7th March
Almost exactly two years to the day, I can finally get back on a plane and fly to the place I consider home: Southeast Asia. It’s home to some of the friendliest people I have ever met, which is why I feel such a strong connection to it. From my Cambodian and Thai sisters, Kunthea and Kloy, to friends from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and beyond, I cherish the relationships I’ve built here.
Many fellow travellers, like myself, have settled down in this region, leaving behind the struggles of the West to embrace the beauty of the East. My first stop will be Singapore, where a friend has kindly agreed to look after one of the bags I left there over two years ago.
How do we see time?
Covid has played strange tricks on our perception of time. It hardly feels like two years have passed since my last visit to Singapore, but this coming week, I’ll finally see what has changed during that time. I wonder how many local small eateries have had to close due to the pandemic.
Following my trip to Singapore, I have planned a month-long holiday in the Philippines to help me acclimatise to the heat and food and to meet a very special lady again. We have had to settle for chats and video calls for almost 2 years, and now to finally be able to hold her and see her is something I am deeply looking forward to.
More importantly, there is a little fellow I want to hug and spend quality time with; he is almost 4 now, and I have missed being able to spend time with him. These last two years have been hard on families that were forced apart, and I hope that many more will have the chance to reunite as I have.
After that, I will return to Cambodia to reunite with old friends.
Promising to be a happier year than the last two.
Promising to be a happier year than the last two.
Let us hope my update at the end of the year bears some truth to that statement.