100 happy days: week 5.

Seven more of my 100 happy days...

Day 72

Day 72: when we saw schools of tiny fish porpoising while we were kayaking in Lan Ha Bay. (Not pictured: tiny porpoising fish. Or kayak.)

Day 71

Day 71: when the Year Two plan started to come together again.

Day 70

Day 70: when the most patient snail on earth let me take a billion photos of him. (Her?)

Day 69

Day 69: when Cat Ba Beach #3 reminded me of the Oregon coast.

Day 68

Day 68: when taking the road less traveled led to this beautiful valley. And then I got to drive a motorbike for a few minutes. (That was enough.)

Day 67

Day 67: when this happened. It wasn't exactly what I hoped when I first wrote the piece. And we didn't exactly see a surge in hits to the blog, or any comments whatsoever. But I wrote it, I put it out there to four potential "publishers" (see Day 97), the Parks Canada folks responded and were really awesome about it, and the post got retweeted to their 65K followers and then some. All of this while I was enjoying Vietnam and fighting Facebook and Twitter blocks, no less. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Day 66

Day 66: when we didn't take one of these massive cruisers through Halong Bay. Hooray for one-story 20-passenger junk boats!

100 happy days: week 4.

I am beginning to doubt the logistics of this 100 Happy Days project.

It's not that I'm having a hard time finding things that make me happy each day. It's just that some things just can't be photographed. Sometimes you can't get your camera out in time, sometimes the picture doesn't have anything to do with the happy thing you're trying to capture, sometimes you don't necessarily want to publicly share your happy moment. What do you do in those cases?

I'm also starting to think that I don't really need to complete this project. Many years of therapy have ingrained in me the basic concepts behind this project - being present, finding gratitude in the little things, finding patterns of contentment and naturally seeking those out over patterns of negativity. (And trying to do all this in a constructive way versus a passive aggressive way like before.)  Not that I've mastered any of this by any means - but I'm closer now than I've ever been.

And maybe I'm a bit wary of posting pictures of goofy things that make me happy here in Vietnam when most people around me struggle to get by every day. This overarching capitalist-tourist-selfish-firstworldguilt concept is something that I wrestle with every day these days.

But I'm going to keep going and see what happens. Pardon me if I improvise here and there. And just because this particular outlet of happy might not be right for me, doesn't mean it's not right for you. Happiness is a personal journey - find your path and go to it!

Day 79

Day 79: when the power went out in Sapa and the pre-teen girls downstairs let out a collective and loud "YAAAAAY!" That was the best thing I've heard in a long time and it still makes me smile when I think about it.

Day 78

Day 78: when we went back to our "usual" market food stall for breakfast and the woman smiled. The food wasn't spectacular but it was hearty, colorful (rare in Sapa), and reasonably priced, and the woman who prepared it moved so slowly and with such care that each bite was worth the 20 minute wait for our meal. In the 10 or so days we were in Sapa, I think we ate at her stall at least six times and each return visit earned us more meat with our dish - and a bigger and bigger smile each time she saw us coming.

Day 77

Day 77: when we sat by the lake and I stared at this tree for 15 minutes. Still don't know what it's called but I love the flowers.

Day 76

Day 76: when we saw two baby pigs on our mountain trek. The first part of the trek was pretty underdeveloped, mostly just farmland. A lot of that hike made me happy, this is just one moment of it. The mountains in the background and baby animals everywhere were such a nice change from the tourists, motorbikes and incessant "where you from?!" inquiries from local villagers peddling their handicrafts in downtown Sapa.

Day 75

Day 75: when the fog was so thick the morning after our village homestay that you couldn't see the mountains.

Day 74

Day 74: when Patrick pointed out the first aid kit on the ferry from Hai Phong to Cat Ba Island.

Day 73

Day 73: when we sat near Cat Ba 2 beach for an hour and watched the waves roll in and out and in and out...

100 happy days: week 3.

Continuing the 100 happy days project...

Day 86

Day 86: when we visited the Womens Museum in Hanoi. Really excellent exhibits on womens' roles in family as well as their part in the past 100 years of war. This is a bridal ceremony costume. The red bridal costume signifies happiness and good luck - another trump to the boring western tradition of chaste white dresses!

Day 85

Day 85: when we saw some skater boys in front of Lenin's memorial in Hanoi. I bet he would've LOVED that.

Day 84

Day 84: when we had a communal dinner of rice noodle egg wraps and pumpkin soup after our first volunteer day in Sapa. It was a humble but homemade meal and I appreciated every bite.

Day 83

Day 83: when Son Mai, one of the three girls currently staying at the volunteer center, braided my hair. These girls are really affectionate - always hugging or leaning or sitting close by. And they are almost always laughing, often times at the westerners but that's okay! It's hard to not to smile when they're around.

Day 82

Day 82: when little things like this remind me of Portland.

Day 81

Day 81: when I can capture the pollen on a stamen. I love my camera. It's old and beat up and the battery doesn't last long, especially in the cold. But I love it.

