“27 is a good year,” someone comments to me, days before I turn a year older.

And it is.

27 just sounds better.

Almost a quarter gone by the time I publish this post, these are some stills from my birthday month.

A great many people do believe that to be single is to be somehow incomplete and that they need to find the other half…We believe, on the other hand, that the fundamental sexual unit is one person. Adding more people to that unit may be intimate, fun and companionable, but does not complete anybody.
—the ethical slut

Monthly Mood: 27 Is A Good Year

January 2023

You feel yourself. You better grasp the concepts of love, jealousy, and boundaries.

 

27 x January was about embracing communication and open-mindedness on unprecedented levels.

sizzling bánh xèo pancakes

I skinny dipped, acro jammed, and cranked out cloudy smoothie bowls.

After a three-year pause, I run again.

This time my feet are in minimal support, minimal material Nike Frees, taken from a Born to Run concept. I’d run from age 12 to 24, abruptly stopping because I had no space during the pandemic.

I risk my life at the frontline of some Tết fireworks and feel embers raining onto my skin and eyeball.

I settled into a new home base. For the first time, I live a tidy, 21st century life.

Alone.

Steady.

Adulting.

Full-sized fridge. A spacious bathtub of a kitchen sink.

“to be” is to inter-be. you cannot just be by yourself alone. you have to inter-be with every other thing.
—thích nhất hạnh

Since that initial comment, that someone has become a person who I care about and who I learn from and who is important to me.

I love the life, food, and friends of Vietnam.

 

This little land is worth the pain of night buses and dusty land borders to get another 30 days of visa.

Happy Year of the Bunny, or in Vietnam, Year of the Kitty <3

Chúc mừng năm mới!

january obsessions:

cab sav
light roast catimor beans
maison marou ben tre 78% single origin
ethical sluts
mung bean vermicelli
my washing machine
dhc deep cleansing oil
the ordinary mineral spf suncare
the ordinary moisturizing factors + ha
sticky rice
mung beans
azuki beans
my pressure cooker
star kombucha
careplus international clinic
evoo
wall’s taro coconut ice cream
wall’s durian ice cream
black bean ice cream
cold lemon water
mac nuts
mac nut butter
keeley’ s jams
pitaya smoothie bowls
passionfruit halves in my smoothie bowls
communication
mondays

Currently reading: Flowers in the Dark by Sister Dang Nghiem

Previous Monthly Mood: Sleepless in Saigon

Explore my full archive of Vietnam and Monthly Moods.

Learn more about this round-the-world solo trip.