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Satellites of the Skies & Sunrise in Wadi Rum, Jordan (2022)
In Wanderlogue

Satellites of the Skies & Sunrise in Wadi Rum, Jordan (2022)

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The Satellites It was around 4 AM when I woke up in that modest but properly decorated tent. We were in the middle of a desert, kilometres away from the next nearest accommodation. By “we,” I mean myself and the landlord’s sibling – just the two of us amid that vast nothingness. He was supposed to be sleeping in one of the other tents, although I wasn’t sure if he was really there, or which tent exactly, in case I needed help with something. All I felt was aloneness. How could I not? There were zero signals on my phone,…

Travel, Work, & Life Recap: Late 2022 to Early 2023
In Life on the Equator

Travel, Work, & Life Recap: Late 2022 to Early 2023

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In the past few months, I had tried to sit quietly and start writing again, which all led to multiple failed attempts. It wasn’t even an effort to write something worth posting publicly – just anything in general. Whether it’s in my laptop’s drive that will never see the light of day, or in my phone’s Notes app, let alone this blog. I was always either in the middle of something that required a lot of attention, or was never really in the right mindset to pour my thoughts and heart out even though what I did most of the…

Does work-life balance only work as a lump sum?
In Life on the Equator, Overcasted Mind

Does work-life balance only work as a lump sum?

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The past few months, I have been nothing but swamped with work. Particularly since my return to Jakarta following my one-month vacation in May. My life has been revolving around my job and that only. And it has been a roller coaster of various moods and emotions, from tired to proud to drained to elated too. I did get a lot of things done and achieved, thankfully, but at what expense? I have not talked properly to my closest friends in weeks – even months for some. My sibling is working on his undergraduate thesis, in a field that is…

Letters from Post-Vacation Blues
In Adventure of a Lifetime, Impulsive Writing, Life on the Equator, Overcasted Mind, Wanderlogue

Letters from Post-Vacation Blues

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London, June 4th, 2022 As I typed these, I was sitting at a very unusually quiet corner at London Gatwick Airport, waiting for the first leg of a series of long-haul flights that would bring me home. After 32 days of being away from home for my “ultimate solo bachelorette pilgrimage,” a.k.a. post-pandemic solo revenge travel, my reality slowly brought me back to Earth. That day felt much quieter than the previous 31 days. My eyes were still a little damp from all the sobs that lasted for hours last night. I was definitely sleep-deprived, and also felt bizarre –…

UK & Ireland, 2022: A Month of Serendipitous Occurrences
In Adventure of a Lifetime, Thoughtful Enlightenment, Wanderlogue

UK & Ireland, 2022: A Month of Serendipitous Occurrences

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Came for the places and the chance for a month-long quality time with myself, but stayed for all the serendipitous encounters and happenstances that I never anticipated to happen. That is perhaps how my recent travels to the UK, Ireland, and other British Crown dependencies in-between in May 2022 were best summarized. It was the first time I solo travelled after a long-overdue five-year, also the first in my late twenties. Perhaps the title that is most fitting to label the trip was an “ultimate bachelorette solo pilgrimage,” considering this might have been the all-in journey that uplifted me emotionally…

That Heathrow Morning Scene; May the Fifth
In (Perhaps) Fiction, Adventure of a Lifetime, Wanderlogue

That Heathrow Morning Scene; May the Fifth

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It followed a seven-and-a-half-hour flight across the terrain, where the last one-third of a night slowly shifted into a dazzling sunrise from above the clouds, followed by a sunny, lukewarm morning on a different continent. The woman could particularly recall a pair of hazel eyes and coiffured, well-groomed hair of a similar shade from that morning. Fair skin in contrast to her tan. Sharp-edged nose underneath a black-coloured face covering. An approximately six-foot tall man in his white tees and beige sweatpants. A black carry-on duffle bag. A two-hour conversation and shared chuckles, that led to zero names, let alone…