Are five months gone already? They are, and this Asian adventure of mine is over. When I started, my only plan was to work my way west from Vietnam to Myanmar. I thought about doing this for at least a year, and it’s a little weird that a vague idea has now been realized. About six weeks ago in Bangkok I ran out of steam and ground to a halt – all I could do was sit, read, and drink iced coffee. I lost any interest in exploring the city. I was prepared to spend a month in Myanmar, but also ready to wrap up my time in Asia. And then I got a second wind. By the time I landed back in Bangkok to fly to Europe, part of me didn’t want to leave. Perhaps it’s just the pangs of parting. There’s so much I’m going to miss: street food, cheap living, chirping geckos, water buffalo, lively and dirty markets, relaxed safety standards, wearing sandals, semi-automatic scooters, having daily opportunities to connect with people with whom I have nothing in common and sometimes even succeeding, being challenged every day in some manner, not knowing what will be in a bowl of soup until I receive it, the ease of traveling with virtually no advance planning, low-tech ingenuity, being lost, finding my way again or having some local help me out, crossing paths with fellow travelers, the potential to see something surprising or unexpected…just to name few.

I made some new German pals in Laos who taught me lots of fun vocabulary. One of the phrases I like best is auf Achse – on the road. The road has brought me to Europe for the summer, but I’m hoping that some day it’ll take me back to Asia.