What Makes for an Adventure?
When the map is gone, adventure begins
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I love a good adventure! The kind that begins not with any certainty, but with a leap of faith. Deep into the rhythms of the unknown and the magnetic pull of wide open possibilities. The thrill, that every turn holds the promise of the unexpected.
Not knowing feels alive. Uncertain yet electric.
The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know. - The Act Of Creation by Arthur Koestler, 1964.Adventures I did for fun
Daring to walk the fragile edges of a frozen lake in a Minnesota winter, only to find myself sinking into it - surprisingly still smiling as I wriggled out, shivering, soaked, and getting laughed at by friends.
Committing to a 6+ years of long distance relationship with my now-husband between the US and Asia.
Spending a 4-day two way greyhound bus trip (without shower) from Minnesota, just to spend 2 nights in a spooky, dingy hotel in New York City.
Paragliding in Pokhara, Nepal with my brother for heart-stopping views of shimmering Phewa Lake on a Christmas Day.
Climbing up to the Tiger’s Nest on the cliff edges of Bhutan with my supervisor for stunning views of Paro valley, only to find that my phone was not properly charged for that once-in-a-lifetime photo-taking moment.
Parasailing with my family in emerald sea-green waters in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Lived across 14 cities and 7 countries since 2003 with numerous travels - and counting.
Restless adventures for work
Packing my bags for San Francisco without a job after graduation, then working my way into a position at University of California, Berkeley.
Drifting between a relative’s house and a hostel (which I later discovered, was in the middle of Singapore’s legalized red light district), to eventually finding my way into the world of international relations at the National University of Singapore.
Finishing my Masters in Comparative International Development Education in 1.5 years with a Summer internship at the UN in New York while completing a thesis on microfinance.
Staying put in a Washington DC hostel for 2 weeks which landed me into a job, eventually leaving it for a consultancy with UNESCO Indonesia to work on Education for Sustainable Development.
Moving to Timor-Leste for UNESCO to work on non-formal education and adult literacy. An unexpected move after being shoved out of the Indonesia office following my complaint to the HR for a supervisor’s misdemeanor.
Stumbling into an unforgettable evening, by mistake, with leis I have made far too short to be the intended flower necklaces for a Hawaiian-themed donor event in Washington DC for environmental conservation.
Working with UNICEF on early childhood policy from its New York Headquarters to the Regional Offices of South Asia and East Asia Pacific in Kathmandu and Bangkok.
Working full time remotely from Kuala Lumpur during COVID while my second child was less than a year old, all the while creating 6 major UNICEF regional reports in less than a year - and still finding energy to spearhead an advocacy on early childhood and climate change.
Adventures begin when the map is gone
Having a kind of private moment when that plate sits there momentarily in the window before it goes out into the dining room, to be ruined, where you look at it and know you did this particular thing well. Learning to like something so temporary, so fleeting, I think that's been useful in being happy. - Anthony Bourdain, 1956-2018 My full-time, remote, sedentary working lifestyle during COVID may have contributed to my subsequent back-to-back chronic health diagnoses.
Managing diabetes (similar to parenting) is a job in itself with no room for resignation letters - one without breaks nor days off.
Any pursuit of progress is not linear - it goes through a honeymoon period of improvement, then it twists, stalls, and sometimes circles back. But health management requires consistently showing up for myself, even when the results are not immediate.
Living with any setbacks or challenges in life is an adventure on its own, much less of a detour - a priceless path of inward journey, not one of escape, but of surrendering. For it’s in the space of losing and in the shifting of our usual identities, the part of us that have always remained in the background - our dreams, intuitions, creative impulses, resilience, and our subconscious - finally have room to surface.
With diabetes, there is the constant vigilance from balancing meals, monitoring blood sugar, taking daily medications, planning exercise, managing stress, making those lifestyle changes vigilantly, and going to regular check ups with multiple doctors (since diabetes affects so many parts of the body) - for diabetes, my eyes, hair, and soon, maybe hearing.
There’s the 无奈 frustration in the difficulties of communicating with Japanese doctors given my limited Japanese, the slow and sometimes discouraging recovery, and the feeling of taking one step forward only to fall five steps back.
But a true adventure lies in the leap of faith — leaning into discomfort despite the emotional storms, uncovering the depths within me.
Living with chronic illness is my greatest test, where meditation becomes more than theory — it’s a daily practice, a refuge in life’s rawness.
What adventures look like now
Pouring my heart into writing to feel my emotions. Sometimes, that means waking up at 4 am just to write, letting my stream of consciousness (and subconscious thoughts) flow.
Re-listening to music I used to love during high school, such as Jay Chou’s 青花瓷.
Letting go, receiving, and feeling my emotions and sensations through daily morning meditations at 5:30 am before the kids are awake.
Spending afternoons doing groceries and cooking 一汁三菜 style for my family (one soup, a bowl of rice, 2-3 dishes).
Learning voraciously and leaning in to creative acts from tea, philosophy, poetry, to music. I am now a certified Intermediate-level Chinese tea professional taster and have taken a course on ‘Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet’ with Plum Village. I read widely on Eastern philosophies and tea - and have taken lessons on chado, Chinese and Taiwanese teas. Now struggling to learn Japanese N4 pre-intermediate level.
Every time we sit still, it imprints in our unconscious. Like pouring a cup of clear water into a bowl of murky water. Overtime, cup after cup, the balance changes. Water starts getting clearer no matter how our meditation has been. Just to be still, consistently, clarifies our lives. - 20th century Zen Master Yamada KounMaking teas in the morning, often matcha, followed by brewing Chinese or Taiwanese teas in the afternoon as I cook.
Going on 1:1 in person conversations with friends and people I admire over tea, coffee, meals or walks.
Watching Amazing Race, going for karaoke, and traveling with my family.
Strolling through Kyoto, exploring its charming machiya cafes and restaurants.
Walking in nature and completing 12,000 daily steps with hopes of returning to my 20,000+ past daily record. From Kamogawa river, temples scattered across the city, to Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, it’s in the walking that the walking fades; becoming more than just a movement but a way of ‘listening’ to a landscape etched with the passage of time.
New Series: Conversations Mostly from Kyoto
只要有根，当春雷惊蜇，就能顶天立地，枝繁叶茂；
只要有翼，当秋风吹起，就能展翅上扬，探索碧空。
-星云大师，台湾东禅寺 Taiwanese Zen TempleAbove is a quote by a Zen Master I have followed since high school. Translated by ChatGPT: As long as there are roots, when the spring thunder stirs, one can reach the sky, standing tall with branches and lush leaves; As long as there are wings, when the autumn wind blows, one can spread its wings and soar, exploring the clear sky.
—
Truth is, we need both roots and wings to thrive. There are many kinds of adventures - one of excitement, like the thrill of flying, dependent on the world around us. There are also adventures of the soul - one of an inward journey rooted in the relationship with ourselves in our own being.
Starting from my next post, I will be kickstarting a new series called Conversations Mostly From Kyoto. Join me as I share insights from 1:1 adventures with people I admire from all walks of life. Hoping that I can feature it once every quarterly, if not more.
Women and men on their self-defined adventures who inspire me. People whose maps have been redrawn, or who walk with no map at all - overcoming the odds, navigating the unknown with courage, creativity, and resilience.
Conversation #1 will explore our relationship with food from different perspectives!
"a daily practice, a refuge in life’s rawness." - a beautiful way to express both the endlessly persistent challenge chronic illness brings AND the normalcy of experiencing it as such. 💛
Many of those experiences would be great stories, will you also share some of them here? 🙂🙏 Of course I am totally here for conversations and tea. 🍵