Coming Soon
It's been five years since our family went on a vacation trip outside of the country. The last time we did was on a two-week bus trip across Central Europe. It was a fun fun trip! What with the breathtaking country side and town proper of the said trip couple it with historical and classical elegant feel. The only downside was that it was pretty tiring since we were almost always on the go so there was no really no time to keep a travel journal which should have been perfect to record those memorable places and experiences that go hand in hand
while you were at it. Sure, there were lots of pictures and recorded tapes to relish those but I guess it'll still be different recalling things while flipping through pages you documented while you were in the very moment of it. It sort of gives you a first-hand experience, I guess.
And so when it was announced that we were going on a six-day trip to China, I vowed to keep a travel journal even if I didn't have a single clue of our itinerary except for the fact that for sure we're going back to Hong Kong after seventeen years! But lo and behold, I wasn't able to even open the notebook I intentionally put in my everyday bag for the duration of the trip. The same dilemma applies; i was too tired to even write at the end of day. In fact, when we get back to the hotel I immediately plunge into the bed and will wake up a few hours into the midnight to clean up then go back to sleep again then wake up just in time for breakfast and we're off to go to the day's itinerary.
But what's different about this time, I was more aware, engaged and "into the moment" of this trip. Maybe because it was relatively less stressful and shorter than the Europe trip. I had more time to think or go muni-muni and engage myself in a number of silent conversations and observations with myself on the places we went to. Don't get me wrong, for me the Europe trip was still by far the best trip I've had. I just didn't have time to really engage myself to this and that because I was so hyped up with excitement of seeing this and seeing that tomorrow - since it was a really packed tour. There were a lot of things to appreciate that you get this overwhelming overload of sights to see, trivia and information to digest and the feeling to submerge yourself into it.
The fact that maybe I was already less familiar at this time with the Chinese culture and history made me more engaged and yearn to know more about it. So, I will dare try to make a comprehensive recall of what came about with that six day sojourn in the coming days. Hopefully, complete with the picture or even videos I took and a part of the silent conversations and observations I have made.
while you were at it. Sure, there were lots of pictures and recorded tapes to relish those but I guess it'll still be different recalling things while flipping through pages you documented while you were in the very moment of it. It sort of gives you a first-hand experience, I guess.
And so when it was announced that we were going on a six-day trip to China, I vowed to keep a travel journal even if I didn't have a single clue of our itinerary except for the fact that for sure we're going back to Hong Kong after seventeen years! But lo and behold, I wasn't able to even open the notebook I intentionally put in my everyday bag for the duration of the trip. The same dilemma applies; i was too tired to even write at the end of day. In fact, when we get back to the hotel I immediately plunge into the bed and will wake up a few hours into the midnight to clean up then go back to sleep again then wake up just in time for breakfast and we're off to go to the day's itinerary.
But what's different about this time, I was more aware, engaged and "into the moment" of this trip. Maybe because it was relatively less stressful and shorter than the Europe trip. I had more time to think or go muni-muni and engage myself in a number of silent conversations and observations with myself on the places we went to. Don't get me wrong, for me the Europe trip was still by far the best trip I've had. I just didn't have time to really engage myself to this and that because I was so hyped up with excitement of seeing this and seeing that tomorrow - since it was a really packed tour. There were a lot of things to appreciate that you get this overwhelming overload of sights to see, trivia and information to digest and the feeling to submerge yourself into it.
The fact that maybe I was already less familiar at this time with the Chinese culture and history made me more engaged and yearn to know more about it. So, I will dare try to make a comprehensive recall of what came about with that six day sojourn in the coming days. Hopefully, complete with the picture or even videos I took and a part of the silent conversations and observations I have made.