a new way.

and so i've laughed and loved, gave and been given more than i deserved. in the end, a home was made, family was grown. i've been blessed. thank you korea.