Memoirs of October

Memoirs of August

What a great August it has been!

I saw nice horseless carriages in a vintage Car show.

I found lots of beautiful fabrics to add into my wishlist.

I was treated with chocolates for my birthday and I spent morning dreamin of a new dress.

I bought an Ukulele and started learning to play it.

There will be two full moons this month and a meteor shower. Wow!

I went to visit the Helsinki Zoo after more than 20 years of not going.

I let my hair grow for 6 months but after this picture I cut myself bangs again.

I found "Doc" Hudson Hornet car in a vintage car show. I had a slight crush on it. :>

I saw a crane in the harbor! What a fantastic 1-person house?

Memoirs of Summer 2012

Some pieces of this summer in pictures. It has been a rather rainy summer, but they say rain makes everything better. Try it yourself.

1. Think up your favourite slow song. Like Moody Jazz or hearth throbbing love songs. 
2. go to http://www.rainymood.com/
3. Play that slow song in Youtube in another page. 

See? It makes everything better. :)

Oh! And about those strawberries seen above. This is how they were made.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

I've found what I came looking for I think. In some metaphysical level I really craved for a trip to somewhere far away and now that my 4 weeks is closing to its final days I notice that I can do it. The world is indeed your oyster, it's possible to be anywhere and do anything as long as you hold on to a few simple rules. Wanna hear my traveling rules? Here they are!

First of all, remember to smile. Open your heart and mind to the world and to the people you will meet. Smiling is the easiest way of telling that you want to be part of this all. You are not an alien and will not be treates as one.

Secondly, and it is slightly related to the first one, never think that you are alone. By this I mean that us Europeans are used to space and individuality. We live in a society where we freak out when a stranger touches us too long or when we don't know exactly what something is, even though we see everyone else around eats it with good apetite. I see so many western tourists walking around as if there was an invisible bubble around them, the safety area, the unseen ego that makes them special. They might complain about bad service and bad weather yet they never seem to notice how different it all would be when they would place themselves into the place of any local person. We are not alone in the world and should not forget how many people are around us. They might not share our beliefs or customs but they are people and they could be your best friends and most important helper. So my second rule in traveling is, don't believe in being more special than anyone else and the world will stop seeming hostile.

Third, be smart and say yes to new things, unless you know for certain it will physically damage your health to a point where your life becomes hard. Food is proteins, carbs and fats, and excersice only gives muscle pains and blisters in worst case. You can do it, a healthy human always survives as long as one listens to their bodies and common sense, not to momentary emotions and craving for luxury. Being smart means also knowing when to say no ofcourse, and negotiating is always a good idea, no matter if its bargaining for a pair of shoes in the market or learning what is the exact medicine you are asked to take.

The scariest place I've been to so far in this trip is the dark moment in my own mind. Fear of "what if". So go out there, find your way. Explore. Enjoy. And tell about it to others.

When out there

One of the most wonderful things about traveling without planning too much is that you

A. Meet great people
B. See things you didn't expect to see

But more important than this you might see things in a different light. Right now the light of day is grayish here in Hanoi. Heavy rain clouds are moving away where they showered down just a moment ago, bothering seemingly little those people wandering outside with their fruit baskets and bicycles loaded full of this and that. The air is even more humid, if possible, which leaves me with a mental note of buying proper clothes instead of my normal quite well fitting ones that I'm used to in Finland.

As hard as it is to grasp this thought, I'm in Vietnam. A history and culture of its own, with all those lovely details in the city scene you love so much! Radiators, criss crossing cables and big moist tree leaves, neon lights and advertisements.

Oh how I love to look at all these details! Have I ever mentioned how much I love looking at all those details?

Transit Flights, this way

My trip has finally started. I got this idea a month ago I should go traveling to Asia and so I am sitting here in Bangkok Airport, sipping some ice-tea. It's my first ever trip completely alone in some way, even if I lived for a couple years abroad this trip is a bit different.

Or is it?