When the songthaew finally pulled into the village, I eagerly hopped out the back of the truck and threw my backpack over my shoulder, happy to have my feet back on solid, unmoving ground. The driver came around back to collect the small amount of cash I owed him and kindly asked which hostel I […]
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I had spent six days in total silence. Nestled in a hut high up in the mountains and deep in the forest, where the temperature drops more than 25 degrees once the sun goes down, each night I would wrap myself in a small thin, blanket and curl up on a hard, wooden bed. With […]
Read morePhotographer Pete McBride and writer Kevin Fedarko embark on a perilous adventure to make a sectional thru-hike of the Grand Canyon, a feat few have accomplished
Read moreYou can watch these films over & over again, and never get sick get sick of them
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Each and every time I garner this undue acknowledgement, I begin to feel oddly like a fraud. Like I should craft some uniform and eloquent riposte to dole out to every person I’ve unintentionally deceived. One that makes it totally clear that I’ve done nothing remarkable. I may have been unafraid, but foolishly so. In fact, I cried four separate times because of momentary lonesomeness or because, like a child, all of my friends were together and I wasn’t there.
Read moreMy sister is in a relationship. And it’s complicated. How do I know this? How else would I know? I saw it on Facebook. We have this kind of unspoken agreement. If I change my relationship status on Facebook, don’t ask me about it. I also saw on Facebook that my friend who lives 3,000 […]
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For the last few years, as I’ve wandered across the world, through weeks and in and out of days, finding my independence and self worth in dark, locked boxes that, unbeknownst to me, had always been hidden in strange nooks of my soul waiting to be discovered and set free, I’ve begun to find that… surprise!
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There is no beauty more enrapturing than that of juxtaposition. Opposing forces exchanging unlikely compliments.
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Leaving Florence was always going to be hard. I never had any doubt about that. I had put far too much of myself into that place for it ever be any different.
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After floating through the acclaimed canals in a gondola, indulging in long glasses of prosecco and chocolate dipped treats (like a true tourist,) it's rumored romanticism was confirmed. I could attest to its unmatched, enchanted beauty. And for two and a half years that is exactly how the city lived in my memory. A fairytale moment. A tourist’s dream. I couldn’t imagine being any more enraptured with it than I already was.
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