GOOOOOAAAAALS.

I was looking for an old post a few weeks ago and ran across the last bullet and last paragraph of this post...

Six years later, six things crossed off the list. (Does "milking a goat" count for "milking a cow"? Yes? Then make that seven things crossed off the list.)

And let's not forget the official list which drew somewhat from the original list. Thirteen down there.

Make your list, people. Seriously. Before life gets away from you.

100 happy days: week 13.

I am totally cheating this week and next week because there are only 16 days left and I'm not doing a 2-day week as the finale. So! Behold the latest installment of the 100 happy days project...

Day 16

Day 16: when this scene greeted us from the back porch/living area/dining room of our WWOOF hosts' handbuilt stilt house in a small Karen village in northern Thailand.

Day 15

Day 15: when I got to help in the family's organic garden for the first of many days. My job was to find tiny pumpkins and cover them with fabric so that fruit flies didn't attack them. It was a detailed, tedious task - and I loved it.

Day 14

Day 14: when I finally remembered to take a photo of the family cat, Cat. We ate on the floor of the porch and Cat would wander over meowing for food, so he would be put on a loose leash. Cat could easily slip out of the leash at any time, if he wanted to, but he never did. He just waited patiently until we were done with meals. It cracked me up every single time.

Day 13

Day 13: when we got to help in the family's rice field. I think our "help" was more symbolic than anything, as we didn't really do much. But I'd been wanting to get up close and personal with rice fields since we first saw them in Hoi An. Squishing barefoot through mud doing the backbreaking work of edging the paddies was a really cool experience and I have a whole new appreciation for that little white grain now.

Day 12

Day 12: when the wife cooked instead of the husband, and we got to eat something other than veggies with chili paste. Don't get me wrong - his cooking was amazing - but hers was a little more thoughtful and creative, even with the use of just one pot, and therefore hers was more delicious to me.

Day 11

Day 11: when another volunteer made a clay elephant sculpture after we spent a few hours working on the clay hut. The work was messy and repetitive but this guy, a regular who visits from the city on weekends, sang and smiled and generally had a good time for the two hours we worked. His cheerful mood was contagious.

Day 10

Day 10: when we stumbled upon The Curry Shack after a long day of buses and windy roads, and I got to eat the most delicious khao soy curry dinner. Super spicy, freshly prepared, worth the wait.

Day 9

Day 9: when we hiked to Mae Yen waterfall and found all these magnificent trees with green bark and umbrella-like branches. I want to know what they're called...

100 happy days: week 12.

Seventh inning strettttttttccccccccccchhhhhhhhh on the 100 Happy Days project...  If we were at an Orioles game we'd be singing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy."

Day 23

Day 23: when the sky happened behind this awesome wat.

Day 22

Day 22: when we wandered through a fruit market and came upon a food cart that looked tasty. The chef didn't speak English and we had no idea how to order, so two nice Thai men at the next table helped us. "You like spicy?" they asked. We said "yes but..."  "You want normal?" they asked.  We said "um...yes." They ordered for us. The dish was still SUPER spicy but really, really good. We still have no idea what it was other than noodle soup with fish balls and a ton of spices.

Day 21

Day 21: when we made all three meals in our apartment. That was a good day.

Day 20

(no photo available)

Day 20: when we broke the key in the door lock and Patrick went all Toolman and we scrapped our plans to visit the museum so that he could fix the door and I got to catch up on blogs and pictures and reading and resting. That was also a good day.

Day 19

Day 19: when this awkward translation of "map not to scale" made me laugh out loud.

Day 18

Day 18: when the Chiang Mai Saturday flea market had everything including kitchen sinks (see bottom left).

Day 17

Day 17: when we stood ten feet from this scene with no barrier between us and them.

On being "simply" a writer.

A few months ago I joined several writing groups on LinkedIn. I did this mostly out of curiosity - some groups are travel-related, others are generally aimed at independent writers - and many of my favorite travel writers are members of these groups.

I've made a few new connections and discovered a handful of good resources from these groups but otherwise it seems to be a lot of self-promoting noise. (Like everything else on the internet?)

Recently someone posed this question in a discussion group: "Are you an author, a screenwriter, or simply a writer?" He included a link to his self-promoting blog in which he offered his self-promoting blah blah blah answer for himself and of course, a self-promoting link to his latest book.

