CAPTURING MOMENTS || APRIL 2016

HIGHLIGHTS

SAW MY FIRST OFFICIAL PAYCHECK IN ALMOST NINE MONTHS… HELLO MONEY, ITS BEEN A WHILE!!!!
My first ever Color Run in the world and I got to do it in style here in Saigon! Too much fun!
Welcomed another person to HCMC, hello Derek! Friend count = 9.
Finally got to experience the Saigon recreational institution, the Saigon Soul Pool Party… getting sooo brown!

FEATURED SNAPSHOT

april in review

I LOVE YOU TOO, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam @ 6:47 pm

GOOD READ

April in Review

TRACKS: A WOMAN’S SOLO TREK ACROSS 1700 MILES OF AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK by Robyn Davidson

There are some moments in life that are like pivots around which your existence turns – small intuitive flashes, when you know you have something correct for a change, when you think you are on the right track.

Sypnosis: Robyn Davidson’s memoir of her treacherous journey across the Australian outback is an inspiring, upfront account of one’s woman desire to test her boundaries. With four camels and her lonely dog at her side, she heads into the hostile desert where danger lurks in every corner. Enduring the scorching desert heat and frigid nights while having to stay alert for the well-being of her four-legged friends, she learns a thing or two about the importance of companionship, as well as the power of her own self when depended solely upon. Her adventure is shaped by characters of all sorts: a hateful camel wrangler, generous Outback folk, a naive Nat Geo photographer, and earnest Aborigines — each with a powerful lesson to teach. Davidson emerges from her 1,700 mile journey as a wholly transformed human being. This is a story about a heroine who saves her self from the trappings of society by embarking upon a quest of wretched solitude in the pursuit of total freedom.

I am personally not a huge fan of stories involving animals so when this read about camels was suggested to me , I felt a bit iffy. For motivation’s sake, I watched the 2013 movie adaptation of the book starring Mia Wasikowska (whom I adore.) Even Mia could not save me from the boredom I suffered, as I fell asleep halfway through the film because it was just sooo. slow. paced. That was a telling sign of the impending tempo of the book. I mean , don’t get me wrong. Davison’s writing style is magnificent. There were moments where I was so riveted by how perfectly she articulated the musings of a mind undergoing an existential criss. But I mean things just dragged. . I almost reached a moment where I didn’t think I would finish. The wonderfully insightful second half of the book made up for the excessively long account of her pre-journey days. The chronicle dispels the romanticism of pursuing solo adventures. In it, she’s as real as it comes talking about how lonely and uncomfortable and wretched it is to test our limits. There is a lot of respect for what she endured on her trek across the unforgiving Australian desert and most importantly, that she followed through with her plans. The honesty was a bit cynical at times but seeing as fidelity about the experience is something quite rare in travel reads, it was admirable.

rating ✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

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