Day 80

Day 80: when I got to teach these five sweet little boys some English words at the volunteer center. They had their numbers down so we moved on to animals, and hearing them say "chicken" and "buffalo" was about the cutest thing I have witnessed in a long time. Oh, and they really liked when I pointed to the "beeeee!!". (Not pictured: me.)

100 happy days: week 2.

Continuing the 100 happy days project...

Day 93

Day 93: when we rode bikes around Hoi An's gorgeous, peaceful farmlands all day and ran across this sight.  I have this thing for pigeons on statues and this was a great example of life imitating aht...  Besides, what's not to love about a water buffalo?

Day 92

Day 92: when we rode bikes around Hoi An again (because MAN were all the tourist spots annoying!) and we ran across this neat method of growing cucumbers.  While WWOOFing in Canada we helped a New Zealand farmer make vertical trellises for his cukes - he swore they grew better off the ground.  That was one of our favorite farm stays, and anything that reminds me of those two weeks makes me smile.  (We still keep in regular contact with the family and I've sent him this photo; he's going to give it a try...  And whenever we have our garden I'm going to try it!)

Day 91

Day 91: when Clarence went to Hue.  Buying our Vietnam visas back in August was pretty surreal.  We've been here three weeks and I still have to constantly remind myself that we (all of us, including Clarence) are actually here...  And whenever I do remind myself, I have to smile.

Day 90

Day 90: when we took the hard seat train to Dong Hoi.  Three hours of real insight into normal Vietnamese life, including a really cute little boy in panda pants who kept waving hi to me.

Day 89

Day 89: when our DIY trip to Paradise Cave turned out successful.  I think I am losing patience for these DIYs, just for the moment.  I am tired and just want to either sit in one place and do nothing for a week, or have someone else figure it out for me.  It's temporary but very prominent and frustrating right now.  But!  Had we taken a tour we wouldn't have been able to stop wherever we wanted to take photos of the gorgeous rice paddies with stunning mountain backdrops.

Day 88

Day 88: when we walked 20km down this road and back.  We finally had time to talk about something other than travel plans.  It was really nice.

Day 87

Day 87: when we had a six-seat sleeper car all to ourselves for our 12 hour train ride from Dong Hoi to Hanoi.  Scenery be damned - I spent about seven of those hours writing long-overdue blog posts and organizing pictures.  It's so nice to feel caught up...  (Well, almost.  Still gotta post the suckers.  But the hard work is done!)

100 happy days: week 1.

Perhaps you've heard of the 100 Happy Days challenge. It's all the rage right now. Some critics say it won't work, I say whatever makes you pause for a moment of gratitude each day is worth the effort.

I'm travelling right now - "living the dream!" as so many have said - so why am I doing this 100 Happy Days challenge? Well, sometimes life on the road is tiring and sometimes it just sucks. And sometimes it's amazing. I tend to just show the "amazing" on the Facebook page and in the blog, but this is my chance to tell a little bit of the other side and try to find gratitude in that as well.

(I'm also doing this because I need a project that does not involve planning, researching, decision-making, or consultation with others. But I'm only committing to a post a week, and I'm not going to over-think my words here like I normally do. Consider ye warned!)

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to explain the photos, but this is my project and I guess I can do whatever I want. So here we go...

Day 100

Day 100: when I was pretty sure we were not going to make it back from our Dray Nur/Dray Nap DIY trip. Honestly, I am never sure that we will make it back from any of these DIY trips, but we keep giving them a try. This one stressed me out more than usual (since it was a strange, not-so-touristy town) and while I had a good time at the falls, I was so relieved to be headed homeward that I snuck a photo on the bus ride.

Day 99

Day 99: when we found a fairly quiet spot in the very touristy town of Nha Trang and just sat for an hour. Self-explanatory.

Day 98

Day 98: when we found the most amazing spring rolls in the history of amazing spring rolls. I don't want to talk too much about food during this project, but DAMN IF THESE WEREN'T THE BEST DAMN SPRING ROLLS I HAVE EVER HAD.

Day 97

Day 97: when I finally submitted my Canadian National Parks article to four magazines. It will go nowhere, but I did it and that's all that matters right now.

Day 96

Day 96: when we saw this sign during another DIY day trip outside of Quy Nhon. I'm sure it was supposed to be a friendly way to say goodbye, but it was hot as hell that day and we'd brought no food and just a bottle of water, and we weren't sure where to catch the bus back... so it was just kinda funny.

Day 95

Day 95: when we visited the Quy Nhon cemetery. I'm probably the only person I know who seeks cemeteries out during travels. It's just so interesting to see how various cultures choose to honor their dead. Fields of plain white headstones? Boring and somber. Central European headstones with carvings and candles and embedded black and white photos of the deceased? Much better. Moroccan and Vietnamese tombs and cemeteries full of colorful and purposeful grave placement? Now we're talking. These latter ones make me happy and I think that's how cemeteries should be.

Day 94

Day 94: when I had a brief (dumb) argument with the most patient person I have ever met. This photo was taken after we resolved the issue; we sat across from the main Hoi An strip for half an hour calmly resetting our moods and watching the hoards of tourists come and go. I have no idea how he puts up with me. I have no idea why he puts up with me. But he does, and I am very grateful for that...