Lonely Girl Travels

• End of the Road 7 months ago Reasons why I’m ending this blog: 1. I’m tired. I’m bored. Have you noticed how infrequently I’ve been posting? It’s like torture trying to get myself to write a post—I’ll start one, write a few hundred words, check my FB, check my Twitter feed, get a glass...
• Not Making It, In Manhattan and Hanoi 8 months ago AC, bedspread, feet stretched out in front of me, laptop on my lap just the way it’s supposed to be. Picture in the box in the screen; I smile and he smiles — “It’s good to see you!” we both say and laugh. The background is the same: the narrow walls of the apartment,...
• Til Your Money Runs Out: In Tai O, In Old Clothes 8 months ago I could live here, I thought. I could stay here til my money runs out. I don’t need to go back; I don’t even know where “back” is. I thought this as I walked through Tai O last night, down the narrow cement alley of a fishing village on the far end of one of [...]
• A Small Kind of Gift: Dancers Behind the Glass 8 months ago Skyline, sunset, nine stories up. Sitting in a glass room that doesn’t feel entirely dissimilar to a cage. An antiseptic cage, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, white crisp lines, a little terrace landscaped with rocks and moss in a manner vaguely Zen. I’m early for tutoring, or...
• "You Don't Have To Like It But...": A West Oakland Story About Vietnamese Culture 9 months ago When I moved to Hanoi, there was this refrain I kept hearing the long-term expats say: “You don’t have to like Vietnamese culture, but you have to respect it.” Which makes sense, you know; you don’t have to be a historian to know that these are the folks who beat the...

Unfortunately, no-one has been kind enough to leave a quick positive comment on this expat blog. Be the first!