When I read the question, I did a double-take. "Simply" a writer? Did he really type the word "simply"? Any writer reading this is probably cringing right now.

So I posted a reply: "I am a writer, but there is nothing 'simple' about it." (Since then a few people - total strangers to me in this new community - have liked my comment and another few have posted a similar retort. Zing!)

For better or worse, though, his question hung around in my head for about a week and I started to give some serious thought to why I write.

Well, not why I write - I know why. It's fun, it's creative, it's something I can truly call my own (those things are few and far between these days), it allows me to express myself without having to do that awkward social talking-to-others thing.

So I don't question why but I do question the purpose - my intended goal or outcome - of writing.

I don't write off the cuff. It doesn't matter what I'm writing about, nor does my intended audience matter - writing is a tedious, detailed process for me. Always has been. I draft, then I edit, then I edit some more, then I sleep on it, then I edit some more, then I edit one last time before "publishing". (Case in point: I've sat on this post for weeks now.) There's a bit of obsessive perfectionism to my method, but I also liken it to the athlete who studies the playback reel so that he can improve in the next game.

But why the perfectionist approach if only ten non-judging dear readers will ever see it? For whom am I trying to improve?

And how will I know if I have improved? I really like feedback, even the hard-to-hear constructive kind of feedback. I kinda need it to feel successful, actually. Would I learn guitar only to hole up in the basement and play to myself? Unlikely. Was cooking fun when it was just for me? Not really. Hell, I even looked forward to annual reviews at work, as bureaucratic and ridiculous as they were at times.  (Also known as "always".)

So apply all that to writing. You ten people are reading this blog because you want to, and that makes me want to keep doing it. But you're a pretty quiet bunch.  To get the feedback fix do I need a bigger audience? Even scarier, do I want that kind of feedback?

Everyone says I should write a book about our year-plus on the road but honestly, I can't imagine who would read it (other than me and maybe you, dear reader... unfortunately that won't pay my bills). Besides, what I have to say is already available in hundreds of blogs by like-minded travelers.

A published article here or there about a specific destination or topic would be an accomplishment, but when I consider the amount of effort it took to give my Canadian national parks road trip story away for free, I most certainly don't have time to look for paid outlets right now.

And while I have great respect for those (except for maybe that "just a writer" guy mentioned above!) who attempt novels, screenplays, television scripts - fiction writing does not appeal to me. I barely have the patience to read made-up stories anymore, let alone write one.

If you were expecting a tidy wrap up, I'm afraid this is going to be a little anticlimactic. After all this self-promoting blah blah blah I am still purposeless. Sigh.

But I will keep at it. Maybe the answer will come to me someday.

A lot of you (ten) dear readers write. Why do you do it?

100 happy days: week 11.

Getting soooooo close to the finish line with this 100 happy days project...

Day 30

Day 30: when we ran across this hand-lettered sign in Pak Beng.  There's just something nostalgic about hand-lettered signs.

Day 29

Day 29: when nine hours on the Mekong proved to be worth the time and cost.  I didn't even multi-task for the most part - I just stared at the scenery.

Day 28

Day 28: when this bus got us to Thailand.  Finally!

Day 27

Day 27: when we saw a billion decked-out elephants at an otherwise overly-decorated wat. It was a pretty wat, but as my mom would say, it was "busy."  The elephants, on the other hand, were mostly white with just a little embellishment and they all looked really happy to be there.

Day 26

Day 26: when I realized I'd just spent the last three months in communist countries where abstract art was rarely seen.  (Pictured: sculpted hands in hell at the White Temple.  The detail in this whole section was amazing - note the red fingernail!)

Day 25

Day 25: when we ran across a communal line-dancing party at the Saturday night market in Chiang Rai.  Wats and museums and ruins are all well and good, but scenes like this make me so happy to be traveling.

Day 24

Day 24: when I was wandering through the Chiang Mai Sunday night market on my own, and I ran across what appeared to be a Junior Star Search competition. These two were doing an amazingly awesome imitation of the dance scene from Pulp Fiction (with different music, and I'm sure that's not what they were imitating).

100 happy days: week 10.

