i smile in wonder as i take pride in being given a chance to touch on 24 states on my travels so far. these places and the experience they bring have become a rich source of reflection and poetry in many lessons when i least expect them to surface in the classroom. i do not think i will ever have the space or time to depict every journey on a blog. 
there were times when comparison with other well-travelled buddies became an ego-battle of sorts as we challenged each other as to where we might head next. yet, travel is not about allowing your ego or pay-cheque to 'conquer' exotic spots you've been. it serves more as a quick escape from the
limits of an island-cityscape. this recklessness and latent desire to explore new cultures and landscapes impart a sense of awe and humility... simply in knowing that there is no place i am able to know completely. i am none the wiser just because i have almost a decade of teaching experience, 3 degrees and 2 diplomas to put on my cv. i like my worldview to be cracked, my perceptions to be challenged by a language or custom that is alien to my own.
limits of an island-cityscape. this recklessness and latent desire to explore new cultures and landscapes impart a sense of awe and humility... simply in knowing that there is no place i am able to know completely. i am none the wiser just because i have almost a decade of teaching experience, 3 degrees and 2 diplomas to put on my cv. i like my worldview to be cracked, my perceptions to be challenged by a language or custom that is alien to my own. 
it is a warm insight. to recall this teaching as i look back on the many albums composed by these travels. i might discard them one day. every picture seems to betray the visual greed i had. when i look back, many fail to capture the feeling i had intended. i could be freer and happier to let the moment be. how stupid of me in wanting to possess what i can never grasp or even hold. in naming these places, i tell myself that i do not know enough to call them my own. they will never be. within these lands are a thousand more people i have yet to know, many pages of history i've yet to fully comprehend and the lores and songs of the seas, rivers, deserts, sky, air and land that humble and diffuse the false sense knowledge of my personal world. i stepped on these countries only to find a partial track to nowhere...i guess the real work must begin from within.
west and east malaysia, indonesia, thailand, laos, vietnam, philippines, china, mongolia, hong kong, taiwan, south korea, india, sri lanka, australia, new zealand, turkey, hungary, holland, czech republic, austria, spain, portugal, usa, mauritius
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