I’m still here.

Just in case you’re one of the three people who has checked this space in the past year and found nothing new, I would like you to know that I am still part of the living.  Also, I apologize for not writing anything for this space for the past how many hundred days.

To the curious, I went AWOL for the better part of two years because I underwent one of the most profound yet quite typical of human experiences which was getting my heart broken.  And how excruciating it is to admit, I could hardly put fingertips on keyboard to do numerous post-mortems of the relationship, more so to write stories from the heart.

Grieving I certainly was, though I only admitted it after the 257^th time I’ve said to myself that it was all for the best. After that, I booked myself a holiday to a dream destination which happened to be as disconnected to the outside world as one could be these days. Me, myself, and I were going to be on the road again and I could hardly wait! After all, Dame Judy Dench as Elizabeth I once said, heartbreak calls for a journey. And I was determined to make this one an epic.

But the majestic karsts, young backpackers, nor the crippling internet connection failed to keep my mind off of him.  On the contrary, I wanted to share every single thing with him. I wanted to comment how the distinct topography have basically sealed this nation’s fate or how happy/ sad that the elders still speak French or how resilient the people are for having survived a war that was never really theirs. I wanted him there to talk to, to share a meal with, to drag me out of bed because it’s time to give alms to the monks.

Not that I didn’t enjoy myself because I certainly did. I cycled around town, scarfed down most of the food I laid my eyes on, and ogled pretty much at every colonial structure.  

And being on the road alone made me feel like myself again. I am again that girl who doesn’t need anything but her backpack, her passport, and her own two feet who’s on her way to see the world.

As this year unfolds, I hope to go farther and stay longer on the road than I’ve ever been. Alone or with a companion, I don’t know.  Let’s see what life has in store for me.