Coming closer to the finish line on this 100 happy days project... This week featured lots of critters. Critters make me happy.

Day 37

Day 37: when we mustered the energy to walk down the muddy road and across the ugly concrete bridge to see the lovely views of Nong Khiaw. One of the remote places we've been (and probably one of the most remote places we care to go in SE Asia) - but absolutely gorgeous.

Day 36

Day 36: when food sounded appealing again.

Day 35

Day 35: when I was joined on the balcony by this fascinating (and surprisingly big) leaf-like bug. He let me touch him briefly, and he actually felt like a leaf!

Day 34

Day 34: when Patrick got a photo of this little guy in our bungalow. Nong Khiaw is crawling with geckos and they make the funniest croaking noises - it's almost like they're saying "OH-kay, OH-kay." I had no idea.

Day 33

Day 33: when we waded through dozens of butterflies on the way to the other cave. We got some video of it too.

Day 32

Day 32: when I coaxed this guy (gal?) onto my finger and he (she?) just sat there for 5 minutes, probably licking the salt off my hand. So pretty.

Day 31

Day 31: when we found a restaurant that only had three things on the menu. THREE things! It was heaven. I cannot wait to get back to the States and not make a decision for at least a month...

100 happy days: week 9.

And so goes the 100 happy days project...  Who knew 100 days could feel like such a long time?

Day 44

Day 44: when this was one of my last views of Vang Vieng.  Drunk tourists in inner tubes aside, it was a really pretty little village with some of the friendliest people we've met so far.

Day 43

Day 43: when I first saw spring in Luang Prabang.

Day 42

Day 42: when I finally did what my t-shirt has been telling me to do for months now.

Day 41

Day 41: when we saw how paper is made by hand.  It looks time consuming but not difficult and I'd like to try it someday.

Day 40

Day 40: when trying something new on the menu works out extremely well.  (In this case, it was khaosoi - spicy pork noodle soup.)

Day 39

Day 39: when I hung back and took some photos of the red-blossomed trees we all came to love.

Day 38

Day 38: when I realized we still had sugar packets from Bucharest in our secret stash.  (We also still have wet wipes from Turkey.)  My, how far we've come...

100 happy days: week 8.

WOW. This was a hard week. I don't know if it was the heat, the humidity, the hormones, or some combination of all three but I was quite the Little Miss Crankypants. The first two of those three will continue for the foreseeable future so it's just time to roll with it. But I do hereby apologize to anyone who had to deal with me in any way, shape or form over the past seven days.

So the 100 happy days project was definitely a challenge, but here we go...

Day 51

(no photo available -
it's my project and I can do whatever I want)

Day 51: when we rode the equivalent of an old yellow school bus for about ten hours in 100 degree temps with no air con (but there were fans installed in the school bus ceiling - genius!). Why was this a happy thing? We were the only white folks on the bus. The hot air beat against our faces as we passed through villages of stick houses and dry brown fields. Ladies boarded at every stop to peddle grilled half chickens on sticks and fruit. Lao men in army camouflage boarded here and there; eventually people were sitting in the aisles on plastic stools. At lunch the monk sitting next to Patrick graciously let us know when to get back on the bus by punching the time into his phone. All in all a very surreal (and amazing) experience.

Day 50

Day 50: when our Thailand visa plan fell through and we stopped off at That Luang before heading back to the hotel. We probably wouldn't have visited if our visa plan had gone smoothly. It was a beautiful and peaceful space.

(I definitely wasn't in the right mindset to appreciate it at the moment but sometimes the "happy" comes later, and as long as it eventually comes that's all that matters.)

Day 49

Day 49: when we could see Thailand from the Vientiane riverbank. I looked down at my bracelets from Sapa and was reminded of sitting in Argentina, wearing a t-shirt I got in Ecuador and bracelets from Peru, looking at Brazil and Paraguay a few years ago. I am very lucky to have seen all that I have seen.

Day 48

Day 48: when we ran across this sign in Vientiane. Honestly, Lao is the last place I would expect to see something like this - although the actual state of the sign seems very Lao. Environmentalism seems a bit high on the self-actualization pyramid for such a poor country, but from what we have seen so far the government seems pretty committed to general preservation (of health, culture, green spaces). Lots of cities also proclaim themselves "smoke-free"... even though all the locals and a large number of the foreigners are chimneys.

