And we’re off! (Seattle, WA)

My travels back to Asia start with Seattle, where I’m now “from.” I’ve been “from Seattle” for five years now, and I look forward to continue to be “from Seattle.”

I also look forward to travelling alone extensively. This is going to be the first time I’m on the beaten and unwalked paths by myself–a feat the many can’t claim they’ve ever done. Though I have travelled around North America in various ways, I typically enjoy my time with others. This is the first time I don’t have a dedicated other with me.

I also think it’s interesting to ponder what’s being left behind. No one is 100% ready to leave a given situation. I am excited to go to Cambodia once again, and the surrounding region, but part of me does not want to leave. Things I’ll be leaving behind include:

• My partner, Natasha.
• My room mate, Emiliana, and her two chihuahua puppies, Paco and Cookie.
• My family, on the East Coast.
• The plethora of other friends that surround my life and make it special.
• The two libraries I work at, LWTech and North Seattle College.
• The poets, writers, and artists throughout Seattle I can call “collaborators.”
• My car and my bicycle, the latter I didn’t use very much recently.
• The fine, fine Northwest summer.
• Relatively fast Internet.
• The Witcher 3.

Fortunately, I’ve got some good things on my plate coming my way:

• Six nights in Vietnam, including 3 nights in Dalat.
• A lovely job with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
• Six books I’ve been meaning to read for months (a couple for years, actually).
• Rendezvousing with countless friends I have missed since I left almost exactly a year ago.
• A performance at Meta House.
• The opportunity to run and learn from library and poetry workshops.
• A visit from two very special American friends in late August.
• Hopefully travels to and through Laos, and perhaps another stop in Singapore.

I really do not know what to expect. Part of me wants to take the tourist approach down a notch and simply enjoy my time in the sweltering heat. I’d like to mosey along, taking pictures, spending hours a day reading, not necessarily charged with “go, go, go” but I know this will be difficult to accomplish. My inner nature is, after all, significantly charged and inspired by cramming as much as possible in. Can I, perhaps, learn to chill out on this trip? Can I learn to savor it? After all, it’s going to be very short.

As I know there are going to be several following me, I will try to post to this regularly, and link out when I post externally. I do welcome all comments. If not via WordPress, then over email, Facebook, or otherwise. I feel the natural way to counteract any loneliness through solo travel is probably through the Internet. Hopefully I will get a chance to write a quick post during Hong Kong; otherwise, it will be in the safe confines of the first Vietnamese guest house I stay in.

The Ache to Leave: an Introductory Note

Hunched over the tablet, the writing device that will keep me company for the next 30 days. Mouth parched from a day’s worth of exhaustive house cleaning and equally exhausting bag packing. I will be journeying through a small chunk of Southeast Asia for the next 30+ days with poet and confidant Jason Conger. We will arrive in Singapore, head through Malaysia, and then fly to Cambodia, a preview of where I will be for a significant period of time after this initial journey is over. We will end our tour in Vietnam, heading through the Mekong and Ho Chi Minh City, and then up the coast.

There may also be a visit to Thailand in order, or perhaps northern Vietnam… After Jason heads back home. We will see where the wind takes me. My greatest fear is being tired arriving to Phnom Penh to start my internship the first week of September… Carrying with me little more than a weak back and tired mind. I am tired now and the journey hasn’t started! But nervous, and excited. I haven’t been outside of the United States of America since being in Europe in 2007. This will also be more unstructured than I have ever traveled.

I am sad, extremely so, to leave Seattle. I’m a recent email I wrote to friends of remarked on how much I would miss them. But such correspondence doesn’t do justice. I thrive on the relationships I have with other people, and while I don’t find it impossible to meet new people, I do find it hard to leave those I know and love behind. But this is a new challenge and one that must be taken heavily and seriously. More on that later! For now, fun and updates. I will hope to regularly post on this month’s travels, but I also do not know if consistency can be expected. Hopefully wifi and dependence on the Internet will be valuable in keeping me thinking and writing. Hopefully I will also upload YouTube videos accordingly. Stay tuned, as I will, my gut fattened from parties with familiar faces in this emerald city, the beer and food entrancing, the smiles making it hard to leave.

Next major move: airport leaves Seattle for Tokyo and then Singapore tomorrow at 1230pm.