Day 47

Day 47: when double rainbow aht happened.

Day 46

Day 46: when we crossed this bridge numerous times going from our bungalow to town... and it didn't fall apart. (This was a serious concern every day! Also a concern? Getting pushed over the side by the motorbikers! It was a short fall but that water was just gross.)

Day 45

Day 45: when we got to the restaurant before the daily rainstorm. (This was a particularly cranky day... Sorry again.)

100 happy days: week 7.

And so on and so forth with the 100 happy days project!

Day 58

Day 58: when the pictures of the carvings at My Son Sanctuary turned out better than the pictures of the ruins themselves. I loved these faces. So crazy to think that civilizations centuries before us found meaning in them. We are so small in the grand scheme of things.

Day 57

Day 57: when the most amazing little dog sat in this pose for a few minutes. I've seen dogs stretch in downward dog but I've never seen a dog hold this position. (I really hope it was intentional instead of it being that the dog just couldn't get up.)

Day 56

Day 56: when we returned to Hue.  I like that city a lot.  It's very reminiscent of Portland.

Actually this photo was taken on Day 54 but I don't have any relevant photos from Day 56 and it's my 100 Happy Days project so I can do whatever I want.

Day 55

Day 55: when the vegetarian restaurant still existed, and was open, and their food was delicious. We'd had a bit of a losing streak on food the days leading up to this photo so I would've just been happy if this place Still Existed. Open and Delicious Food were bonuses.

Day 54

Day 54: when I helped this little guy get up a steep curb near a park in Hue. He tried a few times on his own, appearing to stand on his little snake tippie-toes, but he couldn't quite reach the top of the curb so I got a stick and lifted him up. (At least I think I helped him - he looked a little confused when I set him down.)

Actually I didn't take this photo but it's my 100 Happy Days project so I can do whatever I want.

Day 53

Day 53: when we finally had take-away in plastic bags. This chicken curry was spicy, delicious, and about $0.50 - and served by the friendliest Laotians we have met so far. Perfect.

Day 52

Day 52: when stop signs are written in different languages. More often than not, it's the same shape as the US version with "STOP" in English (no matter what the local language is) - it's very disorienting! Quebec, Morocco, and Laos have been the only times "stop" has been written in the local language.

100 happy days: week 6.

It's a little late, but it's never too late, so here is the latest installment of my weekly 100 happy days project...

Day 65

Day 65: when we sat by Sword Lake in Hanoi watching the couples take their wedding photos. Most were dressed in fancy wedding garb but this couple went a little more casual with matching plaid tops; hers was a halter plaid top and she also wore a bright red hat and a white tutu. He wore black Chucks. I liked their style.

Day 64

Day 64: when I stood on our balcony watching the kids across the street play some bizarre game of tag. I tried to figure out the rules. I think they went something like this: tag someone, run halfway down the block while the rest of the gang runs in circles, run back and try to tag someone, everyone scream really loud and then giggle like maniacs. It was very cute.

Day 63

Day 63: when Kenny the Social Climbing Goat made me laugh out loud. Are you following Kenny? If not, you should be.

Day 62

Day 62: when all the clocks at the hostel had completely different times. Not time zones - times. We have seen this in other places too. And no city seems to have the correct time difference between Vietnam and NYC. There was a time (no pun intended) when this would've driven me batty. But sometimes (again, no pun intended) I love the little reminders that the world does not revolve around what time it is in the United States.

Day 61

Day 61: when the nice Buddhist lady at our favorite vegetarian spot in Ho Chi Minh City showed us how to eat our dinner. (Not pictured: nice Buddhist lady.) They do that a lot here - take your chopsticks from you and mix up your food, then point to various spices and sauces on the table and your food indicating you should add these spices and sauces to make the food taste better. Even though we've been here almost two months and think we have the hang of eating, it's still charming in a grandmotherly kind of way.

Day 60

Day 60: when nature shows up and my partner in crime is content to sit on a bench while I take a billion shots trying to get just the right one.

Day 59

Day 59: when Hoi An redeemed itself as the lovely little city that it is. Our second time around was much more pleasant than our first, and of the ten or so cities we've visited, Hoi An might now be in my top three.